May 15, 2015 

The Honorable Shelley Moore Capito 

Chairman, Subcommittee on 

 Clean Air and Nuclear Safety 

Committee on Environment and Public Works 

United States Senate 

Washington, DC 20510 

Dear Madam Chairman: 

On behalf of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), I am pleased to submit 

the NRC’s semiannual report on the status of our licensing and other regulatory activities. 

The enclosed report covers activities conducted by the NRC during the period from 

October 2014 through March 2015. 

The NRC’s response to the lessons learned from the Fukushima accident in Japan 

during the period has focused on the highest-priority (Tier 1) activities, and work on the other 

activities (Tiers 2 and 3) also progressed in line with the agency’s established schedules. 

Additionally, some intermediate activities (Tier 2) have been integrated into activities related to 

the highest priority actions. The agency continued to assign resources to address these 

activities while ensuring a balance between putting lessons learned from Fukushima into place 

and the need to ensure that those efforts do not displace ongoing work of greater safety benefit, 

work that is necessary to maintain safety, or other higher-priority work. In particular, the agency 

is mindful of the complexities in completing many licensing activities because of some 

non-Fukushima-related and Fukushima-related work competing for the same critical skill sets. 

The NRC continues to review nuclear power plant licensees’ plans to achieve 

compliance with the mitigation strategies order and the spent fuel pool instrumentation order, 

which were issued in March 2012. The NRC has issued interim staff evaluations and is in the 

process of auditing the licensees’ implementation of these safety improvements. On 

October 4, 2014, the first licensee informed NRC staff that a nuclear plant was fully compliant 

with both orders, and as of February 24, 2015, an additional four units are now in compliance 

with the mitigating strategies order, and an additional 16 units are now in compliance with the 

spent fuel pool instrumentation order. By the end of calendar year (CY) 2015, approximately 

50 units are expected to be in compliance with the mitigation strategies order, and 

approximately 75 are expected to be in compliance with the spent fuel pool instrumentation 

order. 

In June 2014, NRC staff received the licensees’ integrated plans for compliance with 

Phase 1 of the revised severe accident capable hardened vents order, which was issued in 

June 2013. The staff has begun to issue interim staff evaluations of those plans. Licensees are 

required to submit their plans for Phase 2 of the revised severe accident capable hardened 

vents order by December 31, 2015, and to complete full implementation by June 2019. 
 - 2 - 

The NRC requested that nuclear power plant licensees reevaluate potential seismic and 

flooding hazards. If these newly reevaluated hazards are not bound by the current design 

basis, the licensee will determine whether interim protection measures are needed while a 

longer term evaluation is completed. For the flooding hazard reevaluations, plants were divided 

into three groups based on the complexity of the analysis and other factors. Each group, with 

the exception of those plants that were granted extensions, has now submitted these 

reevaluations. NRC staff is reviewing the flooding hazard reevaluations and has begun to issue 

evaluations for the reports that were submitted in the first group. Several licensees whose plant 

report was originally scheduled to be submitted by March 2014 have been granted extensions to 

allow for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to supply necessary input to complete the analyses. 

These licensees are expected to submit their reports before February 2016. 

On May 9, 2014, the NRC issued a screening review and prioritization letter to the 

58 Central and Eastern U.S. (CEUS) sites currently operating, documenting the need to 

complete future seismic risk evaluations. During the NRC screening and prioritization review, 

NRC staff identified 14 sites for which a determination could not be made during the 30-day 

review period and interactions with licensees were needed to resolve technical issues. 

Licensees completed these reviews in December 2014, and the NRC staff has now completed 

the screening and prioritization reviews for all CEUS sites. Overall, 31 CEUS sites screened 

into three priority groups for completion of seismic risk evaluations. The NRC requires 22 of the 

remaining 27 sites to perform limited-scope evaluations (i.e., high-frequency evaluation, 

low-frequency evaluation, or spent fuel pool evaluation). Five sites have screened-out of any 

further evaluations. 

Sites that screened-in for a seismic risk evaluation submitted interim actions or 

evaluations in December 2014 as part of the Expedited Seismic Evaluation Process (ESEP). 

The ESEP submittals serve as an engineering review of interim evaluations. The evaluations 

look at the systems and components that can be used to safely shut down a plant under certain 

accident conditions. The ESEP will either confirm that a plant has sufficient margin to continue 

with a longer-term evaluation without any modifications or identify the need to enhance the 

seismic capacity of the plant. NRC staff is reviewing the ESEP submittals that were required for 

those sites that screened-in for further seismic evaluations. 

By March 12, 2015, the three licensees in the Western United States submitted their 

seismic hazard reevaluation reports. The staff plans to complete a screening review similar to 

the CEUS site screening and prioritization. 

Rulemaking activities related to the requirements of the orders and other Japan NearTerm Task Force recommendations are also proceeding as scheduled. The Commission 

approved consolidating the station blackout mitigation strategies rulemaking with the onsite 

emergency response capabilities rulemaking, as well as including portions of the emergency 

planning recommendations. The consolidation enables the NRC to use resources in a more 

efficient manner to produce an integrated and coherent set of requirements for addressing 

beyond-design-basis accidents. The Commission received the proposed rule in April 2015. 

The staff also is developing the draft regulatory basis for the containment protection and release 

reduction (formerly called “filtering strategies”) rulemaking. 

For all of the activities stemming from the Fukushima lessons learned, the NRC 

continues to place a high level of importance on public interaction. In fiscal year 2015, the NRC 
 - 3 - 

has held more than 15 public meetings related to Fukushima lessons learned, and these 

opportunities for collaboration with the public, industry, and other stakeholders have improved 

the effectiveness and efficiency of the NRC’s actions. 

The Fukushima activities described in the paragraphs above demonstrate consistent 

progress on behalf of the NRC and industry in completing safety enhancements at U.S. facilities 

in response to lessons learned. The NRC expects that most licensees will complete 

implementation of the majority of the most safety-significant enhancements by or before 

December 31, 2016. 

Between October 2014 and January 2015, the agency released the final four volumes of 

the Yucca Mountain safety evaluation report, completing the technical safety review of the 

U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) application. Volume 2 covers repository safety before 

permanent closure, Volume 3 covers the period after a repository at Yucca Mountain would be 

permanently closed, Volume 4 covers administrative and programmatic requirements for the 

repository, and Volume 5 covers proposed conditions on the construction authorization, 

probable subjects of license specifications, and the staff’s overall conclusions. 

As documented in the safety evaluation report, the staff concluded that it could not 

recommend authorization of construction at this time because DOE has not met certain land 

and water rights requirements and it has not yet completed a supplement to its environmental 

impact statement (EIS). A final licensing decision, should funds beyond those available be 

appropriated, could come only after completion of a supplemental EIS, hearings on contentions 

in the adjudication, and Commission review. On March 12, 2015, the NRC announced that it 

will use a portion of its remaining funds to prepare a supplement to DOE’s EIS that will address 

repository-related effects on ground water and surface discharges of ground water. The agency 

expects to issue the draft supplement for public comment in late summer. 

Effective October 5, 2014, the NRC reorganized its materials and waste programs by 

merging the Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs 

and the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards. The new office retained the name of 

the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (or NMSS), an office established by 

Congress when it created the NRC in 1974. The merger reflects changes in the NRC’s 

materials and waste management workload and an effort to integrate regulatory activities of the 

front and back ends of the nuclear fuel cycle, as well as to reduce costs and improve efficiency. 

Also in early October, senior leaders from independent and executive branch regulatory 

agencies launched the interagency Cybersecurity Forum. Led by the NRC Chairman, the 

forum’s objectives are to enhance communication, share lessons learned, and develop a 

common understanding of cybersecurity activities through the sharing of best practices and 

exploring approaches to enhance cybersecurity protections. The officials established areas of 

initial discussion that included lessons learned with regulation-based and voluntary approaches 

to cybersecurity, proactive cyber risk assessment, and management and information sharing. 

In mid-November, the agency issued the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Performance 

and Accountability Report for Fiscal Year 2014. The report details the agency’s program and 

financial performance and reflects the agency’s achievement of its safety and security strategic 

goals and objectives and their related performance indicators. The report also points out the 

agency’s sound financial position and full compliance with laws governing Federal spending. 
 - 4 - 

For the 11th consecutive year, an independent auditor found no material weaknesses or 

significant deficiencies in the agency’s financial statements. 

In late January 2015, NRC staff sent to the Commission its Project Aim 2020 report 

detailing staff recommendations designed to improve the agency’s agility, effectiveness, and 

efficiency while ensuring its ability to protect the public health and safety. The Project Aim 

report recommended a number of strategies under the themes of people, planning, and process 

to prepare the NRC for the future. The staff’s report proposed that the NRC could function more 

efficiently by performing the following: 

• Right-sizing the agency to retain appropriate skill sets needed to accomplish its mission. 

• Streamlining agency processes to use resources more wisely. 

• Improving timeliness in regulatory decision-making and responding quickly to changing 

conditions. 

• Promoting unity of purpose with clearer agencywide priorities. 

The Commission is currently deliberating on the recommendations. Implementation of 

the approved strategies will support the agency’s continuing effectiveness in accomplishing its 

essential mission. 

On February 27, 2015, the Governor of Wyoming sent a letter to the NRC Chairman 

indicating the State’s intent to become an Agreement State, pursuant to Section 274b of the 

Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended. If approved by the Commission, Wyoming would 

assume regulatory authority over byproduct material (as defined in Section 11e.(2) of the Atomic 

Energy Act), including the uranium recovery facilities that generate this material. As required by 

the Act, NRC staff will review the application and conduct an assessment of the compatibility of 

the Wyoming program with the NRC’s program and the adequacy of Wyoming’s program to 

protect public health and safety. If the Commission approves the proposed agreement, the 

NRC will publish the text and a summary of its assessment in the Federal Register for public 

comment. 

From March 10–12, 2015, the NRC held its 27th annual Regulatory Information 

Conference, hosted by the Offices of Nuclear Reactor Regulation and Nuclear Regulatory 

Research. The approximately 3,000 attendees included industry executives, representatives 

from State governments, nongovernmental organizations, individual community members, and 

representatives from dozens of foreign countries. The conference is an opportunity for 

attendees to discuss issues related to the safety and security of commercial nuclear facilities 

and current regulatory activities. 

Also in early March, the NRC issued annual assessment letters to the nation’s operating 

commercial nuclear power plants regarding their performance during 2014. The NRC 

subsequently updated its public website to reflect performance for the first quarter of calendar 

year 2015. As of the end of March 2015, 96 reactors were in the two highest performance 

categories. Of the 99 operating reactors, 80 facilities fully met all safety and security 

performance objectives and will continue to receive baseline inspections. The NRC assessed 

16 reactors as needing to resolve one or two items of low- to moderate-safety significance and, 

thus, those licensees will receive supplemental inspection attention from the agency to follow up 

on corrective actions. One nuclear reactor was in the third performance category with a 
 - 5 - 

degraded level of safety performance. For this category, regulatory oversight will include 

additional NRC inspections, senior management attention, and oversight focused on the causes 

of the degraded performance. Two reactors—Arkansas Nuclear One, Units 1 and 2—were in 

the fourth performance category at the end of the assessment period, requiring significantly 

more oversight because of two safety findings of substantial significance. This oversight will 

include several additional inspections and frequent NRC management involvement to confirm 

the reactors are addressing the performance issues. 

At the time the agency issued its annual assessment letters in December 2014, the Fort 

Calhoun plant remained under an increased NRC oversight program, distinct from the normal 

reactor oversight process, because of an earlier extended shutdown associated with significant 

performance issues. Therefore, the licensee did not receive an annual assessment letter. 

Subsequently, on March 30, 2015, the NRC announced that the Fort Calhoun plant was 

returning to the agency’s normal reactor oversight program because it had operated safely since 

the plant’s restart in December 2013, was making progress on the required improvement areas 

identified in the NRC’s post-restart confirmatory action letter (CAL), and currently has no 

significant safety or security issues. NRC staff will continue to perform follow-up inspections to 

verify that all CAL commitments continue to be met. 

During the reporting period, the NRC was actively reviewing 10 license renewal 

applications covering 18 reactor units. The staff also continued reviewing six new reactor 

combined license applications for 10 proposed new reactor units. 

In January 2015, Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc., provided written certification to the 

NRC of permanent cessation of power operations and permanent removal of fuel from the 

reactor vessel at the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station, near Brattleboro, Vermont. 

Submittal of both certifications means that the licensee is no longer authorized to operate the 

reactor. In the post-shutdown decommissioning activities report submitted by Entergy, the 

licensee indicated that the site will be placed in long-term storage (SAFSTOR). During the 

reporting period, the NRC continued to oversee the transition of Crystal River Unit 3, Kewaunee 

Power Station, and San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station Units 2 and 3, to decommissioning. 

On March 31, 2015, the NRC released its annual report summarizing the results of the 

agency’s enforcement program. During CY 2014, the NRC issued 83 escalated enforcement 

actions (including 13 enforcement orders), 58 escalated notice of violations without a proposed 

civil penalty, and 12 actions involving civil penalties totaling $135,100 to reactor and nuclear 

material licensees. Over the past five years, the number of escalated enforcement actions 

issued by the agency has shown an overall declining trend; however, in CY 2014, the total 

number of escalated enforcement actions increased by nine percent when compared with CY 

2013, largely as a result of an increase in the number of escalated actions issued to nuclear 

materials user licensees. 

During the first half of the fiscal year, the NRC submitted two events to the International 

Atomic Energy Agency for inclusion in the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale 

(INES). INES is a worldwide tool for member nations to communicate to the public, in a 

consistent way, the safety and significance of nuclear and radiological events. The events 

involved over exposure to radiographers and were rated as Level 2 on INES, although the most 

recent event is a provisional rating pending the results of the investigation into the actual doses 

to some of the impacted workers who were not wearing dosimetry at the time. 
 - 6 - 

From October 2014 through March 2015, the agency conducted over 400 public 

meetings—in the Washington, DC, area and around the country—addressing a full range of 

NRC issues. The meetings included Commission, Advisory Committee, Licensing Board, and 

staff-sponsored events. Also during this time, the NRC received 225 Freedom of Information 

Act (FOIA) requests and closed 278 FOIA requests. 

Finally, I am pleased to report that the NRC remains a top place to work in the Federal 

Government, according to the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (released in late 

October 2014), exceeding Governmentwide results in a number of key areas. In each of the 

major indices used and measured by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the NRC 

ranked either second, third, or fourth among all Federal agencies. Subsequently, based on its 

evaluation of selected Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey results, the nonprofit Partnership for 

Public Service released its annual ranking. The NRC, which has made the top 10 for as long as 

the rankings have been issued, came in 6th out of 25 mid-sized agencies. 

Please contact me for any additional information you may need. 

 Sincerely, 

 /RA/ 

 Stephen G. Burns 

Enclosure: 

As stated 

cc: Senator Thomas R. Carper
Identical letter sent to: 

The Honorable Shelley Moore Capito 

Chairman, Subcommittee on Clean Air 

 and Nuclear Safety 

Committee on Environment and Public Works 

United States Senate 

Washington, DC 20510 

cc: Senator Thomas R. Carper 

The Honorable James Inhofe 

Chairman, Committee on Environment 

 and Public Works 

United States Senate 

Washington, DC 20510 

cc: Senator Barbara Boxer 

The Honorable Fred Upton 

Chairman, Committee on Energy 

 and Commerce 

United States House of Representatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

cc: Representative Frank Pallone, Jr. 

The Honorable Ed Whitfield 

Chairman, Subcommittee on Energy and Power 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

United States House of Representatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

cc: Representative Bobby L. Rush 

The Honorable John Shimkus 

Chairman, Subcommittee on Environment 

 and the Economy 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

United States House of Representatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

cc: Representative Paul Tonko 

The Honorable Mike Simpson 

Chairman, Subcommittee on Energy 

 and Water Development 

Committee on Appropriations 

United States House of Representatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

cc: Representative Marcy Kaptur 

The Honorable Lamar Alexander 

Chairman, Subcommittee on Energy 

 and Water Development 

Committee on Appropriations 

United States Senate 

Washington, DC 20510 

cc: Senator Dianne Feinstein