NRC

PUBLIC

MEETINGS

U.S. Nuclear

Regulatory

Commission
NRC PUBLIC MEETINGS
NRC PUBLIC MEETINGS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 1

Scope 1

Notices 2

Security 3

TYPES OF PUBLIC MEETINGS 3

Category 1 3

Category 2 5

Category 3 6

SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES 7

TELECONFERENCING 7

SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS 7

SUGGESTIONS 10
1

NRC PUBLIC MEETINGS

INTRODUCTION

Public meetings play a significant

role in enhancing public confidence

in the Nuclear

Regulatory

Commission

(NRC) and it’s

ability to carry

out its mission

— to protect

public health

and safety in

commercial uses

of nuclear energy. The NRC has

long recognized

the importance

and value of

public communication and

involvement as a

key cornerstone

of strong, fair regulation of the

nuclear industry. As a result, the

agency has sought, over time, with

the assistance of members of the

public and other stakeholders, to

ensure full and fair consideration of

issues that are brought to NRC’s

attention.

This brochure presents NRC’s public meeting policy and procedures

that emphasize enhancement of

public participation. It identifies

three categories of staff meetings

and outlines the level of public participation, information availability,

and follow-up effort associated with

each category.

Scope

The information

in this brochure

applies only to

NRC staff-sponsored meetings.

There are other

procedures and

requirements

governing

Commission

meetings, meetings with States,

advisory committee meetings,

adjudicatory

proceedings conducted by the

Atomic Safety and Licensing Board

Panel, and hearings.

The Nuclear Regulatory

Commission has long recognized

the importance and value of public

involvement in its activities.
2

NRC PUBLIC MEETINGS

Notices

All staff-sponsored meetings are

posted approximately 10 days in

advance on NRC’s web site at

www.nrc.gov. For each meeting, the

date, time, location, purpose, category, attendees, and contact are listed. Weekly lists of staff

meetings are also posted in

NRC’s public document room

in Rockville, Maryland. In

addition, the NRC announces

major meetings in press

releases, which are posted to

NRC’s web site, faxed to the

news media, and mailed to

more than 1,000 addressees.

For meetings having high

public interest, NRC also

Meeting

Number

Date/

Time

Location Facility/

Docket

Purpose and Comments Attendees NRC

Contact

2002-

0574

2002-

0594

2002-

0609

07/31/2002

1:30 pm

07/31/2002

7 pm

07/31/2002

10 am-4 

pm

08/01/2002

9 am-2 pm

PEACH BOTTOM

2/ 050-00277

PEACH BOTTOM

3/ 050-00278

Open House 1 hr

prior/

SAXTON NUCLEAR

FACIL./ 050-00146

Agenda: ADAMS

Acn/ No.

ML022040012/

Peach Bottom

Inn 6085

Delta Road

Delta, PA

NRC One

White Flint N.

11555

Rockville Pike

Room O-13

B4 Rockville,

MD

NRC One

White Flint N.

11555

Rockville Pike

Room O-4 B6

Rockville, MD

Duke

Wheeler

(800) 368-

5642

Alexander

Adams (301)

415-1127

Joseph

Birmingham

(301) 415-

2829

NRR Public

NRR;NMSS

Saxton

Nuclear

Experimental

Corporation,

Public

NRR Nuclear

Energy

Institute,

Industry,

Public

Category 3 meeting: Provide

the public with information

on draft EIS for license

renewal for Peach Bottom

Station. Identical sessions.

(Agenda: ADAMS accession

no. ML021900031)

Category 1 meeting. Discuss

dose modeling technical

issues from the review of the

License Termination Plan.

Category 2 meeting. Continue

discussion of NEI outline of

implementing guidance for

National Fire Protection

Association standard NFPA

805.

See the agenda Web page.

Public Meeting Schedule

www.nrc.gov
3

NRC PUBLIC MEETINGS

places an advertisement in local

newspapers several days in advance

of a meeting.

Security

As a result of

the September

11, 2001 terrorist attacks,

attendees at

NRC meetings

will experience

enhanced security procedures. Areas

affected

include NRC

visitor registration, badging,

sign-in procedures, and parking. These procedures and certain restrictions on

cell phone, taping equipment and

camera usage are described later in

this brochure.

TYPES OF PUBLIC

MEETINGS 

Category 1:

Meetings in this category are typically held with one licensee, vendor,

applicant, potential applicant, or

petitioner to discuss specific regulatory issues regarding their particular facility (or facilities having the

same owner), certificate of compliance, license

or license

application.

These meetings provide

the public

with an

opportunity to

observe NRC’s

interactions

with licensees,

obtain factual

information to

assist in their

understanding

of the applicable regulatory

issues, and to

offer constructive comments, if

applicable.

Examples of this type of meeting

could include:

• Annual meetings to discuss NRC’s

evaluation of a nuclear power

plant’s performance;

• Regulatory conferences on specific plant problems;

• Pre-decisional enforcement conferences on apparent safety violations;

• Plant restart meetings;

• Licensing actions, such as new

Category 1 meetings are typically held

with one licensee and are open to

public observation.
4

NRC PUBLIC MEETINGS

applications, renewals and

amendments for nuclear power

plants; away-from-reactor waste

storage sites; large or complex fuel

cycle facilities; or waste disposal

sites; and 

• Inspection exit meetings, such as

those for special inspection teams,

including Incident Investigation

Teams and Augmented Inspection

Teams.

Level of Participation

The public is invited to observe the

meeting between NRC and the

licensee/vendor/applicant and will

have the opportunity to communicate with the NRC staff before the

end of the meeting. For those meetings lasting more than two hours,

more than one opportunity will be

provided for the public to engage

and speak with NRC staff, before the

end of the meeting, if practicable.

Information Provided

In addition to basic information

in the meeting notice, an agenda, with names of speakers,

items to be discussed, and any

appropriate background documents and information to be

discussed are identified and

made available in NRC’s

Agency-Wide Documents

Access and Management System

(ADAMS). Help in accessing documents in ADAMS is available from

the NRC Public Document Room

staff at 1-800-397-4209 or 1-301-

415-4737, between the hours of

7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m., or by

Internet at pdr@nrc.gov.

Follow-up and Feedback

Responses to most questions are

expected to be provided at the meeting. For certain questions, informal

follow-up by telephone or e-mail

may be appropriate. Meeting summaries will be made publicly available in ADAMS after the meeting.

Forms will be available at the meeting for all attendees to provide feedback on each meeting to help the

NRC enhance public participation.
5

NRC PUBLIC MEETINGS

Category 2:

Meetings in this category are typically held with a group of industry

representatives, licensees, vendors,

or non-governmental organizations,

such as public interest and citizen

groups, to

focus discussions on

issues that

could apply

to several

facilities.

Examples of

such issues

are plant system aging,

license

renewal,

decommissioning, and

spent fuel

storage. These meetings provide an

opportunity for the public to not

only observe and obtain factual

information, but to also participate

by providing NRC with feedback on

issues, alternatives, and/or decisions.

Level of Participation

The public is invited to discuss regulatory issues at designated points

identified on the agenda.

Information Provided

Information is provided in the

same manner as for Category 1

meetings. However, a web page

with links to other appropriate

background information may also

be available.

Follow-up

and

Feedback 

Follow-up

and feedback are

essentially

the same as

for

Category 1

meetings

except that

meeting

summaries or transcripts will be

available on the NRC web, if a specific site is established.

Category 2 meetings provide an opportunity for

the public to provide NRC with feedback on the

analysis of issues, alternatives, and/or decisions.
6

NRC PUBLIC MEETINGS

Category 3:

Meetings in this category are typically held with representatives of

non-government organizations,

private citizens or interested parties, or various businesses or industries to fully engage them in

discussion. These types of meetings

provide an opportunity for NRC

and the public to work directly

together to ensure that the issues

and concerns are understood and

considered by NRC. The intended

objective for the public at this type

of meeting is to work with the

NRC and to provide a range of

views, information, concerns and

suggestions with regard to regulatory issues.

Examples of this type of meeting

include:

• Town hall or roundtable discussions;

• Environmental Impact Statement

scoping meetings;

• Workshops;

• NRC’s annual Regulatory

Information Conference;

• The Nuclear Safety Research

Conference; and 

• Proposed rulemaking meetings

Level of Participation

This type of meeting, where public participation is actively

sought, provides the public with

the widest participation opportunities with NRC and the other

participants throughout the

meeting.

Information Provided

A specific web page is created for

this type of meeting, where all

relevant documents, including

the agenda, participants, and

background documents, will be

posted and linked. This information will also be available at the

meeting and in ADAMS.

Category 3 meetings fully engage the

public in discussions.
7

NRC PUBLIC MEETINGS

Follow-up and Feedback

Follow-up and feedback at

these types of meeting is similar to that in Category 2 meetings, but meeting summaries

or transcripts will be provided

in ADAMS and linked to the

NRC web site.

SPECIAL

CIRCUMSTANCES

There may be special circumstances that may require flexibility in adjusting public

participation levels for certain

meetings. For instance, meetings

that would normally be characterized as Category 1 may be changed

to Category 2 or 3 because of

unusually high public interest.

Advance notification of any meeting changes will be announced

promptly on the NRC web site.

TELECONFERENCING

Whenever practicable, NRC will

make a reasonable effort to provide

teleconferencing access for meetings which are not easily accessible

to interested citizens. Information

about teleconferencing will be provided in individual meeting

notices.

SECURITY

CONSIDERATIONS

Due to the events of September 11,

NRC’s visitor security procedures

were further strengthened.

Attendees at all NRC-sponsored

meetings should expect to

encounter the following security

measures, which are in place to

protect our employees and visitors,

alike. Security requirements may

differ, however, for meetings in

remote locations.

Visitor Registration, Badging and

Sign-in Procedures

All visitors attending meetings at

NRC’s White Flint North complex

in Rockville, Maryland, are

Whenever practicable, NRC will make a

reasonable effort to provide teleconferencing

access for meetings which are not easily

accessible to interested citizens.
8

NRC PUBLIC MEETINGS

screened through metal detectors

and their packages are x-rayed. All

visitors age 18 and older must present a picture ID, and register their

name, organization, time, place and

purpose of their visit. Registered

visitors are free to move about

without an escort in the following

public spaces located on the first

floor lobby

area: NRC

Public

Document

Room;

Commission

Meeting Room,

when open for

a meeting; the

NUREG Café;

Exhibit Area;

Cafeteria;

Snack ’N Go;

the Credit

Union; and the

public restrooms. Any visitors

going above the first floor lobby

level must display an NRC visitor

badge and be escorted by an NRC

employee.

Parking

Visitor vehicles are subject to

inspection before being allowed

into the NRC complex. Visitors

must have prior approval, arranged

by an NRC employee, to park

inside the garage or outside visitor

parking area. Permission to park in

the NRC garage requires an NRC

escort before driving into the

garage and to accompany the visitor from the garage to the receptionist area for screening,

registration, and badging.

Use of Cell

Phones, Taping

Equipment

and Cameras

Portable electronic devices

are allowed

into NRC

buildings and

public meetings. This

includes cellular telephones,

pagers, palm-size computing

devices, two-way radios, audio/data

recorders, and portable computers.

Cameras and video recording

devices (e.g., camcorders) are permitted in public meetings on a

case-by-case basis, with the

approval of the Director, Office of

Public Affairs, or the Director,

Division of Facilities and Security.

Devices that could interrupt or distract from public meetings (e.g.,
9

NRC PUBLIC MEETINGS

cellular phones, pagers, two-way

radios) are not to be used during

public meetings.

Restrictions on Packages, Searches

Signs, banners, posters and displays

not larger than 18 ̋x18 ̋ are permitted at NRC meetings; however, they

cannot be waved, held over one’s

head or generally moved about in

the meeting room because they are

distracting to the participants and

audience. Signs, banners,

posters and displays affixed

to sticks, poles, and the like

are not permitted in the

meeting room.

Use of NRC Copiers,

Telephones, and Fax

Machines

Visitors may not use these

items without the approval

and supervision of an NRC

employee. Visitors may use

the lobby level telephones to

make brief in-house and local

calls.

Visitor control procedures are

established for remote NRC public

meetings and hearings based on an

overall assessment by the NRC’s

Physical Security Branch taking

into account potential security concerns. Security requirements relative to visitors at similar facilities

nationwide may differ based on

factors that may not be readily

apparent and, therefore, meetings

are evaluated on a case-by-case

basis.
NRC PUBLIC MEETINGS

10

SUGGESTIONS

If you have suggestions for improving public meetings, please provide

them using the public meeting

feedback form, available at public

meetings, or otherwise in writing

to: The Assistant for

Communications, Deputy

Executive Director for Management

Services, Office of the Executive

Director for Operations, U.S.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission,

Washington, DC 20555.

Comments on NRC’s public participation policies, procedures, or on

any of NRC’s programs, can also be

submitted at the link on the Public

Involvement Page on NRC’s web site

at www.nrc.gov.
NUREG/BR-0297

August 2002

For Additional Information Contact:

Office of Public Affairs

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

Washington, DC 20555-0001

Telephone: 301-415-8200 or 800-368-5642

Fax: 301-415-2234

Internet: OPA@NRC.GOV

Web site: www.nrc.gov