UNITED STATES

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 

September 30, 2016 

MEMORANDUM TO: Cynthia D. Pederson, Administrator 

Region III 

FROM: Daniel S. Collins, Director /RA/ 

Division of Material Safety, State, Tribal 

 and Rulemaking Programs 

 Office of Nuclear Material Safety 

 and Safeguards 

 

SUBJECT: APRIL 18, 2016, PERIODIC MEETING UNDER THE 

INTEGRATED MATERIALS PERFORMANCE EVALUATION 

PROGRAM 

A periodic meeting with Region III was held on April 18, 2016. The purpose of the meeting was 

to review and discuss the status of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Region III 

Radioactive Materials Program. The Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards was 

represented by Lisa Dimmick, Paul Michalak, and myself. Specific topics and issues of 

importance discussed at the meeting included the status of operating plan and performance 

metrics, status of staffing and training, licensing and inspection activities, and a review of 

regional self-assessments. 

Enclosed is a general meeting summary, no performance concerns with respect to the 

Integrated Materials Performance Evaluation Program criteria were identified. A Management 

Review Board (MRB) meeting to discuss the outcome of the periodic meeting has been 

scheduled for October 25, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. (ET). Call in and video conferencing information 

for the MRB will be provided in a separate transmission. 

I appreciate the support and preparation for this periodic meeting from the Region III 

management and staff. 

Enclosure: 

Periodic Meeting Summary 

cc: John Giessner, Director 

 Division of Nuclear Materials Safety 
MEMORANDUM TO: Cynthia D. Pederson, Administrator 

Region III 

FROM: Daniel S. Collins, Director /RA/ 

Division of Material Safety, State, Tribal 

 and Rulemaking Programs 

 Office of Nuclear Material Safety 

 and Safeguards 

 

SUBJECT: APRIL 18, 2016, PERIODIC MEETING UNDER THE 

INTEGRATED MATERIALS PERFORMANCE EVALUATION 

PROGRAM 

A periodic meeting with Region III was held on April 18, 2016. The purpose of the meeting was 

to review and discuss the status of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Region III 

Radioactive Materials Program. The Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards was 

represented by Lisa Dimmick, Paul Michalak, and myself. Specific topics and issues of 

importance discussed at the meeting included the status of operating plan and performance 

metrics, status of staffing and training, licensing and inspection activities, and a review of 

regional self-assessments. 

Enclosed is a general meeting summary, no performance concerns with respect to the 

Integrated Materials Performance Evaluation Program criteria were identified. A Management 

Review Board (MRB) meeting to discuss the outcome of the periodic meeting has been 

scheduled for October 25, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. (ET). Call in and video conferencing information 

for the MRB will be provided in a separate transmission. 

I appreciate the support and preparation for this periodic meeting from the Region III 

management and staff. 

Enclosure: 

Periodic Meeting Summary 

cc: John Giessner, Director 

 Division of Nuclear Materials Safety 

DISTRIBUTION: (SP07) 

RidsNmssOd 

RidsRgn3MailCenter 

CLipa, RIII 

AMcCraw, RIII 

PPelke, RIII 

MKunowski, RIII 

JLynch, RIII/RSAO 

PHenderson, MSTR 

PMichalak, MSTR 

ML16263A219 

OFFICE MSTR/ASPB MSTR:D 

NAME LDimmick DCollins 

w/edits

DATE 09/23/16 09/30/16 

OFFICIAL RECORD COPY 
Enclosure 

PERIODIC MEETING SUMMARY FOR 

NRC REGION III RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS PROGRAM 

DATE OF MEETING: APRIL 18, 2016 

NRC Nuclear Material Safety and 

Safeguards (NMSS) Attendees 

NRC REGION III Attendees 

Dan Collins, Director 

Division of Material Safety, State, Tribal and 

Rulemaking Programs 

Cynthia Pederson, Regional Administrator 

NRC Region III 

Paul Michalak, Branch Chief 

Agreement State Programs Branch 

Division of Material Safety, State, Tribal and 

Rulemaking Programs 

Jack Giessner, Director 

Division of Nuclear Materials Safety 

Lisa Dimmick, Senior Health Physicist 

Agreement State Programs Branch 

Division of Material Safety, State, Tribal and 

Rulemaking Programs 

Christine Lipa, Deputy Director 

Division of Nuclear Materials Safety 

 Aaron McCraw, Branch Chief 

Materials Inspection Branch 

 Patricia Pelke, Branch Chief 

Materials Licensing Branch 

 Jim Lynch, State Agreements Officer 

Region III 

DISCUSSION: 

The previous Integrated Materials Performance Evaluation Program (IMPEP) review of the U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Region III office was conducted the week of September 

24–28, 2012. The review team found Region III’s performance to be satisfactory for all 

performance indicators reviewed. The review team did not open any recommendations 

regarding program performance and there were no recommendations from prior IMPEP 

reviews to close. Accordingly, the review team recommended, and the MRB agreed, that the 

Region III program is adequate to protect public health and safety. In addition, Region III was 

given a 1-year extension of its next IMPEP review for having two consecutive IMPEP reviews 

with all indicators found satisfactory. The MRB directed that the next IMPEP review be in 5 

years (September 2017) with a periodic meeting held mid-cycle. This summary is a reflection 

of that periodic meeting which was held on April 18, 2016. 

The following topics were discussed during the periodic meeting: 

Status of the Region’s Program 

The NRC Region III radioactive materials program is administered by the Division of Nuclear 

Materials Safety (the Division). The Division is composed of three branches: Materials 

Inspection Branch (MIB), Materials Licensing Branch (MLB), and the Materials Control, ISFSI, 

and Decommissioning Branch. The Division has not reorganized since the last IMPEP review; 

however, an organizational adjustment was made. The MLB added a licensing assistant who 

provides a quality assurance role for Web Based Licensing (WBL). 
NRC Region III Radioactive Materials Program 

Periodic Meeting Summary Page 2 

Status of operating plan metrics: 

The Region provided its Operational Management Information (OMI) for fiscal years (FY) 

2014, 2015, and 2016 for review and discussion by meeting participants. These reports are 

updated quarterly. No issues were identified with respect to operating plan metrics. Specific 

areas of the OMI metrics in inspection and licensing as they relate to the IMPEP performance 

indicators are discussed below. 

IMPEP Performance Indicators 

Technical Staffing and Training (2012 IMPEP: Satisfactory) 

The attendees reviewed the Division’s staffing level, along with the status of inspector and 

license reviewer qualifications. The Division reported it is budgeted for 28 technical staff. At the 

time of the periodic meeting there was one vacancy: one position in inspection was not posted 

at that time, pending the Commission decision on consolidation. No concerns with staffing were 

identified. 

The Division uses the qualification program outlined in NRC Inspection Manual Chapters (IMC) 

1248, “Formal Qualification Programs for Federal and State Material and Environmental 

Management Program.” No concerns with staff qualifications and training were identified. 

Status of Materials Inspection Program (2012 IMPEP: Satisfactory) 

At the time of the periodic meeting, the Division reported it had no overdue inspections, and had 

performed no inspections overdue by more than 25 percent of the inspection frequency in IMC 

2800, “Materials Inspection Program” since the last IMPEP review in 2012 with one exception. 

An initial inspection was attempted for one licensee. Because no activities had been performed 

under the license, another initial inspection should have been conducted within the one year. 

However, the next inspection schedule was set in WBL at the routine frequency for the license 

type (September 2014) and not as an initial inspection. As a result, the initial inspection 

became overdue. Once the error was discovered, another initial inspection was immediately 

scheduled and completed in May 2014. Subsequently, the frequency for the next inspection 

was appropriately set in WBL. The Division conducted an extent of condition assessment and 

confirmed there were no other examples of initial inspections being mischaracterized in WBL. 

The Division reported that it met its reciprocity targets by inspecting 20 percent or greater of 

candidate licensees in FY 2014, 2015 and 2016. The Division tracks the timeliness of 

inspection report issuance and reported it met timeliness targets for each fiscal year since 2012. 

Technical Quality of Inspections (2012 IMPEP: Satisfactory) 

The Division met its metrics for inspection accompaniments in FY 2014, 2015 and 2016. The 

MIB Chief commented that the branch has received positive feedback on Part 37 inspections 

from the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards and the Office of Enforcement 

provided positive feedback on the quality of inspection reports and the in-depth assessments 

contained therein.
NRC Region III Radioactive Materials Program 

Periodic Meeting Summary Page 3 

Technical Quality of Licensing Actions (2012 IMPEP: Satisfactory) 

Materials licensing casework for new, amendment, and renewal applications all met the 

operating plan metrics for FY 2014, 2015, and 2016. In addition to licensing activities for 

Region III’s materials licenses, the Division oversees the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) 

master materials license (MML). In the oversight of the VA MML, the MLB Chief attends the 

VA’s quarterly National Radiation Safety Committee meetings. During the meeting, the MLB 

chief discussed some practices of the MLB staff to assure license quality. For instance, when 

staff processes amendments, the reviewer is expected to review the license for other items in 

the license that need to be updated. 

Technical Quality of Incidents and Allegations (2012 IMPEP: Satisfactory) 

Attendees discussed the Division’s program for incident response including the completeness 

and timeliness of NMED reporting. The Division has had 121 events since the last IMPEP 

review. The Division conducted 31 reactive inspections based on the safety significance of the 

event. For the reactive inspections, the Division provided a text narrative of the event and 

corresponding reactive inspection in the “Noteworthy Accomplishment” section of the Division’s 

OMI reports. For those events that do not warrant a reactive inspection, a note to file is made to 

followup on the event at the next inspection. 

With respect to allegations, the Division reported there were 45 allegations received since the 

last IMPEP and all were closed timely. 

Review of Regional self-assessments: 

The Division includes in the OMI its self-assessment plan for each fiscal year. The 

self-assessment plan typically includes a quality review of material licensing actions, quality 

review of inspection findings, financial assurance instrument security, and decommissioning 

licensing. Other assessment areas might include Region III’s Radiation Safety Program and 

activities like the accuracy of submissions to the Agencywide Document Management System. 

The self-assessments are tools designed to identify issues related to Region III’s licensing and 

oversight program. If issues are identified, the Division implements commensurate corrective 

actions. 

NMSS initiatives that may impact the Regions: 

NMSS managers presented several current initiatives ongoing at NRC. These included: 

• Project AIM 

• Rebaselining 

• NUREG 1556 series update 

• Status of the combined policy statements on adequacy and compatibility 

• Status of the Government Accountability Office license audit 

• Web Based Licensing 

• Wyoming and Vermont pursuing agreements
NRC Region III Radioactive Materials Program 

Periodic Meeting Summary Page 4 

Conclusion 

No performance concerns with respect to the IMPEP criteria were identified. There are no 

overdue inspections or backlog of licensing actions. Response to incidents and allegations has 

been appropriate. No concerns with staffing and training were noted. Staff recommends to the 

MRB that the next IMPEP review of the Region III radioactive materials program be held in FY 

2017 as currently scheduled.