UNITED STATES 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 

September 19, 2016 

SECRETARY 

COMMISSION VOTING RECORD 

DECISION ITEM: 

TITLE: 

SECY-16-0083 

PROJECT AIM-MATERIALS PROGRAM EVALUATION AND 

RECOMMENDATION 

The Commission acted on the subject paper as recorded in the Staff Requirements 

Memorandum (SRM) of September 19, 2016. 

This Record contains a summary of voting on this matter together with the individual vote 

sheets, views and comments of the Commission. 

Enclosures: 

1. Voting Summary 

2. Commissioner Vote Sheets 

cc: Chairman Burns 

Commissioner Svinicki 

Commissioner Baran 

OGC 

EDO 

PDR 

~μ:p~ Annette L. Vietti-Cook 

Secretary of the Commission 
VOTING SUMMARY - SECY-16-0083 

RECORDED VOTES 

NOT 

APPROVED DISAPPROVED ABSTAIN PARTICIPATING COMMENTS DATE 

Chrm . Burns x x 08/16/16 

Cmr. Svinicki x x 09/15/16 

Cmr. Baran x x 08/01/16 
TO: 

FROM: 

SUBJECT: 

Approved _2L 

RESPONSE SHEET 

Annette Vietti-Cook, Secretary 

Chairman Burns 

SECY-16-0083: PROJECT AIM - MATERIALS PROGRAM 

EVALUATION AND RECOMMENDATION 

Disapproved _ Abstain Not Participating _ 

Comments: Below X Attached None 

I approve the staff's recommended Option 1 for no further regional consolidation and to 

continue the process enhancements and re-baselining initiatives. I also approve the staffs 

variation on Option 1 for each Region to identify further reductions of supervisory or nontechnical staff by 2 full-time equivalents (FTE), for six FTE total. The staff's evaluation may 

not have fully leveraged ongoing agency initiatives to improve regional consistency, new and 

innovative ways of doing business, or ways to utilize better existing agency resources to 

enable employees and management to work remotely together more effectively. I encourage 

the staff to keep these things in mind - especially considering new and innovative ways of 

doing business and better utilizing already available agency resources to enable remote 

collaboration - in its continuation of process enhancements and re-baselining initiatives. 

Entered in STARS 

Yes X 

No {6 August 2016 

DATE 
TO: 

FROM: 

SUBJECT: 

RESPONSE SHEET 

Annette Vietti-Cook, Secretary 

COMMISSIONER SVINICKI 

SECY-16-0083: PROJECT AIM - MATERIALS 

PROGRAM EVALUATION AND RECOMMENDATION 

Approved _X_X __ Disapproved __ Abstain ---

Not Participating __ 

COMMENTS: Below XX Attached None ---

I approve the staff's recommended Option 1 variant under which 1) no further regional 

consolidation will occur at the present time, 2) process enhancements and re-baselining 

initiatives will continue (resulting in a reduction of 14 Full-time Equivalents (FTE)), and 3) 

Regions I, Ill, and IV will each identify reductions of supervisory or non-technical staff by 2 FTE 

(for a reduction of 6 additional FTE). Although the staff acknowledges the uncertainties in its 

analysis and that qualitative factors dominated a number of the specific evaluations of cases, 

the staff's conclusion (contained in the Integrated Business Case Evaluation, dated June 14, 

2016) that the benefits of the various consolidation proposals were debatable is a reasonable 

one. I share the view of Chairman Burns, however, that the relevant factors contributing to this 

result will continue to be dynamic. Consequently, as the staff continues to evaluate proposals, 

as they may arise, for organizational changes or other structural changes to how we are 

organized to carry out our mission, the staff should remain open to re-engaging the question of 

consolidation or re-assignment of functional areas between Headquarters and the Regions and 

keep in mind the goals and objectives underlying the Commission's Policy Statement on 

Regionalization, 49 Fed. Reg. 7676 (Mar. 1, 1984). 

Entered on "STARS" 

GNATURE 

os1/r-11s 

DATE 

Yes o_ 
RESPONSE SHEET 

TO: Annette Vietti-Cook, Secretary 

FROM: Commissioner Baran 

SUBJECT: SECY-16-0083: PROJECT AIM - MATERIALS PROGRAM 

EVALUATION AND RECOMMENDATION 

Approved _X_ Disapproved __ Abstain 

Comments: Below 

Entered in STARS 

Yes --X 

No 

Attached X --

DATE 

-- Not Participating __ 

None --
Commissioner Saran's Comments on SECY-16-0083, 

"Project Aim - Materials Program Evaluation and Recommendation" 

I appreciate the staff's thoughtful evaluation of whether further geographic 

consolidation of the regional materials program makes sense at this time. After 

considering the paper and discussing the pros and cons with the staff, I am persuaded 

that maintaining the materials program activities in Regions I, 111 , and IV is the best 

course of action. The staff's analysis of other options, such as consolidating the 

program in one regional office, two regional offices, or at headquarters, shows that 

geographic consolidation would require significant monetary and non-monetary 

implementation costs without providing much benefit. Physical consolidation would 

result in substantial upfront costs while adversely impacting the ability of NRC to 

respond to materials and reactor events. It would also complicate outreach to material 

licensees, states, and the public. Geographic consolidation would involve either the 

disruption caused by relocating staff or a move to permanent telework for some 

employees, which raises its own challenges. 

The benefits of further consolidation are insufficient to offset these 

disadvantages. The materials licensing and inspection workload is sizable and stable. 

Moreover, the staff found that "[m]aterials licensing and inspection work is generally 

short-term work that does not benefit from additional staff being co-located." So moving 

people around is not likely to generate meaningful efficiencies. 

Therefore, I approve the staff's recommended Option 1 to implement the process 

enhancements and re-baselining initiatives described in the paper without further 

geographic consolidation of the materials program. I support the staff's proposal to 

have each region identify two supervisory or non-technical positions to shed (for a total 

of six FTE) during FY 2018. This approach provides Regional Administrators with the 

flexibility to identify additional savings without the downsides of unnecessary physical 

consolidation .