May 21, 2015 

The Honorable John Boehner 

Speaker of the House of Representatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

Dear Mr. Speaker: 

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

enclosed “Report to Congress on Abnormal Occurrences: Fiscal Year (FY) 2014.” This 

submission is in accordance with Section 208 of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, as 

amended (Public Law 93-438), and the Federal Reports Elimination and Sunset Act of 1995 

(Public Law 104-66), which require the NRC to identify and report Abnormal Occurrences (AOs) 

to Congress annually. An AO is an unscheduled incident or event that the Commission 

determines to be significant from the standpoint of public health or safety. 

The NRC initially issued the AO criteria in a policy statement that the Commission 

published in the Federal Register on February 24, 1977 (42 FR 10950), followed by several 

revisions in subsequent years. The most recent revision to the AO criteria, published in the 

Federal Register on October 12, 2006 (71 FR 60198), established the criteria that the NRC uses 

to define AOs for the purpose of the enclosed report, as set forth in Appendix A to that report. 

The enclosed AO report for FY 2014 describes one event at an NRC-licensed facility 

and twelve events at facilities licensed by Agreement States. One Agreement State event 

involved radiation exposure to an embryo or fetus and the NRC event and other eleven 

Agreement State events were medical events, as defined in the NRC’s regulations. 

Sincerely, 

/RA/ 

Stephen G. Burns 

Enclosure: 

As stated 

 
Identical letter sent to: 

The Honorable John Boehner 

Speaker of the House of Representatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

The Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr. 

President of the Senate 

Washington, DC 20510 

The Honorable James M. Inhofe 

Chairman, Committee on Environment and Public Works 

United States Senate 

Washington, DC 20510 

cc: Senator Barbara Boxer 

The Honorable Shelly 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 Fred Upton 

Chairman, Committee on Energy and Commerce 

United States House of Representatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

cc: Representative Frank Pallone 

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