ML0811306680

UNITED STATES 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 

OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY AND SAFEGUARDS 

OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION 

OFFICE OF FEDERAL AND STATE MATERIALS AND 

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS 

WASHINGTON, DC 20555-0001 

January 22, 2009 

NRC INFORMATION NOTICE 2009-01: NATIONAL RESPONSE FRAMEWORK 

ADDRESSEES 

All holders of operating licenses or certificates for nuclear power plants, research and test 

reactors, independent spent fuel storage installations, fuel cycle facilities, and radioactive 

materials. All holders of operating licenses for uranium recovery facilities and all holders of 

licenses or certificates for the following types of facilities undergoing decommissioning: nuclear 

power plants, research and test reactors, fuel cycle facilities, and uranium recovery facilities. 

PURPOSE 

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing this Information Notice (IN) to inform 

licensees and certificate holders of the National Response Framework (NRF), which replaced 

the National Response Plan (NRP) in 2008. This IN describes how Federal departments and 

agencies will use the NRF in their response planning so that licensees understand and are 

better prepared for a coordinated Federal response to an event at their facility. The NRC 

expects that recipients will review the information for applicability to their facilities and consider 

actions, as appropriate. Suggestions contained in this IN are not NRC requirements; therefore, 

no specific action or written response is required. 

DESCRIPTION OF CIRCUMSTANCES 

On January 08, 2008, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the NRF. The 

NRF is a guide to how the Nation conducts all-hazards response. It is built upon scalable, 

flexible, and adaptable coordinating structures to align key roles and responsibilities across the 

Nation. It also describes specific authorities and best practices for managing incidents that 

range from the serious but purely local, to large-scale terrorist attacks or catastrophic natural 

disasters. 

The NRF establishes a national, all-hazards approach to domestic incident response. The NRF 

identifies the key response principles, as well as the roles and structures that organize national 

response. The NRF describes how communities, States, the Federal Government, the privatesector, and nongovernmental partners apply these principles for a coordinated, effective 

national response. In addition, it describes special circumstances where the Federal 

government exercises a larger role, including incidents where Federal interests are involved and 

catastrophic incidents where a State would require significant support. The NRF lays the 
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groundwork for first responders, decision makers, and supporting entities to provide a unified 

national response. 

The NRF is supported by annexes, including the Emergency Support Functions Annex, Support 

Annexes, and Incident Annexes for specific types of incidents. The annexes provide concepts 

of operations, procedures, and structures to assist partners with their respective response 

directives in fulfilling their roles under the NRF. 

One change to the NRF is the elimination of the term Incident of National Significance (INS). 

The term was eliminated in order to focus on a more agile coordinated response from the entire 

incident management community. In accordance with Homeland Security Presidential 

Directive-5 (HSPD-5), DHS will engage and manage the overall Federal response when; (a) a 

Federal department or agency acting under its own authority has requested DHS’s assistance, 

(b) resources of State and local authorities are overwhelmed and Federal assistance has been 

requested, (c) more than one Federal department or agency has become substantially involved 

in responding to an incident, or (d) the Secretary of the DHS has been directed by the President 

to assume incident management command responsibilities. In addition, during outreach 

activities associated with the NRF, DHS has stated that they will coordinate with the appropriate 

departments or agencies to ensure that they are ready to manage the overall Federal response 

during an incident, should the HSPD-5 criteria be met. 

As with the NRP, the NRF does not alter the NRC’s independent authority or impede its ability 

to respond to events involving NRC-licensed facilities or materials. As outlined in the 

Nuclear/Radiological Incident Annex, the NRC is responsible to: (a) independently assess 

facility conditions and monitor licensee response activities; (b) ensure that appropriate 

protective action recommendations are communicated to the State and local officials; (c) keep 

the public informed of the NRC’s understanding of the event; and, (d) if necessary, the 

Chairman may invoke his authority to intervene and issue orders that may direct the licensee’s 

response activities on-site. 

Most important to the NRC and its licensees is the Nuclear/Radiological Incident Annex, which 

outlines the roles and responsibilities of the various Federal agencies involved in radiological 

accidents/incidents.1

 A change to the Nuclear/Radiological Incident Annex (June 2008) 

removed the requirement for the NRC to be the Coordinating Agency for events involving 

Radiological Dispersal Devices or Improvised Nuclear Devices. The Nuclear/Radiological 

Incident Annex does not create any new authorities, nor change any existing ones, regarding 

the NRC’s independent authority to respond to events involving NRC-licensed facilities or 

materials. 

The Nuclear/Radiological Incident Annex to the NRF states that the NRC is the Coordinating 

Agency for events occurring at NRC-licensed facilities and for radioactive materials licensed 

either by the NRC or under the NRC’s Agreement States Program. As Coordinating Agency, 

NRC has technical leadership for the Federal government’s response to the event. As the 

 

1

 In addition to releasing the NRF base document, the Emergency Support Function Annexes 

and Support Annexes are available on-line at the NRF Resource Center (www.fema.gov/nrf). 
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severity of an event worsens, DHS will proactively engage in the coordination of the overall 

Federal response to the event in accordance with the criteria outlined in HSPD-5. 

When called upon to act as the Coordinating Agency, the NRC is responsible for providing 

timely status updates to DHS and the White House. This includes: (a) participating in seniorlevel telephone conference calls with licensee, State, local, and Federal entities; (b) participating 

in press briefings by the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security or other senior 

Federal officials, as necessary; (c) dispatching liaisons to the DHS and/or Federal Emergency 

Management Agency (FEMA) Operations Centers; (d) providing input to DHS Situation Reports, 

as requested; and, (e) dispatching NRC representatives to the Joint Field Office. 

DISCUSSION 

In January 2008, DHS released the NRF that establishes a national, all-hazards approach to 

domestic incident response for events that include nuclear/radiological events. This IN informs 

licensees that Federal departments and agencies will use the NRF in their response planning so 

that licensees understand and are better prepared for a coordinated Federal response to an 

event at their facility. Additional information on the NRF and its supporting documents can be 

found on the FEMA website at http://www.fema.gov/emergency/nrf. 

While the NRF provides for a unified national response to events, specific roles and 

responsibilities of the NRC and its licensees remain unchanged. 

• The licensee has the primary responsibility for operation of the equipment or facility, to 

bring it to a safe condition, and to mitigate the consequences of an event. The licensee 

is also responsible for making timely emergency notifications and protective action 

recommendations to the State and local authorities, as applicable. 

• The NRC has the primary responsibility to provide an independent assessment of the 

event, communicate information to the State, and coordinate with Federal agencies, 

consistent with the roles stated in the NRF. 
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CONTACT 

This IN requires no specific action or written response. Please direct any questions about this 

matter to the technical contact listed below. 

Timothy J. McGinty, Director Daniel H. Dorman, Director 

Division of Policy and Rulemaking Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards 

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards 

Robert J. Lewis, Director 

Division of Materials Safety 

 and State Agreements 

Office of Federal and State Materials and 

 Environmental Management Programs 

Technical Contact: Michael I. Dudek, NSIR 

301-415-6500 

E-mail: michael.dudek@nrc.gov 

Note: NRC generic communications may be found on the NRC public Web site, 

http://www.nrc.gov, under Electronic Reading Room/Document Collections. 
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CONTACT 

This IN requires no specific action or written response. Please direct any questions about this 

matter to the technical contact listed below. 

/RA/ /RA/

Timothy J. McGinty, Director Daniel H. Dorman, Director 

Division of Policy and Rulemaking Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards 

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards 

/RA/ 

Robert J. Lewis, Director 

Division of Materials Safety 

 and State Agreements 

Office of Federal and State Materials and 

 Environmental Management Programs 

Technical Contact: Michael I. Dudek, NSIR 

301-415-6500 

E-mail: michael.dudek@nrc.gov 

Note: NRC generic communications may be found on the NRC public Web site, 

http://www.nrc.gov, under Electronic Reading Room/Document Collections. 

Distribution: IN Reading File 

ADAMS Accession Number: ML081130668 

OFFICE CB/IR CB/IR TECH EDITOR CB/IR DD/IR/DPR 

NAME MWilliamson MDudek KArariah-Kribbs WGott BMcDermott 

DATE 04/28/08 04/29/08 10/3/08 email 05/03/08 05/12/08 

OFFICE D/DPR/NSIR PGCB:DPR PGCB:DPR 

NAME MLeach DBeaulieu CHawes CMH 

DATE 06/25/08 1/16/09 01/15/09 

OFFICE BC:PGCB:DPR D:DMSSA D:DWMEP D:FCSS D:DPR 

NAME MMurphy RLewis LCamper PBubar 

for 

DDorman TMcGinty 

DATE 01/21/09 1/16/09 1/16/09 1/16/09 01/21/09 

OFFICIAL RECORD COPY