Last but not least, in conjunction with clarity and consistency, I believe we need accountability. Too often it appears that the NRC enacts good rules, but somewhere between the establishment of requirements by the Commission and their actual implementation in the field, there is a disconnect. The Commission has been insistent that these problems must be corrected. For our part, we know that we have to put a lot of effort into making our rulings clear and consistent. And accountability needs to be threaded throughout the process .
Accountability cuts both ways.
It means being able to give credit where credit is due. It also means, when deficiencies occur, being able to know where the responsibility lies. The inspection process is so important a component of our regulatory program that I have been trying to figure out a metaphor to describe it. The inspection process must work like a tunable transducer, and never like a bistable. Let me tell you a story.