[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 155 (Thursday, August 12, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44061-44062]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-20910]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Reactor Safety Chapter of the Strategic Plan Workshop
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Request for public comment/notice of meeting.
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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is requesting public comment
on the draft Nuclear Reactor Safety Chapter of the NRC Strategic Plan.
The NRC is conducting a workshop on August 20, 1999, to give
stakeholders an opportunity to meet with agency representatives to ask
questions and comment on the Nuclear Reactor Safety Chapter of the
Strategic Plan that the Commission has under consideration. This
workshop is open to the public and all interested parties may attend.
DATES: August 20, 1999, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
ADDRESSES: One White Flint North, NRC Commission Hearing Room, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James L. Blaha, Mail Stop O16-E15,
U.S.
[[Page 44062]]
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555-0001. Telephone:
(301) 415-1703; FAX: (301) 415-2162; Internet: [email protected]
Background
As part of the Government Performance and Results Act, the NRC is
required to update its strategic plan triennially. The NRC's first
strategic plan was issued in September 1997. Since that time, the NRC
has implemented a Planning, Budgeting and Performance Measurement
(PBPM) process which focuses on becoming more performance-based and
outcome-oriented. The Nuclear Reactor Safety Chapter of the NRC
Strategic Plan reflects this approach to long-range planning, as well
as institutionalizing regulatory reforms that have been initiated
within the last 18 months. The Nuclear Reactor Safety chapter has
progressed to a point that further improvement will be enhanced by
stakeholder input.
In the Fall of 1997 the agency undertook an effort to review and
revise its strategic plan to better align and link the goals and
strategies and to improve the logic and functionality of the strategic
plan. The revision, however, did not fully consider the issues raised
during the NRC's July 30, 1998, hearing before the Senate Subcommittee
on Clean Air, Wetlands, Private Property, and Nuclear Safety; the July
17, 1998, Commission meeting with stakeholders; the Chairman's August
7, 1998, tasking memorandum; or the progress achieved to make NRC
planning and budgeting more outcome-oriented. Since that time, the
agency has begun an internal review to address these issues. This has
resulted in a draft of selected portions of the strategic plan.
The draft of the Strategic Plan reflects revisions that focus on
the Nuclear Reactor Safety arena and reflects the progress to date.
Updates to this plan reflect changes in Commission policy over the past
year, stakeholder input, as well as the development of new performance
goals and measures. Also included in this package are edits to the
front end sections that describe the Agency's mission, strategic goals,
management goals, and strategic arenas. The Nuclear Reactor Safety
Chapter reflects the new focus on four performance goals and the key
strategies to be used to achieve these goals. Once completed, this
chapter will be used as a model to revise and finalize the other
program arena chapters.
This draft of the strategic plan is intended to reflect the results
from the change process which has occurred over the past 18 months and
which continues at the NRC. It also describes how this paradigm shift
will become an integral part of NRC's future planning, budgeting, and
performance management. A schedule to facilitate dialogue among the
Commission staff, stakeholders, and Congress is provided below:
Revisions to the Nuclear Reactor Safety (NRS) Chapter of the Strategic
Plan
August 3: Issue draft NRS chapter to stakeholders for comment
August 20: Stakeholder Workshop on NRS chapter
Early September: Revised NRS chapter to Commission
Late September: Senate Oversight hearing
The remaining Strategic Plan chapters (Nuclear Materials Safety,
Nuclear Waste Safety, International Nuclear Safety Support) will be
revised over the next year.
Stakeholder Input to the NRS Chapter of the Strategic Plan
While NRC recognizes work is yet to be finished, further
improvements to the draft Strategic Plan will benefit from stakeholder
input. The NRC is particularly interested in stakeholder views on the
four performance goals and their associated measures and strategies.
The draft specifically identifies a number of performance measures for
which stakeholder input will be especially useful.
Stakeholder input is requested on the following broad areas:
Do strategic goals, management goals, and performance
goals address the appropriate areas requiring emphasis?
Are the strategies to achieve these goals adequate to
achieve success?
Are the performance measures adequate to indicate whether
we are achieving our goals? Are there better measures?
Do goals and strategies reflect NRC's commitment to
institutionalize change and become more performance based?
August 20, 1999 Workshop
NRC will be conducting a public workshop on August 10, 1999 at 1:00
p.m. in Rockville, Maryland, in the Commission Hearing Room to discuss
the Nuclear Reactor Safety Chapter of the Strategic Plan. The NRC staff
will answer questions and receive comments. Members of the public are
invited to attend. Those wishing to participate in discussions are
urged to contact Jim Blaha at 301-415-1703 to facilitate agenda
planning.
In addition to participating in the workshop, stakeholders may
submit written comments on the draft of the Strategic Plan to the NRC.
Comments are requested by August 27, 1999. The draft Strategic Plan, as
well as the ability to provide comments electronically, are available
on the NRC web site at http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/COMMISSION/INITIATIVES/
1999/index.html. Comments may also be provided in writing to the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ATTN: Debra J. Corley, Mail Stop O-
16E15, Washington, D.C. 20555-0001.
Stakeholder comments will be considered in another update of the
draft Nuclear Reactor Safety chapter. This update will be provided to
the Commission and made publically available prior to our Senate
oversight hearing planned for September 1999. Stakeholders will also
have other opportunities to comment on the NRC Strategic Plan which is
required to be submitted to Congress by September 2000 in accordance
with the Government Performance and Results Act.
The NRC is accessible to the White Flint Metro Station. Visitor
parking near the NRC buildings is limited.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 6th day of August, 1999.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Frank J. Miraglia, Jr.,
Deputy Executive Director for Regulatory Programs, Office of Executive
Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 99-20910 Filed 8-11-99; 8:45 am]
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