Information Notice 2009-01, National Response Framework

National Response Framework

ML081130668
Person / Time
Issue date:	01/22/2009
From:	Dan Dorman, Robert Lewis, Mcginty T NRC/FSME/DMSSA, NRC/NMSS/FCSS, Division of Policy and Rulemaking
To:
MICHAEL WILLIAMSON
References
IN-09-01
Download: ML081130668 (5)

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 private- sector, 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

ML0811306680 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 DHSs 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 NRCs 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 NRCs understanding of the event; and, (d) if necessary, the

Chairman may invoke his authority to intervene and issue orders that may direct the licensees

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 NRCs 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 NRCs Agreement States Program. As Coordinating Agency, NRC has technical leadership for the Federal governments 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). 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 senior- level 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.

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

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.

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

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 DDorman TMcGinty

for

DATE 01/21/09 1/16/09 1/16/09 1/16/09 01/21/09 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY