ML18115A435
| ML18115A435 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 03/31/2018 |
| From: | NRC/Chairman |
| To: | US Congress |
| R. Rihm, EDO | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML18085A056 | List: |
| References | |
| CORR-18-0038, SRM-LTR-17-0416 | |
| Download: ML18115A435 (2) | |
Text
APPENDIX A PROJECT AIM STATUS UPDATE January 06, 2018 - March 31, 2018 In the staff requirements memorandum for SECY-15-0015, Project Aim 2020 Report and Recommendations, issued on June 8, 2015, the Commission directed Project Aims 19 tasks to address the NRCs need to improve efficiency and agility, as well as to right-size the agency, while retaining employees with the appropriate skills to accomplish its mission and streamline processes. Although the major deliverables for each of the 19 tasks were completed in 2017, most Project Aim tasks involve ongoing actions to implement recommendations. Below is a summary of the implementation activities for the period January 6, 2018, to March 31, 2108.
Task 5, one of the 19 Project Aim tasks, involves the integrated prioritization and re-baselining of 150 agency work activities to be shed, de-prioritized, or performed with fewer resources (SECY-16-0009, Recommendations Resulting from the Integrated Prioritization and Re-Baselining of Agency Activities). The agency has completed 149 of the 150 specific Re-baselining activities, including one activity (Activity 4, described below) during this reporting period. Completion of these actions realized savings of approximately $48 million.
- Activity 4, orderly closeout of Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) and Monitored Retrievable Storage licensing requirements, has been completed. The Office of Nuclear Materials Safety and Safeguards staff has coordinated with its contractor, Sandia National Laboratory (SNL), to resolve NRC staff comments on a report that SNL drafted for source term release fractions in support of the FY 2007 Commission directed ISFSI rulemaking. The remaining tasks supported the development of two regulatory guides associated with the rulemaking. The regulatory guides were canceled when the rulemaking was delayed and are not planned to be restarted.
The sole remaining re-baselining activity is delayed beyond the original target date. However, the 0.2 full time equivalent (FTE) savings associated with this activity has been included in the agency budget. Work is proceeding by reprioritizing work. The status of the activity follows:
- Activity 94, updating the guidance for the 10 CFR 2.206 process for petitions to clarify the evaluation criteria for when to hold public meetings on petitions and allow the Petition Review Board to make an initial decision to accept the petition without a petitioner presentation, when appropriate. Since the issuance of the original re-baselining plan, the NRC staff sought public feedback on proposed revisions to Management Directive (MD) 8.11, Review Process for 10 CFR 2.206 Petitions, and the Commission held a meeting to receive views from external stakeholders and NRC staff on ways to improve the 10 CFR 2.206 petition process. The staff is considering additional revisions to MD 8.11 based on public feedback and Commission direction.
Project Aim Task 17 involves the development of Competency Models as part of the agency training program to provide the tools and means for staff to improve job skills, increase the efficiency and effectiveness of qualification programs - reducing time and cost to qualify, and provide the
means for staff to more quickly move between roles as the workload shifts. In the last 9 months, work has progressed. Staff has 9 completed models and has 19 models in development. Recent efforts and the initial models will be used to continue development and evaluation of the Business Case for Competency Based Qualification. The staff is coordinating the development of Competency Models with the Enhanced Strategic Workforce Planning efforts.
Project Aim Task 15 involves the merger of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation and the Office of New Reactors. A merger team was formed and has developed options for an organizational structure for the merged office based on workload analysis and focus group discussions. The merger team is also assessing pre-merger consolidation areas and potential for establishing Centers of Expertise. The preliminary organizational structures were vetted through joint meetings held at different management levels from both offices. In addition, the merger team used the aforementioned draft workload projections and draft organizational structures to inform budget planning.
Building on upon Project Aim Task 14, regarding effectiveness and efficiency of regional corporate support functions, a new effectiveness and effort was developed to examine agency wide Standardization and Centralization of Mission Support Functions (ADAMS Accession No. ML16364A163), including 21 discrete standardization and centralization projects. During this period work was completed on the following 5 projects:
- Project 1 - Budget Formulation Roles and Responsibilities, staff have developed a centralized budget formulation process in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer that streamlines the budget development process, applies consistent analyses across business lines and product lines, and reduces duplicative workload across organizations.
- Project 3 - Travel Planning Standardization, a common template and well-understood process to facilitate sharing travel planning information within a business line had been developed. The template is designed to assist lead offices in balancing travel needs across a business line. As a result, business line lead and partner offices can effectively and efficiently plan for and fund mission-critical travel requirements as well as emergent needs.
- Project 4 - FTE Burn Rate Monitoring, staff have developed common tools, reports, and processes that rely on authoritative data to calculate FTEs utilization. As a result, it is expected that the NRC can eliminate the use of cuff systems and offices will be able to effectively analyze FTE utilization data each pay period to support resources decisions.
- Project 8 - Performance Management, staff have developed products and tools to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of performance management processes and are available on the agencys Performance Management SharePoint site.
- Project 14 - Drug Testing Standardization, the regional offices worked with the Office of Administration to develop standardized drug testing procedures and all regional offices are now consistent with the implementation of the program.