ML19344E614
| ML19344E614 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 08/13/1980 |
| From: | Ahearne J NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| To: | Chiles L SENATE, GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19344E615 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8009020368 | |
| Download: ML19344E614 (2) | |
Text
o UNITED STATES C
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION cdC!.CEfCli (
~g o
WASHINGTON, D. C. 20555 PC@*gg y
,E
\\*****/
August 13, 1980 CHAIRMAN The Honorable Lawton Chiles, Chairman Subcommittee on Federal Spending Practices Committee on Governmental Affairs United States Se.3te Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Chiles:
The Commission has already provided to the Subcommittee its annual report on the implementation of the Sunshine Act.
In response to your request for comments and general views, we outline below a number of areas in which your assistance would be appreciated.
For the most part, however, the Commission has experienced little difficulty in carrying out the purposes of the Act, and continues to strongly support the concept of openness in the conduct of Commission business.
The discussion of unclassified material given to the Commission in con-fidence by the Executive Branch is an area of concern.
The Commission may receive draft documents, particularly with respect to international matters, from the Executive Branch with the request that Be Commission provide comments and not publicly disclose the contents of the draft.
The Commission may meet in closed session to discuss this material under Exemption 9 of the Sunshine Act.
However, after the Executive Branch makes its final document public, the Commission would no longer have a basis for withholding transcripts of the Commission meeting from public disclosure. This is of some concern to the Department of State because it may not want the contents of the draft made public.
The only means to avoid this difficulty under current law would be for the Commission not to meet on the draft document.
As I am sure you are aware, the accident at Three title Island necessitated a complete reexamination of the Commission's crisis management system.
Although our plans for crisis management do not envision a direct role for the Commission as a whole, it could become necessary for several Commissioners to meet during an accident to receive briefings on the situation or to discuss related matters.
Commissioner Hendrie and I would like to note that while any such meeting, in all probability, would be closeable under Exemption 9 of the Sunshine Act, a transcript would be required to be kept and ultimately released.
We feel that awareness of that prospect could inhibit discussion at a time when free exchange of ideas is absolutely essential.
Balanced against that possibility is the increase in accountability to the public inherent in the public disclosure of these discussions. While we know of no instance in 80090203 @
The Honorable Lawton Chiles 2
the Commission r*aetings during the Three 1111e Island accident in which discussion was in fact inhibited, we believe that the Subcommittee should be aware of this potential difficulty.
Commissioners Bradford and Gilinsky feel that cespite some possible draw-backs, transcripts of Commission meetings and other conversations during the course of an accident are on the whole beneficial. They assist those who must subsequently understand why particular actions were taken and recommend improvements.
Furtheirore, their presence reduces concern out-side the agency over any concealment of the seriousness of an event.
The Commission has also encountered some problems when meeting to discuss export applications.
These are not formal " adjudications" for purposes of Demption 10, and in many cases classified information is not involved. We have also found that Exemption 9(B) is not applicable to most cases of this type.
Nonetheless, export applications are " cases" which the Commission must deliberate in much the same fashion as for domestic adjudicatory deci-sions.
Frequently, sensitive foreign policy considerations figure heavily in the decision. There have been some instances where, in our view, clo-sure of a meeting would have been advisable but was not possible because no exemptions to the Act were applicable.
Finally, the Commission has, from time to time, considered the benefits of gathering in some location away from the daily pressure of work, to discuss broad issues of management policy and perhaps to resolve long-standing differences of opinion. 'Such a retreat might be of particular benefit to a collegial regulatory body such as the NRC, which must attempt to reach a consensus in many controversial areas of public policy.
It is clear, however, that a closed meeting of this kind, whatever its advantages to the conduct of Commission business, would not be permitted by the Sunshine Act.
Because it has recently been reorganized pursuant to the President's Re-organization Plan No.1 of 1980, the Commission may wish to offer further comments after the new management system has been in effect for some time.
Sincerely,,
6.L u, John F. Ahearne cc: The Honorable Richardson Preyer
._