ML20033G322
| ML20033G322 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 03/01/1990 |
| From: | Carr K NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| To: | Bowsher C GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20033F914 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9004090061 | |
| Download: ML20033G322 (10) | |
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UNITED STATES -
i NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION o
,I WASHINGTON, D. C. 20555 March 1, 1990 CHAIRMAN fr>
The Honorable Charles A. Bowsher Comptroller General of the United States General Accounting Office Washington, D. C.
20548
Dear Mr. Bowsher:
I am enclosing a summary of actions taken by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in response to recommendations concerning the NRC which were in reports issued by the Comptroller General.
It includes significant actions taken on recommendations in reports issued since our last summary report dated March 2, 1989.
This summary is required by Section 236 of Public Law 91-510, the " Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970."
Sincerely, L
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Kenneth M. Carr
Enclosure:
Summary of NRC Actions n.
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SUMMARY
OF NRC ACTIONS P
RESPONSE TO GAO REPORTS 7
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Pace 1.
NRC's Decomissioning Procedures and Criteria Need to A-2 be Strengthened i'
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- NRC's Restart Actions Appetr Reasonable--But Criteria Needed A-5 3.
License Renewal Questions for Nuclear Plants Need to be A-6
. Resolved 4.
NRC's Security Clearance Program Can be Strengthened A-7 i
t 5.
Stricter Controls Needed for Radioactive Byproduct A-8 Materiel Licenses L
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.GAO Peport - NRC's Decomissioning Procedures and Criteria Need to be Strengthened i
May 1989
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(GA0/RCED-89-119)
Recommendation No. 1 (Chapter 5) l The GA0 report recomended that NRC require licensees to specifictlly list in one document all land, buildings, and equipment involved with ths.ir licensed i
operations.
NRC Response - September 26, 1989 i
The NRC agreed with this recomendation.
Our final decomissioning rule, approved by the Comission in May 1988, specifically requires licensees to keep in an identified location all records important to decomissioning. Such records include drawings of structures ano equipment where radioactive materials are used or stored, documentation identifying the locations of inaccessible residual contamination, and detailed descriptions of spilled radioactive material.
In addition, such records include identification and characterization of wastes that have been disposed of on site.
Further, in response to the GA0 recommendation, NRC will "equire licensees to specifically list in one document all land, buildings, and equipment involved with their licensed operations.
This GA0 recomendation remains open.
Recomendation No. 2 (Chapter 5)
The GA0 report recommended that NRC ensure that licensees decontaminate their facilities in accordance with NRC's guidance before fully or partially releasing a site for unrestricted use.
NRC Response - September 26, 1989 The NRC agreed. Our response reported that licensees are required to decontaminate their facilities in a safe manner prior to release for unrestricted use. We expanded the scope of our confirmatory surveys to verify that licensees adequately decontaminate their facilities in accordance with NRC's guidance and criteria. Our inspectors and agency contractors have been specially trained and equipped to perform such verification surveys. Prior to license temination, where appropriate, NRC conducts verification surveys during closeout inspections to confirm the accuracy of the licensees' surveys.
In addition, the NRC comitted to revise existing guidance to clarify the scope and rigor of verification surveys conducted to ensure that licensees decontaminate their facilities in accordance with our guidelines before the NRC fully or partially releases a site for unrestricted use.
This GA0 recomendation remains open.
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t Recommencation No. 3 (Chapter 5)
The GAO report recommended that NRC determine if its residual radiation criteria should be revised on the basis of the standards proposed by the Health Physics Society Standards Committee.
i NRC Response - September 26. 1989 The NRC response reported that we had previously considered adoptin9 the criteria proposed by the Healit Physics Society in 1986 but elected not to because the criteria are based on measurement capabilities rather than acceptable risk, and they are not supported by an adequate technical rationale.
In addition, the Society's proposed standards had not yet been adopted by the American National Standards Institute.
We stated that we would be pleased to reconsider the Society's proposed standards if they were revised to respond to the NRC staff's concerns.
We consider this GA0 recommendation closed.
Recommendation No. 4 (Chapter 5)
The GAO report recommended that NRC ensure tnat licensees appropriately monitor buried waste sites to determine the extent of environmental contamination.
NRC Response - September 26, 1989 The NRC agreed. An earlier provision in NRC's regulations allowed licensees to dispose of radioactive waste on site without prior rpproval by NRC, provided that the waste did not exceed certain radionuclide quantity limits and that licensees kept records of what was disposed of and where. The NRC revoked this provision in 1981 to provide greater assurance that buried radioactive material would not, resent a public health and safety hazard and stated that this action would not affect material already buried. The NRC connitted to require C
licensee monitoring of buried waste sites, as appropriate, and to determine at the time of decommissioning what remedial measures, including removal and disposal of such waste off site, are appropriate before a site can be released and the license terminated.
We consider this GAO recommendation closed.
Recommendation No. 5 (Chapter 5)
The GA0 report recommended that the NRC obtain and keep for more than 10 years decommissioning information such as licensee radiological surveys and certifi-cation of materials disposed. NRC's or other confirmatory surveys, and specifics un land, buildings, and equipment contaminated over the life of the license.
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NRC Response - September 26, 1989 i
The NRC response agreed and reported that earlier in 1989, the staff had initiated development of an agency-wide f.entralized program for permanent retention of records that document decomissioning activities. These records included the information recomended by GA0. NRC had developed a permanent retention schedule, which had been submitted for approval to the National l
Archives and Records Administration under the Federal Records Act. The staff l
1s working on a proposed records retention program for Comission approval.
This GA0 recommendation remains open.
Recomendation No. 6 (Chapter 5)
The GAO report recomended tha; the NRC act expeditiously to issue regulations permitting issuance of crders to require additional cleanup activities after terminating a license and to ensure that there is a mechanism to enforce orders requiring such activities. GAO also recommended that, in the interim, the NRC should ensure that all contamination at a site has been cleaned up so that it is below the levels allowed in NRC's guidelines before releasing all or part of a site for unrestricted use.
NRC Response - September 26. 1989 l
l The NRC responded that it has sufficient authority under section 161b of the Atomic Energy Act to issue orders to protect the public health and safety from l
radiation hazards caused by nuclear materials regulated by the NRC. Most former licensees have cooperated with the NRC in addressing decontamination concerns that have been identified after license tennination.
Nevertheless, the NRC reported that it was considering modification of the regulations to clarify procedures for issuing orders to persons against whom action should be taken on matters within NRC's jurisdiction, whether or not those persons hold l
I licenses. This initiative should adequately address the purely procedural aspects of NRC's authority to issue orders, for example, to require additional cleanup activities after terminating a license. The Comission has approved procedural rules for publication and public coment.
l' The response also stated that if provided adequate resources, NRC plans to review the adequacy of decontamination at sites decomissioned since 1965.
We have requested funds in tne Fiscal Year 1991 budget to begin this project.
This GA0 recomendation remains open.
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GA0 Report - NP.C's Restart Actions Appear Reasonable--But Criteria Needed i
May 1989 (GA0/RCED-89-95) t Recommendation L
The GAO stated that to ensure the safe restart of each nuclear power plant which has been shut down to correct safety and/or management problems, 1"
criteria should be developed that describe both NRC and utility actions that must be taken before allowing restart.
NRC Response - Julv 28, 1989 The NRC agreed with the GA0 position. The NRC reported that the staff was planning to develop such criteria in the next fiscal year (FY 90). The new criteria were to be incorporated in Part 0500 of the HRC Manual.
Upon further consideration, the staff has determined that the NRC Inspection Manual is a more appropriate location for this guidance. A manual chapter has been drafted and issued for comment and incorporation of lessons learned.
The chapter is expected to be issued in early March 1990.
This GA0 recommendation remains open.
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GA0 Report - License Renewal Ouestions j
For Nuclear Plants Need to be Resolved April 1989 (GA0/RCED-89-90)
Recommendation (Chapter 7)
GA0 reccmmended that the NRC (1) accelerate the schedule for developing license renewal regulations and stipulate the basis; that will be used to evaluate renewal applications and the types of information needed to support a reauest, and (2) resolve the outstanding technical, environmental, and procedural uncertainties.
NRC Response - June 30. 1989 The Commission agreed that NRC should accelerate its efforts to resolve issues l
associated with license renewal and to resolve out:itanding uncertainties. A public workshop on technical and policy considerations for nuclear power plant license renewal was held on November 13-14, 1989. Discussions included the GA0 recommendations and the means by which they will be implemented; i.e.,
increased staff, accelerated research, and additional funding (if necessary).
The staff reported to the Commission on the findings of the workshop in January 1990 and recommended a program plan and schedule for the publication of the final license renewal rule in May 1991 and a generic environmental document and revisions to Part 51 in April 1992.
This GA0 recommendation remains open.
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l GAO Report - NRC's Security Clearance Program i
Can be Strengthened December 1988 (GA0/RCED-89-41)
Recommendation No. 1 (Chapter 5)
The GA0 recommended that the NRC require periodic reinvestigation for alt employees.
NRC Response - May 15, 1989 While NRC has had.a reinvestigation program for all "Q" cleared employees since 1983, we had not routinely reinvestigated "L" cleared employees. Our response reported that the NRC Executive Director for Operations formally implemented a reinvestigation program for "L" cleared employees, consultants, experts, and panel members on April 28, 1989.
Approximataly 1,000 NRC "L" cleared individuals l
will be reinvestigated by the end of FY 1990, and approximately 300 individuals will be reinvestigated each year thereafter.
We consider this GA0 recommendation closed.
1 Recommendation No. 2 (Chapter 5)
The GA0 recommended that the NRC validate and update the security clearance database.
NRC Response - May 15. 1989 The NRC agreed. Procedures were put in place to compare on a quarterly basis our Central Personnel Clearance Index (CPCI) records against NRC Personnel and Payroll records. The initial data comparison was completed in September 1989 and will.be conducted each quarter hereafter.
All pre-1983 data elements for each file which are not now in the system are being identified by the CPCI contractor, and all missing data will be entered in connection with the expanded reinvestigation program as each file is pulled.
We consider this GAO recommendation closed.
Recommendation No. 3 (Chapter R The GAO recomended that the NRC expedite a decision to issue either a policy statement or a regulation regarding access to comercial nuclear power plants.
NRC Response - May 15, 1989 Our response reported that the Commission had decided to process a regulation,
t rather than a policy statement.
The NRC is preparing a final rule providing l'
for unescorted access authorization programs at nuclear power plants. The rulemaking is proceeding on an expedited schedule.
We consider this GA0 recommendation closed.
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GA0 Report - Stricter Controls Needed for Radioactive Byproduct Material Licenses r
October 1988 L
(GA0/RCED-89-15) i Recommendation No. 1 (Chapter 3)
The GA0 report recomended that NRC develop detailed license denial criteria and define the circumstances that require a prelicensing inspection or informa-tion verification procedures.
NRC Response - January 12, 1989 The NRC comitted to provide additional guidance on license denial criteria and prelicense inspections.
Specifically, these were (1) additional guidance for issuance of denials in cases where applicants are not promptly responsiv?
to requests to correct oeficiencies and in cases where there are questions about competence of the applicant, end (2) an update to the 1984 guidanca to require, rather than recommend, prelicensing visits for applications involving large programs, t
in February 1989, NRC updated the 1984 guidance on conducting licensing and prelicensing visits to applicants' sites.
This guidance defined the purpose of such visits and listed the categories of licensees most suitable for such visits. This guidance covered new applications, license amendments and renewals.
In June 1989, NRC issued a Guidance Directive for license reviewers clarifying i
the types of license applications that would be denied pursuant to 10 CFR E.103(b). The guidance covers situations in which applicants have not satisfied substantive requirements of the applicable regulations or have not.iubmitted adeauate information. The Directive also provides guidance for reviewing unusual requests, applications in which the staff has questions about the applicant's competence, integrity, or ability to meet regulatory comitments.
Sample copies of past denials were also included in the Guidance Directive.
We consider this GA0 recomendation closed.
Recomendation No. 2 (Chapter 3)
The GA0 report recomended that the NRC finalize regulations that would provide at least a minimum level of-financial assurance that licensees can pay for the cleanup of accidental spills and releases.
NRC Response - January 12, 1989 The NRC agreed that it would be desirable to complete this rulemaking but noted that the licensees were already responsible to clean up following accidents and that the government could take protective action if there was an imediate threat to public health and safety. NRC also noted that new decomissioning A-8 i
regulations promulgated in 1988 improved assurance of financial responsibility for a number of major materials licensees. Due to resource limitations and higher priority tasks with greater health and safety significance, the NRC currently has been unable to budget for this activity.
This GA0 reconmendation remains open.
Recommendation No. 3 (Chapter 3)
The GA0 report recommended that NRC require that broad scope, or medical treat-ment licensees, begin license renewal actions one year in advance and that NRC conduct inspections before extending the licenses.
NRC Response - January 12, 1989 Although delays do occur in completing license renewals due to diversion of limited resources to more significant safety activities, the NRC does not agree that long renewal proceedings allow licensees to operate in an unsafe manner.
Pending final disposition of their renewal applications, licensees are required to adhere to terms of their existing licenses, applicable NRC orders, and.
regulations and are subject to routine inspections. The NRC does not believe that it is necessary to require the byproduct material licenseds identified by GA0 to s'Jbmit renewal requests one year in advance of license expiration.
Since our initial response, additional resources have been budgeted to reduce i
delays in and backlog of licence renewals. No further action is planned on this reconsnendation.
We consider this GAO recommendation closed.
Recommendation No. 4 (Charter 3)
The GA0 report recommended that NRC review its policies for imposing civil penalties on repeat violations and detennine whether further guidance on ap-propriate enforcement actions is needed.
NRC Response - January 12, 1989 A recent revision to the NRC Enforcement Policy clarified that licensees who repeatedly consnit minor violations may be subject to civil penalties. NRC also committed to explore developing additional internal guidance and training to l
assure consistency in applying this policy.
Internal guidance has been issued requiring each Regional Office and the Division of Special Projects, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, to develop written instructions to ensure that Severity Level IV and V violations for reactor and material licensees are properly reviewed to determine whether individual violations in the aggregate represent a significant management breakdown (Severity Level III problem) or are repetitions and, if so, appro-priate enforcement actions are considered. The Office of Enforcement will monitor the implementation of the internal guidance.
We consider this GA0 recommendation closed.
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