ML20059C333
| ML20059C333 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 12/29/1993 |
| From: | Ornstein H NRC OFFICE FOR ANALYSIS & EVALUATION OF OPERATIONAL DATA (AEOD) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20059C330 | List: |
| References | |
| AEOD-T93-04, AEOD-T93-4, NUDOCS 9401050110 | |
| Download: ML20059C333 (20) | |
Text
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i i
T93-04 i
U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION REVIEW OF OPERATING EXPERIENCE
' by:
f Dr. H. L Ornstein k
i u
N 4
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission OfHee for Analysis and Evaluation of Operations Data 9401050110 931229 PDR ORG NEXD PDR t
CONTENTS
.I A B B R EVIATIO N S.................................................
v
- 1. I NTR O D U CTI O N................................................
1
- 2. POWER REACTORS - MAJOR SOURCES OF OPERATING DATA....... 5 2.1 Nuclear Plant Owner-Operators (Mandatory Reporting)................. 5 2.1.1 Prompt notifications: 50.72 Reports..
5 2.1.2 Thirty-day notifications: 50.73 Reports 5
2.2 Manufacturers, Suppliers, Designers of Nuclear Plants and Their Equipment
( Pa rt 21 R e po rts ).............................................. 5 3
2.3 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Inspectors....................... 5 2.3.1 Daily Highlight Reports.........
.'5 2.3.2 Periodic Inspection Reports..................................
7 2.4 Non-United States Plants........
8 2.4.1 International Organizations..................................
8 2.4.2 Foreign Governments, Foreign Utilities, Other Foreign Sources.......
8
- 3. DISSEMINATION, REVIEW, AND ANALYSIS OF OPERATIONAL DATA.
8 3.1 Nuclear Plant Owner-Operators 8
3.1.1 Prompt Notification 50.72 Reports and Regional Daily Reports.......
8 3.1.1.1 Dissemination of Prompt Notification 50.72 Reports........
8 3.1.1.2 Review, Analysis and Disposition of 50.72 Reports and Regional D ai ly R e p o rts.....................................
9 3.1.2 Licensee Event Reports: 5 0.73 Reports........................
10 3.1.2.1 Dissemination of Licensee Event Reports: 50.73 Reports..
10 3.1.2.2 Review, Analysis, and Disposition of Licensee Event Reports:
5 0.73 R e p o rts.....................................
11 4
3.2 Dissemination, Review, Analysis and Disposition of Part 21 Reports....
11 3.3 Disseminating Review, Analysis and Disposition of NRC Inspector Reports.
14 1
3.3.1 Daily Highlight Reports...................................
14 33.2 Periodic Inspection Reports.
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- 4. CLOSING THE FEEDBACK LOOP.
15 4.1 United States Plants............
15 4.2 United States Congress.....
15 4.3 Non-United States Plants........
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iii e
CONTENTS (Cont.)
TABLES Table 2.1 Events or conditions requiring 50.72 reports.......................
6 Table 2.2 Events or conditions requiring 50.73 reports....................... 7 Table 3.1 Sequence Coding and Search System...........................
11 Table 3.2 Typical AEOD criteria for identifying safety significant events........
13 Table 3.3 Criteria for determining LER categories.........................
13 FIGURES Figure 1.1 USNRC Organizations associated with review assessment and feedback of operational data 2
Figure 1.2 Flow chart - Ways of addressing operational events................ 3 Figure 1.3 USNRC Rapid response to events 4
Figure 3.1 AEOD's review and evaluation of LERs........................
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T ABBREVIATIONS AEOD USNRC's Office for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data AIT Augmented Inspection Team ANS American Nuclear Society ASME American Society of Mechanical Engineers CFR Code of Federal Regulatiom EAB Events Assessment Branch GL generic letter HPE Human Performance Evaluation IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency lEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers IIT Incident Investigation Team IN Information Notice INPO Institute of Nuclear Power Operations IRB Incident Response Branch IRS incident reporting system LER licensee event report NAS Nonreactor Assessment Staff NMSS USNRC's Office of Nuclear Material Safety & Safeguards NRR USNRC's Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation NUDOCS Nuclear Documents System OECD/NEA Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development / Nuclear Energy Agency OPA USNRC's Office of Public Affairs PN Preliminary Notification PRAB Probabilistic Risk Assessment Branch l
ROAB Reactor Operations Analysis Branch i
SCSS Sequence Coding and Search System USNRC United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission VIB Vendor Inspection Branch y
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1.
INTRODUCTION The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) has the responsibility of regulating the civilian use of nuclear energy in the United States. As such, the USNRC regulates all facets of the nuclear fuel cycle, the production of commercial nuclear power, and the operation of research reactors; biological, medical and nonreactor applications, and the storage and disposal of all nonmilitary nuclear materials, byproducts, and wastes.
One of the most important lessons that was learned from the Three Mile Island accident was the absolute necessity for conducting systematic analyses and evaluations of operating experience.
In 1979, the USNRC formulated an action plan to assure that in the future, operational experience would not be overlooked, and would be carefully analyzed and used to improve nuclear safety and prevent future accidents.
The USNRC's action plan resulted in the creation of several organizations to meet the aforementioned objectives. This paper provides an overview of those different i
organizations and it explains how they work independently, and yet interact to assure that operational experience from U.S. and foreign plants are systematically reviewed and meticulously analyzed to assure that important operating data is not overlooked, and to assure that lessons are learned from operational events (and/or conditions), and the lessons learned which are important to safety are disseminated to the world-wide nuclear community.
For the purpose of this paper which focusses upon nuclear power plants,it will suffice to note that the USNRC does have programs for the review of operational data in the areas of biological and medical applications of radioactive materials, and in the area of fuel production, storage, and the disposal of nuclear material byproducts and wastes.
The Office of Nuclear Material Safety & Safeguards (NMSS) is in charge of reviewing j
and analyzing events in these areas. In addition, the USNRC's Office for Analysis and i
Evaluation of Operational Data (AEOD) Nonreactor Assessment Staff (NAS) reviews and analyzes events involving nuclear medicine and other nuclear materials.
Figure 1.1 is an organizational chart indicating which USNRC offices are actively involved with the review, assessment, and feedback of operational data (for commercial reactors). Figure 1.2 illustrates ways in which operational events or conditions may be addressed (the actual path for each event is dependent upon its perceived significance and the applicability or similarity of conditions at other plants).
Figure 1.3 is a flow diagram illustrating USNRC's rapid response to operational events.
1
t EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR DEPUTY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS FOR NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION, REGIONAL OPERATIONS AND RESEARCH 319 3
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2.
POWER REACTORS - MAJOR SOURCES OF OPERATING DATA 2.1 Nuclear Plant Owner-Operators (Mandatory Reportingi 2.1.1 Prompt notifications: 50.72 Reports
" Red" phone notification reporting I
(Oral) incidents to the USNRC. Types
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of events or conditions that are j
reportable are designated in l
Table 2.1.
2.1.2 Thirty-day notifications: 50.73 Reports Written report to the USNRC (Licensee Event Reports) within 30-days as outlined in (Written)
NUREG-1022. The types of events or conditions that are l'
reportable are designated in Table 2.2.
2.2 Manufacturers. Suppliers. Designers of Nuclear Plants and Their Eauipment (Part 21 Reports)
Timely notification of deficiencies associated with the products or services they provided (Code of Federal Regulations [10 CFR 21] reporting) which affect safety-related equipment or affect the plant safety margins or the health or safety of the public.10 CFR 21 reports are made to the USNRC either by facsimile or telephone to the Headquarters Operations Center, or in writing to the USNRC Document Control Desk. The process for dissemination of 10 CFR 21 reports received by the Headquarters Operations Center is similar to the one used for prompt notification reports (50.72 reports) as described in Section 3.1.1.1. The process for dissemination of written reports sent to the Document Control Desk is noted in Section 3.2.
2.3 U.S. Nuclear Reculatory Commission Inspectors
)
2.3.1 Daily Highlight Reports Events at licensed facilities deemed to be important by the resident inspectors are communicated (by phone) by the resident inspector to the appropriate USNRC regional office staff. If the regional office staff determines the event to be of significance or interest, the event (or condition) is documented in a Regional Office Daily Report. Often times, these events / reports are expanded upon and are distributed as Preliminary Notification (PN) of Event or Unusual Occurrences, and are then widely distributed within the USNRC. The procedure for review, analysis, I
These reports are systematically reviewed, analyzed and acted upon by several USNRC offices.
Section 3.1.1 provides descriptions of USNRCs resiew process for 50.72 reports, and Section 3.1.2 provides descriptions of USNRCs review process for 50.73 reports.
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and disposition of these types of reports are similar to that of 50.72 reports, as described in Section 3.1.1.2 of this report.
Table 2.1 Events or conditions requiring 50.72 reports
" RED" PHONE NOTIFICATION
- Event Classification Type of Event Emergency Declaration of an emergency Major loss of emergency assessment or communication capability External events Natural phenomenon that threatens safety Actual Threat to safety of plant - should include toxic chemical spills Security events / fitness for duty Transient Engineering safety features actuation (including reactor scram)
Emergency core cooling system discharge to reactor vessel Design / major barrier problem Principal safety barriers seriously degraded Unanalyzed condition Outside design basis Condition not covered by procedures Events found while shutdown which significantly compromise safety Equipment out of service Initiation of shutdown required by Technical Specifications Deviation from plants Technical Specifications in an emergency Common cause/ common mode Event or condition that alone could prevent: shut down, remove decay heat, control release of radioactivity, mitigate the consequences of an accident Radiation release above thresholds (gas, liquid)
Other Transport of contaminated person offsite News media release or other government agency notification Fuel storage cask problem Extensive criteria and reporting requirements are provided in 10 CFR 50.72.
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I Table 2.2 Events or conditions mquiring 50.73 reports 30 DAY WRITTEN NOTIFICATION 7
Event Classincation Type of Event External Events Natural phenomenon that threatens safety i
Actual threat to safety of plant Security event 2/ fitness for duty Transient Engineering safety feature actuation (including reactor scram)
Design / major barrier problem Principal safety barriers seriously degraded Unanalyzed condition Outside design basis Condition not covered by procedures Equipment out of service Completion of shutdown required by Technical Specifications -
Operatior* prohibited by Technical Specifications Deviation from plants Technical Specifications in an emergency Common cause/ common mode Event or condition that alone could prevent: shutdown, remove decay heat, control release of radioactivity, mitigate the consequences of an accident Event where single cause caused at least one independent train or enannel in multiple systems or two independent trains in single system to become inoperable
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Other Radiation release above thresholds (gas, liquid) 1 2.3.2 Periodic Inspection Reports Routine inspections of licensed facilities are most often conducted by the resident inspector. Sometimes, the resident inspector is assisted by appropriate USNRC regional ofEce based inspectors, or USNRC staff members knowledgeable in the areas of the inspection (e.g., procedures, human factors, specific equipment hardware, health physics, etc.).
Extensive criteria and reporting requirements are provided in 10 CFR 50.73.
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2.4 Non United States Plants 2.4.1 International Organizations All notifications received from international organizations such as International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development / Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD/NEA), etc., are provided to AEOD for review analysis and dissemination. The confidentiality of the individual government, plant, and utility are protected. AEOD, USNRC's Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) events assessment branch (EAB), and other appropriate NRR branches also review the reports for significance and applicability to U.S.
facilities. Information about events or conditions which are considered to be significant and applicable are dispositioned in a manner similar to that of significant prompt notification 50.72 reports (as described in Section 3.1.1.2).
2.4.2 Foreign Governments, Foreign Utilities, Other Foreign Sources Individual reports received directly from other governments, non-U.S. utilities, or other sources other than the international reporting agencies cited in 2.4.1 above are generally received by the USNRC's International Programs office which distributes them to AEOD and EAB. AEOD, EAB, and other appropriate NRR branches review the reports for significance and applicability to U.S. facilities.
Information about events or conditions which are considered to be significant and e
applicable to U.S. plants are dispositioned in a manner similar to that of significant prompt notification 50.72 reports (as described in Section 3.1.1.2). The confidentiality of the individual government, plant, and utility are protected.
3.
DISSEMINATION, REVIEW, AND ANALYSIS OF OPERATIONAL DATA 3.1 Nuclear Plant Owner-Operators 3.1.1 Prompt Notification 50.72 Reports and Regional Daily Reports 3.1.1.1 Dissemination of Prompt Notification 50.72 Reports 50.72 Reports (" Red" phone notification) are received at the USNRC's Headquarters Operations Center which is manned 24 hours2.777778e-4 days <br />0.00667 hours <br />3.968254e-5 weeks <br />9.132e-6 months <br /> a day, every day of the year by AEOD's Incident Response Branch (IRB). Following each call, the IRB duty officer determines in accordance with established criteria the need for immediate followup. He notifies the headquarters emergency officer who determines if an item requires immediate USNRC management attention including informing Office Directors, Regional Administrators, and the USNRC Commissioners of the event. Ifimmediate USNRC management attention is not required, the IRB duty officer notifies the appropriate regional duty officer, and the 50.72 reports are routinely transmitted electronically to appropriate USNRC offices (NRR/EAB, Vendor Inspection 8
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r Inspection Branch [VIB], Probabilistic Risk Assessment Branch [PRAB], and AEOD's Reactor Operations Analysis Branch [ROAB], IRB, NMSS, Office of Public Affairs [OPA), etc.).
3.1.1.2 Review, Analysis and Disposition of 50.72 Reports and Regional Daily '
Reports Each normal workday morning (non-holiday, Monday through Friday), AEOD (ROAB and IRB), and NRR (EAB, VIB, PRAB) convene a conference call to discuss operational events that have occurred since the previous morning meeting.
The conferees discuss the events which were reported in 50.72 and regional daily reports. They determine which events warrant additional USNRC followup and they decide which organization will conduct the detailed review i
and analysis.
i Frequently, the initial information is scant and telephone discussions with the i
licensees, and sometimes site visits (plant operations or licensing staff) are necessary to obtain additional information about the event (or condition).
Depending upon the perceived significance of the event or condition, the disposition of the event or condition may range from having the report
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entered into the computerized 50.72 database which is kept by AEOD's IRB, to shutting down the plant and having a special fact-finding team visit the facility (i.e., Special Inspection / Human Performance Evaluation [HPE] team visit / Augmented Inspection Team [AIT]/ Incident Investigation Team [IIT].
Events described in 50.72 reports, regional daily reports, and other sources (such as foreign reports, Part 21 Reports, etc.) which appear to be significant l
and are chosen by AEOD or NRR/EAB for followup action are reviewed by a special events assessment panel. The panel meets weekly to evaluate the significance of each such event. The panel is comprised of six members, five from NRR, and one from AEOD/ROAB. The chief of EAB serves as the panel chairman.
l The panel's final disposition of the significance of the events is provided to USNRC management for consideration or further action (e.g., generic communication, enforcemerr, or other regulatory action). Events or conditions that are considen d to be significant by the panel are reported and issued in a USNRC headqu'rters daily highlight report. The headquarters daily highlight report is wicely disseminated in the same manner as the i
Regional Office Daily Report (as noted in Section 3.1.1.1).
Often times, the AEOD or EAB may determine that a generic communication is warranted to alert other nuclear plant operators (U.S. and foreign) of the event. Depending upon the perceived significance of the event, the USNRC can issue one of several types of generic communications 1
9
f ranging from an Information Notice (IN) which alerts licensees to the event but does not require it take specific action, up to issuing an order which may require licensees to make plant modifications and perform analyses which require significant expenditure of manpower and money. The generic communications are prepared and issued by NRR's Generic Communications Branch. AEOD has the responsibility ofissuing reports ofimportant events at U.S. commercial reactors to non-U.S. organizations, via OECD/NEA incident reporting system (IRS) reports.
To complete the systematic review of operational data, IRB retains a i
searchable computerized database of all 50.72 reports, and EAB is required to write brief closeout reports to document USNRC actions that were taken in response to each 50.72 report.
3.1.2 Licensee Event Reports: 50.73 Reports l
3.1.2.1 Dissemination of Licensee Event Reports: 50.73 Reports The licensees submit licensee event reports (WRs) (mandatory per 10 CFR 50.73) to the USNRC's Document Control Desk, the NRR project manager, the appropriate USNRC Regional Administrator, the USNRC resident inspector and the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO).
Subsequently, the USNRC document control staff distributes copies to AEOD, EAB, and other USNRC staff. Copies are also sent to the plant's local Public Document Room and to USNRC contractors who operate and maintain the Sequence Coding and Search System' (SCSS) and Nuclear Documents System (NUDOCS) databases. SCSS and NUDOCS are readily accessible, computerized databases. SCSS contains only WRs; however, each GR is subdivided into individual sequences. The sequences are encoded by the contractor and as a result, the individual sequences are also searchable.
i Features of SCSS are shown in Table 3.1.
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Each ER is also entered into the NUDOCS database (a text searchable database). In addition to all recent ERs, the NUDOCS database contains almost all correspondence between the USNRC and licensees, manufacturers, the general public, and internal USNRC documents. Other operational experience documents noted in this paper which are stored (and readily accessible from NUDOCS) are inspection reports, PNs, GLs, ins, bulletins, AEOD studies, etc.
i SCSS is a complex system which requires more explanation than is allowable in this paper.
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Table 3.1 Sequence Coding and Search System MAJOR FEATURES All LERs - Only LERs Maintained for AEOD by contractor (Oak Ridge National Laboratory)
Coded sequence of events for each LER Cause-effect relationships shown Initial conditions given Eveats given Boolean logic to combine data elements 3.1.2.2 Review, Analysis, and Disposition of Licensee Event Reports: 50.73 Reports Although many staff at USNRC review ERs, AEOD is tasked with the responsibility of reviewing all ERs. Figure 3.1 is a flow chart illustrating AEOD's process for review and evaluation of LERs. Table 3.2 is a list of the criteria used by AEOD for reviewing (" screening") ERs (and other reports as well) for significance. As part of AEOD's screening process, each ER is assigned one of four categories depending upon its safety importance as outlined in Table 3.3.
i In determining the course of long-term followup to be taken for events classified as significant by AEOD's screening process for which no UShPC action has been taken (NRR or Regional Offices), AEOD consider's the following questions:
1.
What happened?
2.
Why did it hapy a?
3.
Should it have happened?
4 Has it happened before?
5.
What could have happened?
6.
What are the lessons learned?
7.
What corrective actions are needed?
i 3.2 Dissemination. Review. Analysis and Disposition of Part 21 Reports Part 21 reports which are received by the USNRC's Headquarters Operations Center are disseminated, reviewed, and analyzed in the same manner as 50.72 reports (see Sections 3.1.1.1 and 3.1.1.2 of this report).
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OPERATIONAL DATA ELECTRONICALLY
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FILE LERs 4--- l SCREEN 1-->
(SCSS)
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EVENTS / ISSUES h
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EVENTS / ISSUES tU k
NO FURTHER ACTION NECESSARY:
PLANT SPECIFIC /
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SEARCH FOR ADDRESSED BY RECENr ADDITIONAL EVENTS GENERIC COMMUNICATIONS, OTilER REGULATORY OR v
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DECISION TO DO
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INDEPTH STUDY j
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V V
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TECHNICAL REVIEW ENGINEERING CASE (GENERALLY NO FURTIIER EVALUATION STUDY AGENCY / INDUSTRY ACTION)
(SUGGESTIONS - POSSIBLY (FORMAL RECOMMENDATIONS, GENERIC COMMUNICATIONS)
REGUIATORY ACTIONS OR GENERIC COMMUNICATIONS)
Table 3.2 Typical AEOD criteria for identifying safety significant events 1.
Event sequence not previously analyzed which could be far more serious with credible alternative conditions 2.
System interaction resulting from a previously unrecogmzed interdependence of sys; ems and components
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3.
Improper operation, maintenance, or design that has or could cause common can,/ common mode failure of a safety system 4
Unexpected system or component performance with serious safety implications or radiation release 5.
Multiple failures (including personnel errors) occurred in the event 6.
Equipment failures (including nonsafety equipment) that caused serious transients and challenges to safety systems.
Table 3.3 Criteria for determining LER categories q
Category Criteria 1
Those events of such obvious importance that actions should be initiated immediately by AEOD or other office or orpnintion to ensure plant safety. (If action is initiated by another office, AEOD may not need to take action.) Because LERs are received more than 30 days after an event, it is rare when LERs fall within this Aaulfication.
2 Those events (or combinations of events) which appear to have safety importance but do not require immediate action to ensure plant safety.
3 Those events (or combinations of events) which require additional consideration to permit assignment to Categories 1,2, or 4.
4 Those events with little apparent importance to safety. Those events together with all other LERs are included in the SCSS database for possible automated analysis of trends and patterns or search and review as part of a subsequently defined specific safety concern.
t Written Part 21 reports are submitted to the USNRC Document Control Desk.
The written reports are entered into the NUDOCS database, and they are forwarded to NRR's VIB for review and disposition. VIB staff evaluates the significance of the information provided in the written reports. The evaluation frequently necessitates additional communication with the vendors and the affected utilities. Based upon Part 21 reports and other operating experience (50.72,50.73 reports, inspection reports, etc.), VIB frequently conducts inspections of vendors' and licensees' facilities to verify that they comply with the quality programs that 13 i
they have committed to in accordance with USNRC regulations (e.g.,10 CFR, Part 50, Appendix B).
VIB is tasked with the responsibility of mana".ng a Part 21 report database *, and VIB is also responsible for keeping track of USNRC, licensee, and vendor actions which result from each Part 21 report. With regard to Part 21 reports, the USNRCs most important function is to assure that significant events (or conditions) are disseminated to all possible affected facilities. Most often, dissemination is provided by the manufacturer; however, on many occasions, VIB has authored generic communications (e.g., GLs, ins, Bulletins) to inform all licensees.
3.3 Disseminatine Review. Analysis and Disposition of NRC Inspector Reports 3.3.1 Daily Highlight Reports The daily highlight reports are disseminated, reviewed, analyzed, and dispositioned in a manner similar to that of 50.72 reports (described in Sections 3.1.1.1 and 3.1.1.2). One of the major differences is that the daily highlight reports are not entered in the 50.72 database, or NUDOCS. However, daily highlight reports that -
are expanded upon and distributed as a PN of event or unusual occurrence are entered into the USNRC's computerized NUDOCS database.
3.3.2 Periodic Inspection Reports i
The inspection reports are widely distributed within the NRC (including the licensing project manager in NRR, EAB, AEOD). Externally, the inspection reports are distributed to the licensee, INPO, and the local public document room.
All inspection reports are entered into the USNRC's computerized NUDOCs database. EAB and AEOD routinely review inspection reports. When operating experience noted in an inspection report is germane to issues or events that AEOD and EAB are studying, they are considered in AEOD and EABs studies, and they-are frequently included or referenced in AEOD and EAB studies, and in USNRC generic communications.
t An important mechanism for feedback of operational data noted in inspections and inspection reports is that of direct communication between the USNRC and the utilities management. In the event that the inspectors find a condition which is not in conformance with plant's license conditions (Technical Specifications or plant safety analysis), the USNRC inspectors discuss their findings with plant management during their inspections. In some rare cases, when the inspector finds i
a condition where significant reductions in safety margins exist, the licensee may be In addition to being entered into the Part 2t database, the VIB inspection reports are entered into the USNRC's computerized NUDOCS database.
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required to reduce power levels or shut down immediately. In addition to oral discussions with the plant management at the completion of the inspection and j
followup written reports, the USNRC's regional office may notify utility upper
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management of ;ny area in ivhich the plant appears to be operating in violation of its license. The utility is required to respond directly to the USNRC managements'
" Notice of Violation" within 30 days, and the utility must outline actions to be taken t
to bring the plant into confonnance with its license.
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CLOSING THE FEEDBACK. LOOP 4.1 United States Plants U.S. plants are informed by the USNRC of the result of its evaluations of operational experience by either generic communications, (ins, GLs, Bulletins),
NUREG reports, letters from the regional offices (as noted in Section 33.2). In 1
addition, EAB and AEOD communicate periodically with industry groups such as INPO, EPRI, and NUMARC informing them of major findings in the areas of operational data analysis.
These industry groups receie copics of all major nonproprietary AEOD and j
NUREG reports on operational data, and they inform their member utilities of such activities.
Frequently, USNRC holds workshops with licensees informing them of major findings in the area of operational data and provide guidance on regulatory issues and generic communications.
Many USNRC members (AEOD, NRR, USNRC's Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research) serve on standards committees for the American Nuclear Society (ANS),
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). As such, they interface with U.S. industry to feedback operating mpa.rience into appropriate industry codes and standards. In
%aW :nteract with industry and present results of their studies addition, staff f i
at appropriate rc4 mmal society meetings (ANS, IEEE, ASME, etc.).
4.2 United States Conss 1
Currently, four times a year, the USNRC issues an " Abnormal Occurrence Report" to the U.S. Congress informing them of significant events which occurred at U.S.
1 facilities (commercial reactors, research reactors, biological, medical, and nonreactor applications, storage and disposal of nonmilitary nuclear materials,-
byproducts and wastes). These reports are issued as NUREG reports, and as such, are widely circulated within the nuclear community.
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43 Non-United States Plants-AEOD submits reports to OECD/NEA (IRS) to inform the international community of important operational events which have occurred at U.S. plants.
IRS reports are provided to inform member countries of the major safety significant events (such as events which were ieported to the U.S. Congress in Abnormal Occurrence reports, the results of IITs, AITs, generic communications, AEOD case studies, etc.).
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