ML20140H552

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Summary of ACRS Planning & Procedure Meeting on 961204 Re Matters Related to Conduct of ACRS Business
ML20140H552
Person / Time
Issue date: 12/05/1996
From:
Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards
To:
Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards
Shared Package
ML20140H556 List:
References
ACRS-3042, NUDOCS 9705130180
Download: ML20140H552 (7)


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CEMTIF1ED f0NN#97 4

o, . . T. S. Kre ,igirman December 1

December 5, 1996

SUMMARY

/ MINUTES OF THE ACRS PLANNING AND PROCEDURES SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING

! DECEMBER 4, 1996 I

The ACRS Subcomittee on Planning and Procedures held a meeting on December 4, l

1996, in Room 281, Two White Flint North Building, Rockville, Maryland. The

' purpose of the meeting was to discuss matters related to the conduct of ACRS business. The meeting was convened at 12:10 P.M. and adjourned at 1:30 P.M.

ATTENDEES

, T. S. Kress, Chairman R. L. Seale W.J. 3. 4 ACHS Staff

, J. T. Larkins, ACRS Executive Director

R. P. Savio

! S. Duraiswamy C. A. Harris 1

1) ELECTION OF ACRS OFFICERS (0 pen) i A list of members who have withdrawn their names from being considered as candidates for ACRS officers is attached (p. 1). Elections will be held during this meeting.

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2) Conflict-of-Interest Procedures (0 pen)

Procedures have been drafted to ensure that sembers have a consistent policy covering conflict-of-interest requirements during meetings (pp. 2-i 4). These procedures have been sent to OGC for review. Members are encouraged to coment.

RECOMMENDATION The Subcommittee recommends that members review these procedures and provide comments to the ACRS Executive Director by December 7, 1996.

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3) FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICE AND PRESS RELEASE TO SOLICIT CANDIDATES FOR APPOINTMENT TO THE ACRS (0 pen)

! The closing date for applications from qualified candidates for ACRS membership for appointment to the ACRS has been postponed from d

31, 1996 to January 31, 1997.

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g Gl\v10 9705130180 961206 PDR ACRS PDR 3o42 DEICHATD OMCIhrN

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  • Com ITTEE ROLE IN REVIEWING GENERIC LETTERS (0 pen) i Certain safety-significant generic letters have been approved on an  ;

exigent basis without ACRS veview (pp. 5-7). The Committee should l determine its role in ree! Min!1 such letters. The MOU states that any I deviation from the MOU should a mutually agreed to by the EDO and the ACRS Executive Director.

RECOMENDATION The Subcommittee recommends that the ACRS staff prepare a draft letter from the ACRS Chairman to the EDO requesting that urgent generic letters be sent to the ACRS at the same time they are sent to the CRGR so the cognizant subcommittee chairman can determine whether the ACRS should review and comment on the letters,

5) INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES (0 pen)

An email message has been received from Mr. Yamada, of the Science and Technology Agency of Japan (pp. 8-10). The Committee should review the suggested dates, topics for discussion, and sites for a trip visit and indicate a preference for transmittal to Mr. Yamada. ,

RECOMMENDATION The subcommittee recommends that the suggested topics for discussion and  !

dates for a trip to Japan be discussed by the full Committee.

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6) MEETING WITH CHAIRMAN JACKSON AND ANNOUNCEMENTS (0 pen)

The Executive Director met with Chairman Jackson alone twice and together with Dr. Apostolakis once since the last ACRS meeting. He will brief the 4 Committee on these discussions as well as on recent announcements by '

Chairman Jackson regarding the direction of the agency.

7) TIMING OF RESPONSE TO SRM ACTION ITEMS (Open)

A review has been made of Staff Requirements Memoranda over the past 36 months and it has been determined that the ACRS was not late in responding to these action items.

RECOMENDATION The subcommittee recommends that all SRM requirements be tracked, including the name of the ACRS member and staff responsible for the response and the proposed date for Committee consideration of the response.

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8) CRITERIA TO EVALUATE ACRS CANDIDATES (0 pen)

The ACRS staff has been asked to draft criteria to determine the eligibility of candidates (3rincipally ex-utility officials) for ACRS j membership. Mr. Jay Carrol' has been asked to assist in this effort. '

which will also be coordinated with OGC.

9) ASSESSMENT OF TECHNICAL EXPERTISE OF ACRS MEMBERS (0 pen)

The staff has been asked to provide a list of the areas of technical expertise of current ACRS members and an assessment of future needs of the Committee based on current capabilities, future vacancies, and most ,

importantly, the projected workload and topics for review. I RECOMMENDATION ACRS members should review and provide comments on final draft.

10) NSRRC PARTICIPATION IN ACRS MATTERS (0 pen)

It is anticipated that the NSRRC and ACRS members will be on occasion attending ACRS or, in the case of the ACRS. NSRRC meetings. The i procedures described in the attachment (pp. 11-27) are proposed and will l be sent to Dr. Morrison as a proposal after ACRS comment.

RECOMMENDATION j ACRS should review and approve the procedures, prior to forwarding to Dr.

Morrison RES.

11) MEMBERS ISSUES Dr. Robert Seale has requested ACRS support for a trip to France to participate in a review of recent Phebus experiments (see p. 28)

RECOMMENDATION The Subcommittee recommends approval of the trip.

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t 6 6 ACRS MEMBERS NOT TO BE CONSIDERED FOR CANDIDATES FOR ELECTION AS ACRS OFFICERS FOR 1997 GEORGE APOSTOLAKIS JOHN J. BARTON WILLIAM J. SHACK i

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0 CONFLICT-OFINTEREST PROCEDURES

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TO BE FOLLOWED BY THE ACRS/ACNW MEMBERS t

j When an ACRS/ACNW member has a conflict on matten being considered'by the Committees, the following procedures should be followed during the discussion of such matten at the Subcommittee / Working Group / full Committee meetings and during the l preparation of ACRS/ACNW reports. These procedures are designed to ensure conflict-of <

i interest requirements are undentood and followed, and to provide guidance for dealing with l conflict of-interest situations consistently by all memben:

l ACRS/ACNW MFFTINGS i

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During presentation or discussions at the Subcommittee /hking Grw ' full Committee i meetings, the member who hu a conflict on the panicular matter being considered:

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e Can ask questions to obtain clarifications or factual information.

l o Can provide information to correct misinterpretations of facts by other members, or technical insights which may help the memben better undentand the issues under consideration.

1 e Should not express personal views on, or criticize, or endorse directly or indirectly, the work done by the NRC staff, its consultants, or contrac-tors.

  • Should not ask questions which may be perceived by a reasonable penon to be a criticism or endorsement of the appropriateness of the scope, direction, or quality of the work, or of the adequacy of the methods or processes used to perform the work, k/

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    • Should not pursue a discussion with the NRC staff, its consultants, or contractors that would be inferred by a reasonable person as being an endorsement of the member's work in a related area.

$ e Should not make comments that could be perceived by a reasonable ,

person as " biased" personal views.

] PREPARATION OF ACRS/ACNW REPORTS

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! The repon preparation pan of the ACRS/ACNW meetings is the most significant pan of the f meetings where both actual and perceived conflict-of-interest should be avoided. Government i ethics rules and procedures must be observed to protect the integrity of the advisory  !

j committee process,in addition to avoiding legal ramifications /gr.aities. Members should not i

be perceived as being " biased" either by organizational affiliation or because of contractual

arrangements.  ;

1 I l Dunng preparation of ACRS/ACNW repons, the member who has a conflict on the matter i being considered:

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1 o Should not participate in the Committee's deliberations other than l providing clarifications, technical insights, or factual information to

other members.

! l e Should not express personal opinion that would influence the l

Committee's position.

4 e Should not provide oral or written input to the Committee repon.

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Should not try to influence the Committee directly or indirectly, or j suggest changes to the repons that reflect the member's views.

e Should not make, panicipate, or vote on the " motions" to make changes

) to the repons.

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Should not participate in the votir,g process for approving the repons.

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j, The other members should be informed / cognizant of a particular member's conflict and l

! should not ask the member to provide his views on matters for which the member has a conflict.

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l During Subcommittee / Working Group / full Committee meetings, the respective Chairmen are responsible for ensuring that the above procedures are implemented properly. The Designated Federal Official (DFO) for these meetings should remind the Chairman if these procedures are not complied with properly. If the DFOs believe that their reminders were ignored, they should promptly inform one of the available ACRS/ACNW managers.

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