ML20195C230
| ML20195C230 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 04/26/1999 |
| From: | Shirley Ann Jackson, The Chairman NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| To: | Vietticook A NRC OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY (SECY) |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20195C219 | List: |
| References | |
| REF-10CFR9.7 SECY-99-083-C, SECY-99-83-C, NUDOCS 9906080047 | |
| Download: ML20195C230 (4) | |
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NOTATION VOTE 1
I RESPONSE SHEET TO:
Annette Vietti-Cook, Secretary.
FROM:
CHAIRMAN JACKSON
SUBJECT:
SECY-99-083 - FISCAL YEAR 1998 NRC ANNUAL REPORT w/ comments Approved x
Disapproved Abstain Not Participating COMMENTS:
SEE ATTACHED COMMENTS b
d i m- -
SIGNATL/RE
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April 26, 1999 DATE Ent:: red on "AS" Yes X
No P W op[d ((hh04 CORRESPONDENCE PDR j
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e CHAIRMAN JACKSON COMMENTS ON SECY-99 FISCAL YEAR 1998 ANNUAL REPORT i approve the FY 1998 Annual Report with the attached comments. The NRC Annual Report does not seem to be well focused and does not present who we are and what we do in a precise way. I believe that it is appropriate to consider the necessity of future versions of the annual report and how well they sente our stakeholders, including the Congress and the public. Therefore, as part of the NRC efforts to be more effective and efficient, the staff should examine whether the NRC should continue to issue periodic reports such as the NRC Annual Report. The NRC Annual Report was issued to satisfy a requirement of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 which stipulates that "The Commission shall, as soon as practicable after the end of each fiscal year, make a report to the President for submission to the Congress on the activities of the Commission during the preceding fiscal year." in order to comply with the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA), we also will be required to prepare and submit an annual report on program performance to the President and Congress no later than March 31,2000. This program performance report will provide a review of our accomplishments in achieving the performance goals of the previous fiscal year. In addition, the report will evaluate the performance plan for the current fiscal year relative to the performance achieved against the performance goals in the previous fiscal year.
These reporting requirements appear to overlap and will result in the NRC producing two reports that contain similar information. Additionally, the GPRA includes a provision which would allow agencies to incorporate all program performance information required to be submitted as part of the financial statement requirements in the annual program performance report. Because these reporting requirements are similar in content and timing, it appears that it may be feasible to merge the Annual Report with the Performance Plan and the Accountability Report.
Further, in completing its evaluation, if the staff determines that elimination of the NRC Annual Report is not achievable, the staff should consider designing the report to be more concise and clearer to the target audience without duplicating information in other documents. As part of this effort, I suggest an examination of a few corporation annual reports to use.as a guide for modeling a report that highlights NRC achievements and better serves the public.
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CHAIRMAN JACKSON'S COMMENTS ON SECY-99-083, FISCAL YEAR 1998 NRC ANNUAL REPORT First page of Highlights - delete the sixth bullet. In the seventh bullet, insert "on light-water reactor safety" following " conducting research."
Page X, Changes in the Commission and Organization - strike "As of September 30, 1998", and replace with "Since July 1,1995". Strike the parenthetical statements which provide the date each Commissioner's term expires.
Program Highlights, Nuclear Reactor Safety, - suggest including a significant accomplishment such as establishing a streamlined review process for license renewal applications and issue of the final approval of the AP-600 design XI, Nuclear Waste Safety, - revise the last sentence to read, " license for the North Anna Nuclear Station."
Xll, Communicating with Stakeholders, - the text should highlight the plain language
. initiative and efforts to involve stakeholders by holding meetings to discuss improvements to the regulatory process.
Page 5,. Year 2000 Problem in Nuclear Power Plants, - in the last sentence change "FY 1999" to "CY 1999" Page 10, Issuance of Risk-Informed License Amendments - Most of the examples involved reductions in unnecessary regulatory burden, but none were required in the face of deregulation. Th6refore, recommend removal of the last paragraph or revision of the paragraph to discuss that these activities were done to reduce unnecessary regulatory burden.
Page11, Seismic Design of Piping, second paragraph - Change " basis" to " bases."
' Pages 13 - 14, independent Program Assessment - change " Anderson" to "Andersen."
Revise the paragraph to discuss the accomplishments in the past tense.
Page 16, Radiation Exposures and Overexposures - This information is a duplicate of information of page 32 and should be deleted. Second, staff should reconsider the value of including the charts on pages 33 - 36,45 and 47 which provide annual exposure data. This information can be confusing to the general public. It would be preferable to include a statement that indicates that this information is published annually and publicly available.
Page 23, Table 1.5 Civil Penalty Information - The information does not appear to be correct-NRC imposed one civil penalty? The distinction between " proposed" and
" imposed" should be explained.-
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Page 28, Medical Use of Byproduct Material, last sentence should be ' revised to reflect the current schedule for publishing the final rule.
Chapter 3, Nuclear Waste Safety - should be expanded to ir.clude a discussion of NRC activities related to uranium recovery.
Chapter 6, Support Services, The Chief Financial Officers Act, second paragraph, last i
sentence change the date to "FY 1998".
Page 74, Government Performance and Results Act. The second paragraph should be updated. Suggest deleting the first five sentences and revising the sixth sentence to read, "The NRC's first strategic plan, which covered FY 1997 through FY 2000 was submitted... " At the end of the paragraph insert, " Currently, the NRC is in the process of updating the Strategic Plan to reflect fully the regulatory reform efforts underway."
Page 74, Managing Receivables - Replace the text with the following, "The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-508), as amended, requires that in FY 1998, the NRC collect fees (under 10 CFR Part 170) and annual fees (under 10 CFR Part 171) that approximate 100 percent of the agency's budget authority, less the amount appropriates to the NRC from the Nuclaar Waste Fund. Public Law 101-508 appropriated $472.8 million to the NRC for FY 1998. Of the funds appropriated to the NRC, $15 million was derived from the Nuclear Waste Fund and $3 million was appropriated for regulatory reviews and other assistance provided to the Department of Energy and other Federal agencies, both of which are excluded fr.rn licensee fee revenues. In FY 1998, the total amount collected through fees and other charges was
$458.9 million. Of this total, $454.8 million offsets the appropriation, bringing the net i
appropriation for FY 1998 to $18 million. The remaining $4.1 million will be used to reduce the total fees assessed in FY 1999."
Page 75, Year 2000 at the NRC, Internal Program, following the first paragraph add the following sentence, "As of February 5,1999, remediation and implementation of all NRC computer information systems needing repair because of the Year 2000 problem were completed."
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