ML20207H418
| ML20207H418 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 05/06/1999 |
| From: | Collins S NRC (Affiliation Not Assigned) |
| To: | Beecher W NRC OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS (OPA) |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9906160310 | |
| Download: ML20207H418 (3) | |
Text
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UNITED STATES g
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 30006 4001
,, g May 6,1999 MEMORANDUM TO: William M. Beecher, Director Office of Public Affairs Samuel J. Collins, Director f FROM:
h Office of Nuclear Reactor Re
SUBJECT:
RELEASE! OF PLANT OUTAGE SCHEDULES l
Your office has requested that the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) provide guidance for responding to frequently asked questions about nuclear power plant outage schedules.
Information related to outage schedules (i.e.', expected plant restart dates) is routinely provided informally by power reactor licensees to assist Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) regional offices plan inspection activities, to help headquarters offices, such as NRR, plan for activities such as the review of license amendment requests, and as a matter of course during communications between licensees and the staff. As part of their activities, some regional or headquarters personnel may create agency records by entering the outage information into databases, written tables, or other information formats. In some instances, the public or media request information pertaining to plant outage schedules, and the NRC staff then questions whether or not the available information should be released.
As you are aware, similar issues arose regarding the inclusion of plant outage schedules in the publically available plant status reports. Information pertaining to plant restart schedules is no longer routinely included in the daily status report because issues were raised regarding the accuracy of the information and concems expressed by some licensees that the release of plant outage schedules compromised their competitive positions. The possible treatment of plant l
restart schedules as business or confidential information results from the increasingly competitive environment of the electric generation sector and the possible influence of plant i
outage schedules on matters such as company bond ratings and electricity trading prices. The questions may become more contentious as the electric utility industry continues restructuring
. and the NRC receives requests for information from various sources while also receiving comments from licensees and industry representatives indicating concems about our disclosure of plant outage information. As a routine matter, the NRC does not require licensees to provide information about outage schedules in a manner that is publically available, bechuse such i
information is not directly related to our mission to protect public health and safety. It is important to recognize the distinction between the information pertaining to schedules, and the information pertaining to actual plant configurations, repair activities, and other matters that would be of major importance to the NRC during an outage or prior to restart of a particular l
power plant.
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CONTACT:
William Reckley, NRR/DLPM M
415-1323
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,. c The staff has had discussions regarding the possible treatment of outage schedules as proprietary information due to the possible financial implications that such information may have l
on affected licensees. The staff has generally concluded that outage information, if provided in a document submitted by a licensee with a request for withholding from public disclosure in accordance with Part 2.790 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR 2.790),
would likely be withheld from public disclosure. Such a determination could generally be made because the outage information is likely to be considered business or confidential information.
Given that the outage schedule information is not, in and of itself, used for safety decisions and that numerous documents generated by the NRC staff are available to the public for assessing the safety of nuclear power plants, the balancing of the competing requests would likely fall to the side of protecting the licensee's competitive position.
Following discussions with the Office of the General Counsel, I have decided that the appropriate course of action is to actively engage the industry to determine which licensees would like to request that certain information pertaining to outage schedules be withheld from public disclosure. This process will result in an interim period while (1) the staff prepares an administrative letter to explain the situation to licensees and advise them that they may need to pursue formal requests for the staff to withhold specific outage schedule information from public disclosure, (2) the staff receives and evaluates licensees' requests for withholding of some information, (3) the staff prepares guidance for NRC staff and managers, and (4) the staff develops and implements an information system to help regional and headquarters personnel determine what outage information should be withheld from public disclosure. I have determined that during the interim period, outage schedule information provided informally by licensees (and not otherwise known to be in the public domain) should not be disclosed to the public except in accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 (i.e., if information is not known to be in the public domain, the staff will, before releasing outage information to the public, give licensees an opportunity to request (verbally to be followed by a formal request, as necessary) that information be withheld from public disclosure). This interim policy is based on (1) recent examples of specific licensees and industry representatives requesting that certain plant outage information be treated as confidential, (2) the low safety significance of the outage schedule information (not to be confused with plant configurations, repairs, or other attivities that occur prior to restarting a unit from an outage), and (3) a desire to minimize the administrative burden on both licensees and the staff as a result of informal requests for outage schedule information from the public or the media. I have consulted the Office of the General Counsel regarding this policy and they have no legal objection to its implementation.
Since it is understood that the NRC staff does not wish to seem unresponsive to requests or out of touch with the status of its licensed facilities, it is recommended that the Office of Public Affairs (OPA) prepare a standard response for questions dealing with outage schedules that have not been officially docketed. A possible example is provided below:
3-Information related to outage schedules is sometimes provided informally by power reactor licensees to assist NRC's regional offices plan inspection activities and to help headquarters offices, such as NRR, plan for activities such as the review of license amendrnent requests. [ appropriate response 1 or 2] l recommend that you call the licensee for additional information. A contact is
[Public Affairs for licensee) at [ phone number).
(1)
Although some NRC personnel may have had informal discussions regarding specific outage schedules, licensees may choose to extend or shorten outages without consultation with the NRC staff provided that the regulatory requirements are being satisfied. In addition, some licensees have expressed concem that outage schedules may be confidential information in accordance with NRC regulations. The possible treatment of plant restart schedules as business or confidential information results from the increasingly competitive environment of the electric generation sector and the possible influence of plant outage schedules on matters such as company bond ratings and electricity trading prices. Given the uncertainty of our information and the possible proprietary nature of the information, questions regarding a specific planned or ongoing outage are best addressed by the licensee.
(2)
Regarding the specific schedule for the outage at [ plant x], the last official estimate that was communicated to the NRC staff is [ docketed, otherwise publically available, or "not-sensitive" schedule). Be aware, however, that licensees may choose to extend or shorten outages without consultation with the NRC staff provided that the regulatory requirements are being satisfied (answer may be different if plant is under CAL or Order).
I hope that this memorandum is responsive to your questions. We will keep you informed as we proceed with our planned actions in this area. Please call Bill Reckley at 415-1323 if you or your staff have any questions regarding this matter.
DISTRIBUTION Central File DLPM r/f H. Miller, RI L.Reyes,Ril J. Dyer, Rill E. Merschoff, RIV G. Tracy, OEDO L. Chandler, OGC S. Collins /R. Zimmerrnan B. Sharon W.Kane B. Boger W. Dean J. Zwolinski/S. Black E. Adensam fd/ D [# ld 4/oOAf H. Berkow C. Thomas S. Richards W. Reckley V. Dricks, PAO
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Document Name: PAO _ MEMO.WPD
- See previous concurrence OFC TA/DLPM OGC BC/IIPB D/DLPM ADPT DONR
,m NAME WReckley/th MPSiemien*
WDean*
JZwolinski*
BSheron* yollins DATE 04/5/99 kD4/16/99 04/16/99 04/23/99 04/23/99
! 04 6 /99 M/h YES/NO YES/NO YES/NO YES/NO YES/NO EShO l COPY OFFICIAL RECORD COPY i
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