ML20236X268
| ML20236X268 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 12/07/1987 |
| From: | Murley T Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| To: | Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| References | |
| NRRL-106, NUDOCS 8712090084 | |
| Download: ML20236X268 (5) | |
Text
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION o
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6$C071987 NEMORANDUM FOR:
All NRR Employees FROM:
Thomas E. Murley, Director Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
SUBJECT:
NRR OFFICE LETTER NO 106 - RELEASE OF NRC DRAFT OR PREDECISIONAL DOCUMENTS AND INFORMATION l
PURPOSE This office letter provides guidance for distribution of HRC draft or predecisional and final documents and information contained in such documents.
It reflects the guidance issued by memorandum, from W. Dircks, Executive Director for Operations (ED0) dated December 3, 1984 (Enclosure 1), and by memoranda dated October 6, and 30, 1987 from V. Stello.
In addition, this letter supersedes IE Office Procedure 0550, issued June 5, 1985, and NRR Office Letter No. 43, Revision 2, dated February 9, 1987.
The EDO indicates in his October 6, 1987 memorandum that guidance memoranda related to release of documents and information will be incorporated in Bulletin No. 3203-18 " Policy on Release of Draft and Predecisional Information."
This office letter will be updated when that bulletin is issued.
Additional guidance regarding the distribution of draft and final inspection reports (e.g., vendor, Construction Appraisal Team, or Independent Design Inspection) is covered in tfe NRC Inspection Manual, Chapter 0620.
i OBJECTIVES The objectives of this procedure are to (1) provide general policy guidance on the release and distribution of draft and final documents; (2) ensure that staff documents are developed and issued without improper influences, real or perceived, by the public or by applicants, licensees, permittees, or their subcontractors, or agents (referred to hereinafter as " licensee"); (3) ensure that these documents are made available promptly to the public; and (4) ensure that sufficient flexibility is provided so that appropriate safety or safeguards information can be disseminated to licensees before distribution of the final document.
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DEFIllITIONS Documents: For the purposes of this procedure, documents encompass all written material considered to be NRC records under 10 CFR Part 9.
Draft: A document is considered to be draft from its initial development through the period of review until it has been approved and issued as a firal document.
Predecisional: A document is considered predecisional when it encompasses an opinion, recommendation, or proposal and has not been published as a final agency publication or position. Note that memoranda from a review branch to a Project Directorate that transmits questicas or input for a Safety Evaluation Report are predecisional.
Final: A document is considered final when it has been signed or otherwise approved for publication or distribution outside of NRC.
POLICY The ED0's policy pertaining to the release of draft or predecisional information is contained in Enclosure 1.
However, for administrative convenience, the agency's policy is summarized below.
Prompt and positive action is required on safety and safeguards concerns.
These concerns must be identified promptly, documented, and made known to responsible licensee management to obtain prompt evaluation and appropriate corrective action. At the same time, NRC documents must be developed and issued without improper licensee or public influence, or the appearance of such, and must be made available to the public in a timely manner, consistent with NRC regulations, policies, and procedures.
Draft documents, or information contained therein, that are not included under the category of " EXCEPTIONS," (see next page) are not to be discussed with, given to, or shown to any licensee or the public by the staff without prior approval from the Director, NRR.
Predecisional documents shall not be provided to licensees or the public or placed in the PDR without prior approval from the Director, NRR.
Information and documents discussed in the " EXCEPTIONS" category are excluded.
In the event that an NRR staff member believes that a draft or predecisional document that is not covered in "EXCEPTI0fiS" should be released to the public, the appropriate Division Director / Staff Director should request, in writing, release approval from the Director, NRR. This request should include a j
description of the document to be released and justification for the release, f
Final documents will be distributed in a manner that will ensure that the public, licensees, NRC contractors, State, and Federal agencies have access
to information they need to fulfill their responsibilities. Final documents provided to licensees will be placed in the Public Document Room (PDR). NRR Office Letter No. 102 discusses the procedure for placing documents in the PDR. However, any decision to place documents in the PDR under this policy also must be consistent with NRC regulations, policies, and procedures regarding confidentiality, security, safeguards, and proprietary information.
In the event any document is inadvertently or otherwise released by the NRC, its contractors, State, or other Federal agencies contrary to this policy, the ED0 should be advised promptly in writing of the occurrence and the corrective action to be taken by the responsible office to avoid recurrence of such release. Normally, under such circumstances, the released document should be placed in the PDR.
Nothing in these procedures shall automatically preclude the release of agency records pursuant to a formal request under the Freedom of Information Act.
RESPONSIBILITIES AND AUTHORITIES Director, NRR Approves the release of draft documents or predecisional information that is not encompassed within the category of " EXCEPTIONS".
Division Directors / Staff Director (1) Assure that their staff is cognizant of the guidance provided within this office letter.
(2) Obtain approval frcm the Director, NRR, before releasing a draft document or information contained therein, including discussions of that document, or certain* draft or predecisional information.
(3) Immediately inform the ED0 (via memorandum from Director, NRR to ED0) of the inadvertent release of a document and of the facts concerning the release and corrective actions to be taken to prevent
.ecurrence.
NRR Staf_f Remains knowledgeable of the guidance provided within this office
' letter.
If a staff member becomes aware of an inadvertent disclosure of a i
draft document or information contained therein, or certain* predecisional information, that person should immediately notify his/her supervisor.
EXCEPTIONS l
(1)
In the event of an emergency or a significant safety or safeguards issue that appears to require immediate action, NRC personnel, at their discre-4 tion may discuss with, show to, and provide the licensee any pertinent material they believe the circumstances warrant. However, when this occurs l
the document should be placed in the PDR, with due consideration for any situation which is encompassed within Section 2.790 of 10 CFR Part 2, or other nondisclosure exemptions.
- See the discussion in the category of " EXCEPTIONS" for circumstances under which draft or predecisienal information could be released.
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All NRR Employees 4
DEC 7m (2)
In the normal course of conducting regulatory activities, communications with licensees, vendors, industry representatives, and other Federal agencies are occasionally necessary regarding initial NRC staff positions, license conditions, confirmation of action letters, preparation of bulletins and information notices, events at other facilities, etc.
Such communi-cations can be held in advance of the final issuance of an NRC document for the purpose of (a) gaining factual information, (b) assessing the feasibility, and benefit of, or alternatives to, proposed actions, or (c) alerting licensees to initial findings so that corrective actions can te initiated promptly. This policy statement is not intended to impede such exchanges of information. However, any such written communications provided by the staff to licensees or the public shall be placed in the PDR.
(3) Draft research reports, studies, data, or other documentation that is based on information obtained from one or more licensees or vendors and that may be discussed or exchanged with those parties and other participants in a study or research program, are not subject to restraint under the procedures stated in this office letter.
(4) The agency recognizes that in the normal course of business, discussions of draft positions, requests for information, and such between staff and licensees / vendors frequently are necessary. This procedure is not intended to hinder such exchanges of information, but to ensure that all persons have equal access to all relevant information. An exception would be where the Project Director or Branch Chief determines it is necessary and appropriate not only to discuss such draft documents at meetings but also to make copies available to all attendees to facilitate the discussion (with due regard to any proprietary considerations). The meeting sunrnary, which is placed in the PDR, shall document the substance of the draft document discussions and shall include the draft document as an attachment. Even in those situations where voluminous draft documents are passed out at working meetings and are normally taken up after the meeting, the draft document shall be attached to the meeting summary.
A separate office letter is being prepared to reflect procedures to be followed when handling Technical Evaluation Reports (TERs) submitted by NRC contractors. That office letter will also address draft TERs.
(5)
In the event that the Project Director or Branch Chief finds it desirable to send draft material to one party in an ongoing licensing activity, copies should be sent to all other parties and placed in the PDR as well.
(6) A Project Director or a Branch Chief may transmit a draft Safety Evaluation Report (SER) d cumenting the staff's review of a proprietary report to the vendor or utility for the sole purpose of determining whether the staff has discussed proprietary information in the SER.
In such cases, the transmittal letter and draft SER should be sent to Central Files. Tha transmittal l
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DEC 7 1987 All NRR Employees 5
letter only should be placed in the PDR; the letter should clearly state that the requested review is in regard to proprietary information only (see Enclosure 2).
EFFECTIVE DATE This office letter is effective immediately.
Origirn1 signed by nm,
'y Thomas E. Murley, Director Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Enclosures:
1.
Memorandum dated 12/03/84 from W. Dircks 2.
Letter transmitting draft SER documenting staff's review of report cc: w/ enclosures:
V. Stello, EDO E. Shomaker, OGC L. Robinson, ARM NRC Office Directors NRC Deputy Office Directors Regional Administrators NRC Division Directors SECY 0GC-MNBB Distribution Central Files NRC PDR TPSS R/F This office letter had been held up for PTSB R/F the ED0's new policy.
As stated in HSmith paragraph 2, we will update this OL when SBlack the new guidance is issued.
CThomas HS 11/23/87 FGillespie TMurley Reviewed by Tech Editor (MM) on 8/26/87 (OFSL P0:);o [
- SEE PREVIOUS CONCURRENCE OFC
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- 8/26/87
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DATE:[k/V/87 J
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UNITED (TATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION c
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F wAssiwa roN, D. C. 20586 DECS 1984 MEMORANDUM FOR:
Office Directors l
Regional Administrators FROM:
William J. Dircks Executive Director for Operations
SUBJECT:
POLICY ON CONTROL OF NRC REPORTS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS On October 7,1983, I issued a policy statement regarding the distribution of draft inspection and investigation reports. Since that time, other events have occurred that indicate the need for a general policy statement that addresses I
the release of all NRC reports and other documents, either in their draft or final fonn. That policy statement is enclosed. The major premise of the enclosed policy statement is that documents will not be provided to one licensee or member of the public unless they can be made available (generally through the Public Document Room) to all.
Nothing in the enclosed policy statement should be construed as a relaxation of n October 1983 policy statement.
Rath r, it is y intent that the procedures developed in response to the enclosed policy statement be consistent with the specific directions in v October 1983 policy statement. As an amplification of my October 1983 policy, you should also establish procedures to ensure that 01 is promptly informed whenever a material false staterient is suspected.
Additionally, matters being referred to OI should be coordinated with 01 pt for to advising a licensee of the potential referral. To assure overall consistency and completer,ess your procedures should be forwarded to DEDROGR for review and comment.
By copy of this memo, I am directing the Office of Administration to incorporate these policies into appropriate NRC Manual Chapters.
V
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William J Dirc s Executive Director for Operations
Enclosure:
As stated cc: Chairman Palladino Commissioner Roberts Commissioner Asselstine Commissioner Bernthal Commissioner Zech V. Stello, DEDROGR i
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POLICY ON CONTROL OF NRC REPORTS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS INTRODUCTION NRC must act promptly and positively on nuclear safety and safeguards concerns.
Such concerns must be identified promptly, documented and made known to respon-sible licensee management to obtain prompt evaluation and appropriate cor-rective action.
At the same time, NRC documents must be developed and issued without inoroper licensee or public influence, or the appearance thereof, and must be made available to the public in a timely manner, consistent with NRC regulations, policies and procedures.
OBJECTIVES The objectives of this policy statement with regard to both plant-specific and generic NRC reports and other documents (referred to hereinafter as " documents")
are:
1.
To provide NRC staff with general policy guidance on the release and distribution of draft and final documents.
2.
To assure that staff documents are developed and issued without improper influences, real or perceived, by the public or by applicants, licensees, pemittees or their subcontractors or agents (referred to hereinafter as
" licensees") and are made available promptly to the public.
3.
To assure that sufficient flexibility is provided to Office Directors and Regional Administrators so that they and their staffs will not hesitate to disseminate appropriate safety or safeguards information to licensees, before distribution of final documents.
POLICY For the purpose of this policy, the term " documents" encompasses all written material considered to be NRC records under 10 CFR Part 9.
A draft document is to be considered a draft from its initial development throughout the period of review until its issuence as a final document.
A final document is one that has been signed or otherwise approved for publication and distribution. Final documents will be distributed in a manner that will ensure that the public, the licensees, NRC contractors and Government agencies have access to information they need to fulfill their responsibilities.
Final documents provided to licensees will be placed in the Public Document Room (PDR).
Any decision under this policy to place documents in the PDR must also be con-sistent with NRC regulations, policies and procedures regardinp confidentiality, security, safeguards, proprietary, and Privacy Act Infomation and investigative matters.
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Draft documents, or information contained therein, are not to be discussed with, given to, or shown to any licensee or the public by NRC staff without prior approval.
Predecisional interagency or intrangency memoranda and letters shall not be provided to licensees or the public or placed in the PDR without prior
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management approval.
j In the event any document is inadvertently or Qtherwise released by the NRC, its contractors or other Government agencies contrary to this policy, the EDO 1
should be advised promptly in writing of the occurrence and the corrective 1
action to be taken by the responsible Office to avoid recurrence of such release.
Nonna11y, under such circumstances, the released document should be l
placed in the PDR.
EXCEPTIONS In the event there is an emergency, or a significant safety or safeguards issue appears to require immediate action, NRC personnel, at their discretion, may discuss with, show to, or provide the licensee with any pertinent material they i
believe the circumstances warrant.
In the nonnal course of conducting regulatory activities, communications with licensees, vendors, industry representatives and other Government agencies are at times necessary regarding initial NRC staff positions, license condit' ions, confinnation of action letters, inspection findings, preparation of bulletins and infonnation notices, events at other facilities, etc. Such communications can be held in advance of the final NRC documents for the purpose of (1) gaining factual information, (2) assessing the cost, feasibility and benefit of, or alternatives to, proposed actions, or (3) alerting licensees to initial staff positions or safety findings in order that corrective actions can tie initiated promptly.
This policy statement is not intended to impedi such exchanges of infonnation.
Any written communications provided by the staff to licensees or the public shall, however, be placed in the PDR.
Draft research reports, studies, data or other documentation based on l
infonnation obtained from a licensee or vendor, which may be discussed or exchanged with those parties and other participants in a study or research program, are not subject to restraint under this policy statement.
l Draft proposed and final rules, policy statements and other documents pertaining to materials regulated by the Agreement States may be sent to the Agreement States for coment and are not subject to restraint under this policy.
'Nothing in the policy statunent shall automatically preclude the release of i
agency records pursuant to a formal request under the Freedom of Information i
I Act.
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IMPLEMENTATION 1
Program and Regional Offices are expected to develop and implement procedures that reflect this policy.
IE, NHSS and NRR, in coordination with Regional Offices, should develop generic procedures for use by the Regional Offices regarding inspection, fuels and materials licensing and reactor licensing, respectively.
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w *o, UNITED STATES g 'g NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION a
E 7, g )7/, l W ASHINGTON. D. C. 20555 g
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Mr. William J. Johnson, Manager Nuclear Safety Department Westinghouse Electric Corporation Rox 335 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15230
Dear Mr. Johnson:
Subject:
Acceptance for Referencing of Licensing Topical Geoort WCAp-10325, " Westinghouse LOCA Mass and Energy Pelease Model for Containment Design (Proprietarvi - March 1974 Version" The staff has completed its review of the subject topical report, submitted by Westinghouse Electric Corporation letters NS-TMA-2075 (April 25,1979) and NS-EPR-2948 (October 4, 1984). We #ind the report acceptable for referencing in licensing actions to the extent specified and under the limitations delineated in the report and the associated NRC evaluation which is enclosed.
The evaluation defines the basis for acceptance of the report.
Pursuant to 10 CFR 2.790, we have determined that the enclosed evaluation does not contain proprietary information. However, we will delay placing the evaluation in the public document room for a period of ten Il0) working days
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from the date of this letter to provide vou with the opportunity to coment on the proprietary aspects only.
If you believe that any information in the enclosure is proprietary, please identify such infonnation line by line and define the basis pursuant to the criteria of 10 CFR 2.790.
We do not intend to repeat our review of the matters described in the report and found accep*able when the report is referenced in licensing actions except to assure that the material presented is applicable to the specific plant involved. Our acceptance applies only to the matters described in the report.
In accordance with procedures established in N11 REG-0390, it is reouested that Westinghouse publish accepted versions of this report, proprietary and non-proprietary, within three months of receiot of this letter. The accepted.
versions should incorporate this letter and the appropriate evaluation between the title page and the abstract. The accepted versions shall include an -A (designating accepted) following the report identification symbol.
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Willian J. Johnson
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Should our criteria or regulations change such that our conclusions as to the acceptability of the report are invalidated, Westinghouse and/or the applicants referencing the topical report will be expected to revise and resubmit their respective documentation, or submit justification for the continued effective applicability of the topical report with revision of their respective documentation.
Sincerely, Charles E. Rossi, Assistant nirector Division of PWR Licensing - A
Enclosure:
As stated DISTRIBUTION:
Central Files (w/ encl)
PDR (w/o encl)
Originator (w/ encl)
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