ML20249C819

Responds to 980224 Memo Re Comnjd 98-002 -- Reduction of Vulnerabilities in Emergency Preparedness

ML20249C819
Person / Time
Site:	Salem
Issue date:	02/25/1998
From:	Diaz N NRC COMMISSION (OCM)
To:	Shirley Ann Jackson, The Chairman NRC COMMISSION (OCM)
Shared Package
ML20249C767	List: IA-98-121, Informs That Commission Concurred in Recipient Proposal That Chairman & Commissioners Shall Become Cognizant of Agency Emergency Procedures & Responses & Develop Schedule for Commissioners Training & Participation in Exercises ML20249C766 ML20249C772 ML20249C775 ML20249C777 ML20249C783 ML20249C789 ML20249C791 ML20249C796 ML20249C819 ML20249C821 ML20249C822 ML20249C824
References
FOIA-98-121 NUDOCS 9807010241
Download: ML20249C819 (2)

Text

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COMMISSIONER February 25,1998 MEMORANDUM TO: Chairman Jackson FROM: Commissioner Diaz

SUBJECT:

COMNJD 98-002 - REDUCTION OF VULNERABILITIES IN EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS This responds to your February 24,1998, memorandum on the above topic.

I am pleased that you affirm the importance of the Commissioners' receipt of training, including participation in exercises, to ensure that Commissioners are prepared for potential participation in the event of an emergency. I also welcome your support for the development of a schedule for Commissioners' training and participation in exercises. It is my view, however, that the scheduling of such training, and adherence to such schedules, along the lines proposed in COMNJD 98-002, now involve policy issues that support greater Commission involvement than you find appropriate.

Late last Friday evening, February 20,1998, I received indirect word that you were issuing a memorandum of that date declaring your intent to conduct the Salem exercise, replacing me as Executive Team Leader, because you were no longer going to South Africa. In your memorandum, which I received on February 23,1998, you also suggested that I could "be present for assistance during the conduct of the exercise."

Now, in your memorandum of February 24, you propose that "[you) initiate the exercise and later hand it off to [me)."

For a number of reasons, I do not believe that your proposal will be in the best interest of emergency preparedness for the NRC. Although I do agree with the1mportance of having a fully trained Chairman for our emergency responses, I also believe that having one-out-of-four Commissioners without the appropriate training for eighteen months and then postponing a scheduled training constitutes a vulnerability in emergency preparedness. It is my understanding that Chairman Jackson and Commissioners McGaffigan and Dicus have each participated in exercises as Team Leader. I remain the only member of the Commission without the benefits of conducting such an

! exercise. I believe that my participation in a full exercise as Team Leader would

! provide me the requisite expertise to discharge these functions.

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PDR FOIA j e, RYAN98-121 PDR j

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l In addition, the timing appears to be wrong. After months of NRC preparation, I was l L confirmed in the first week of January by the established NRC process as the Team l Leader for the Salem exercise, and my schedule for the year has been organized on this basis. The Salem exercise is to be conducted on March 3,1998 (four working days away), and representatives from four countries have been counting on my participation

! as Team Leader.

For these and other reasons, it is my view that the integrity of the institution is best served by the conduct of the exercise as planned, with my participation as Executive Team Leader. I would be honored, however, if you could serve as the host of the luncheon for our foreign guests.

cc: Commissioner Dicus Commissioner McGaffigan -

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