ML21081A165
| ML21081A165 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 03/22/2021 |
| From: | Lochbaum D NRC/OCM |
| To: | |
| References | |
| Download: ML21081A165 (25) | |
Text
Public Perspectives on NRCs Transformation Journey:
Access to Information Dave Lochbaum C-10 Advisory Board Member Gender + Radiation Impact Project Board Member The views herein are those of Lochbaum and not necessarily shared by C-10 or GRIP
In the fall of 1996, one could go to the basement of an office building on L Street in Washington, DC and view official NRC records on microfiche They even had microfiche readers so one could read what was on the teeny, weeny little squares without squinting.
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Today with WiFi access, one can quickly and easily access more than 730,000 digital records to view and/or download 3
In the fall of 1996, members of the public were allowed to attend NRC public meetings, but usually could not:
- review materials discussed during meeting
- ask any questions
- provide any comments 4
Source: 980324011
Today, members of the public may attend NRC public meetings and now have the right NOT to remain silent Category 1:
Category 2:
Category 3:
5 Source: ML021220206
In the fall of 1996, many public meetings conducted by the NRC were not properly noticed (yet the industry folks still managed to show up in the right place at the right time) 6 Source: ML20197B539
Today, public meetings are posted online with links to meeting notices and associated materials 7
Source: https://www.nrc.gov/pmns/mtg
In the fall of 1996, non-government attendees had to pay $160*
to enter the annual Regulatory Information Conference (or to leave; not really sure which) 8 Source: ML20137F880
Today, non-government RIC attendees can come and go without paying any dough.
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The NRC has progressed along its Transformation Journey.
But to steal a line from Robert Frosts poem, it still has miles to go before it sleeps.
Many, many miles. Lots of miles. Mega-miles.
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In fall 2004, the NRC began hiding incoming records about fire protection and emergency planning even though they knew most would NOT contain sensitive information.
11 Source: ML042310663
The records NRC hid from the public included exemption and license amendment requests related to fire protection - denying the public its legal rights under the Administrative Procedure Act to participate in licensing actions:
02/21/2008 Oconee (ML080320065) 04/25/2007 Browns Ferry (Ml071160431) 09/27/2006 Turkey Point (ML062160387)
In August 2014, I submitted FOIA requests for all fire protection and emergency planning records improperly withheld from the public since October 1, 2004 (ML14253A353) 12 Source: ML042310663
13 Source: The NRC and Nuclear Power Plant Safety in 2014: Tarnished Gold Standard
Nearly nine months BEFORE Fukushima, NRC secretly required flood protection upgrades at Oconee 14 Source: ML12363A086
Cascadia Times reporter Paul Koberstein pried the secret CAL from the NRC via the Freedom of Information Act Not a single word or number was redacted!
15 Source: ML13004A382
Five weeks AFTER Fukushima, NRC was still withholding from the public information about the ongoing flood protection upgrades at Oconee 16 Source: ML111170729
The NRCs cozy dealings with industry continue; in March 2017 the NRC hosted a secret invitation-only workshop with its industry buddies about harvesting materials to support subsequent license renewal 17 Source: ML19319B309 and ML19319B313
The materials presented and discussed during the NRCs secret workshop were NOT placed in ADAMs where public eyes might see them, but instead placed on the cloud and shared with the chosen ones (i.e., NOT the public):
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B5DWMLch5YSXcnpZZ0JOS055QUU?usp=sharing 18 Source: ML20365A050
The materials from the secret workshop are being slowly released in response to FOIA-2018-000831 submitted on September 25, 2018:
Response #1, 210 pages added to ADAMS 07/24/2019 (302 days)
Response #2, 351 pages added to ADAMS 11/25/2019 (426 days)
Response #3, 281 pages added to ADAMS 12/20/2019 (451 days)
Response #4, 706 pages added to ADAMS 05/12/2020 (595 days)
Response #5, 947 pages added to ADAMS 09/10/2020 (716 days)
Response #6, 800 pages added to ADAMS 11/10/2020 (777 days)
Response #7, 446 pages added to ADAMS 12/01/2020 (798 days)
Response #8, 631 pages added to ADAMS 12/10/2020 (807 days)
Response #9, 879 pages added to ADAMS 01/04/2021 (832 days)
Source: ML19197A134 5,251 pages and counting kept from the public 19
The month following the secret workshop, I was among several external stakeholders invited to brief the Commissioners on our views about subsequent license renewal 20 Source: ML17118A300
Most of the other external stakeholders either attended the secret workshop or had others in their organizations attend.
Neither me, nor any one else from UCS was invited.
Left field Sources: ML17118A300 21 and ML20332A096
The public doesnt want to play any reindeer games.
Instead, the public expects proper access to ALL appropriate meetings and documents ALL the time, not some meetings and some documents some of the time.
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Principles of Good Regulation 23 Source: https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/values.html#principles
Principles of Good Regulation (cont.)
Non-public, invitation-only meetings with industry representatives and improperly withheld documents glacially released fall short of the purported Openness principle.
NRC HAS NOT EARNED THE PUBLICS TRUST!! 24
Selected beliefs ranked by strength of belief:
- Santa Claus
- NRC values openness
- New York Jets will win the Super Bowl in 2022
- NRC practices openness
- The earth is flat Everyone buying a lottery ticket dreams of winning big, but few do. NRC must stop buying openness tickets and start taking openness actions.
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