ML21084A466
| ML21084A466 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 04/23/2021 |
| From: | Margaret Doane NRC/EDO |
| To: | Koizumi K US Executive Office of the President, Office of Science & Technology Policy |
| Meyer M | |
| References | |
| Download: ML21084A466 (4) | |
Text
April 23, 2021 Mr. Kei Koizumi, Acting Director Office of Science and Technology Policy Executive Office of the President 1650 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, DC 20504
Dear Mr. Koizumi:
On behalf of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), I am reporting on the agencys Federal scientific and technological advisory committees consistent with Section 7 of the January 27, 2021, Presidential Memorandum titled Restoring Trust in Government Through Scientific Integrity and Evidence-Based Policymaking (Presidential Memorandum).
The NRC has one statutory advisory committee, the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) established by Section 29 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended that reports directly to the Commission. The ACRS has four primary purposes: 1) to review and report on safety studies and reactor facility license and license renewal applications; 2) to advise the Commission on the hazards of proposed and existing production and utilization facilities and the adequacy of proposed safety standards; 3) to initiate reviews of specific generic matters or nuclear facility safety-related items; and 4) to provide advice in the areas of health physics and radiation protection.
The ACRS, as a Federal Advisory Committee, is independent of the NRC staff and reports directly to the Commission, which appoints its members. ACRS membership is comprised of individuals with diverse employment backgrounds and expertise in the areas of nuclear power plant operations; probabilistic risk assessment; analysis of severe reactor accident phenomena; design of nuclear power plant structures, systems, and components; chemical engineering; digital instrumentation and control; materials and metallurgy; and thermal-hydraulics and computational fluid dynamics. The diversity of viewpoints represented by current members is based on special fields of interest, employment experience, and technical expertise. These member attributes provide the ACRS with a balance of highly qualified technical expertise and diverse safety perspectives necessary to carry out the Committee's statutory responsibilities effectively. Additionally, the ACRS is updating its procedures to include consideration of enhancing participation of a broader range of technical expertise through hybrid (i.e., in-person and virtual) meetings.
In addition to the ACRS, the NRC has two discretionary Federal Advisory Committees, the Advisory Committee on the Medical Uses of Isotopes (ACMUI), which reports to the Director of the Division of Materials Safety, Security, State, and Tribal Programs in NRCs Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, and the Licensing Support Network Advisory Review Panel
K. Koizumi 2 (LSNARP), which reports to the Chief Judge of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel.
The ACMUI advises the NRC staff on policy and technical issues that arise in the regulation of the medical uses of radioactive material in diagnosis and therapy. The ACMUI membership includes Medical Doctors and other health care professionals who are experts in their fields and are from various disciplines. They provide comments on changes to NRC regulations and guidance; evaluate certain non-routine uses of radioactive material; provide technical assistance in licensing, inspection, and enforcement cases; and bring key issues to the attention of the Commission for appropriate action.
The LSNARP was chartered to provide advice on the fundamental issues of design and development of an electronic information management system, called the Licensing Support Network (LSN), used to store and retrieve documents relating to the licensing of a geologic repository for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste, and on the operation and maintenance of the LSN. Membership on the LSNARP includes representatives of parties to the high-level waste geologic repository licensing proceeding and other interested stakeholders.
This committee remains chartered but is not currently active and future actions are dependent upon Congressional appropriations.
The NRCs advisory committees are structured to provide a forum where experts representing many technical perspectives can provide independent advice that is factored into the NRCs decision-making process. The Federal Advisory Committee Act and NRC implementing regulations in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 7 govern the operational practices of the NRCs advisory committees and ensure that NRC advisory committees are balanced in their membership, in terms of the points of view represented, and the functions to be performed. In addition, the NRC has established policies and procedures for obtaining and using advisory committee members. These policies and procedures can be found in Appendix 1 of the Internal Commission Procedures (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) accession no. ML19296A025), and Management Directive 10.12 Use of Advisory Committee Members (ADAMS accession no. ML18073A269). The NRCs Management Directives are reviewed and reissued or certified as still relevant, approximately every 8 years.
Section 7 of the Presidential Memorandum directs agencies to complete a review of their scientific advisory committees and provide recommendations on the following:
- which Federal scientific and technological advisory committees should be rechartered or recreated;
- which scientific and technological advisory committees should be prioritized for membership appointments to ensure they provide well-rounded and expert advice reflecting diverse perspectives; and
- which agency policies, processes, or practices, if any, should be updated to encourage relevant and highly qualified external experts to serve on such committees.
Consistent with Section 7 of the Presidential Memorandum, the NRC has completed a review of its scientific advisory committees and did not identify any specific actions to take at this time.
The NRC has not terminated any advisory boards that would require rechartering or recreating,
K. Koizumi 3 and prioritization for membership appointments is not currently an issue because NRCs advisory committees are appropriately balanced. The NRCs policies, processes, and practices are current and, as indicated above, encourage relevant and highly qualified external experts to serve on such committees.
Please feel free to contact me or have your staff contact Russell Chazell, at (301) 415-7469, if you have any questions or need additional information.
Sincerely, Signed by Doane, Margaret on 04/23/21 Margaret M. Doane Executive Director for Operations
K. Koizumi 4 Identical letter sent to:
Shalanda Young, Acting Director Office of Management and Budget Executive Office of the President 725 17th Street, NW Washington, DC 20503