ML24282A993
| ML24282A993 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 10/29/2024 |
| From: | Scott(Ois) Morris NRC/EDO |
| To: | Virkar H NRC/OIG/AIGA |
| References | |
| OIG-24-A-10, OEDO-24-00346 | |
| Download: ML24282A993 (1) | |
Text
MEMORANDUM TO:
Hruta Virkar Assistant Inspector General for Audits and Evaluations Office of the Inspector General FROM:
Scott A. Morris Deputy Executive Director for Reactor and Preparedness Programs Office of the Executive Director for Operations
SUBJECT:
STAFF RESPONSE TO THE OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERALS AUDIT OF THE U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSIONS REACTOR OPERATOR LICENSING EXAMINATION PROCESS (OIG-24-A-10)
The staff has received the Office of the Inspector Generals (OIGs) report for Audit OIG-24-A-10, Audit of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commissions Reactor Operator Licensing Examination Process, dated September 30, 2024. This memorandum provides the staffs response to the one OIG recommendation. The staff selected target dates for completion with the goal of balancing the need for greater clarity with the need for efficiency.
Enclosure:
Staff Response to Recommendation from OIG-24-A-10 CONTACT: Lauren Nist, NRR/DRO 301-415-6043 October 29, 2024 Signed by Morris, Scott on 10/29/24
- via e-mail NRR-106 OFFICE NRR/DRO/IOLB NRR/DRO/IOLB QTE NRR/DRO NAME LNist JAnderson JDougherty RFelts DATE 10/9/2024 10/9/2024 10/9/2024 10/9/2024 OFFICE RI RII RIII RIV NAME BWelling MFranke JKozal GMiller DATE 10/9/2024 10/9/2024 10/15/2024 10/9/2024 OFFICE OGC*
NRR OEDO/DEDR NAME DRoth AVeil SMorris DATE 10/15/2024 10/21/2024 10/29/24
Enclosure Staff Response to Recommendation from OIG-24-A-10 Recommendation:
Identify process gaps and update NUREG-1021 to ensure that guidance in future revisions remains current and addresses emerging issues.
Response
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff agrees with the recommendation in the Office of the Inspector Generals report for Audit OIG-24-A-10, Audit of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commissions Reactor Operator Licensing Examination Process, dated September 30, 2024. The NRC staff will update NUREG-1021, Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors, and NRC Form 398, Personal Qualification Statement Licensee, as applicable, to provide additional clarity and close process gaps, including those identified in figure 3 of the audit report.
Planned Actions to Update NUREG-1021 and Target Date for Completion:
As noted in the audit report, the NRC staff established an effectiveness review team to assess the implementation of Revision 12 of NUREG-1021, issued September 2021, which included relatively major changes to the NRCs commercial nuclear power operator licensing program.
Revision 12 became effective in March 2022, and it is currently used by the NRC staff and examination developers at all commercial nuclear power facilities. Data collection for some areas of the effectiveness review ended in July 2024, and the NRC staff will continue to collect data for other review areas through September 2027. The NRC staff is preparing a report, for issuance by the end of calendar year (CY) 2024, that will summarize the data collected by the effectiveness review team through July 2024. The NRC staff expects that this report will identify a few additional enhancements to the guidance in NUREG-1021. The staff also intends to issue a final effectiveness review report by the end of CY 2027, which may also identify potential revisions to NUREG-1021.
The NRCs Principles of Good Regulation include clarity, openness, and efficiency. Notably, the principle for efficiency states, in part, Where several effective alternatives are available, the option which minimizes the use of resources should be adopted. Revising NUREG-1021 requires the expenditure of a relatively large amount of NRC resources, and power reactor facility licensees must expend their resources to implement process changes resulting from any NUREG-1021 revision. Thus, a decision to issue a revision to NUREG-1021 also needs to ensure the resources expended will be justified.
The NRC staff evaluated the process gaps that have been identified to date to assess, from a safety perspective, if any of the gaps impact the ability to make the findings required by 10 CFR 55.33 (disposition of an initial application) or other relevant regulations. The NRC staff determined that the process gaps identified to date are not causing any problems that warrant an immediate update to NUREG-1021. The staff can adequately address fact-specific gaps via the reports on interactions (ROIs) process. However, the staff is evaluating making the information in these ROIs available to external stakeholders through its Operator Licensing Program Feedback website (i.e., accessible on the NRCs public website), with redactions when appropriate.
2 Accordingly, to maximize efficiency by minimizing the number of NUREG-1021 revisions that could occur in a relatively short amount of time (e.g., NUREG-1021 revisions before and after issuance of the final effectiveness review report), the staff intends to issue a draft of NUREG-1021 for public comment that includes, at a minimum, revisions to address the identified process gaps by no later than 6 months following issuance of the final effectiveness review report (anticipated no later than the end of CY 2027). Additionally, the staff plans to revise the Operator Licensing Program Feedback information by no later than March 31, 2025 (i.e., approximately 3 months following issuance of the effectiveness review teams report that will be issued by end of CY 2024). These actions together will balance the need for clarity, openness, and efficiency.
Planned Actions to Update NRC Form 398 and Target Date for Completion:
Revising NRC Form 398 also requires the expenditure of NRC resources, and power reactor facility licensees will also need to expend resources to implement process changes resulting from such a revision. Thus, a decision to issue a revision to NRC Form 398 also needs to ensure the resources expended will be justified.
As such, the NRC staff evaluated the process gaps that have been identified to date and determined that issuing a revision to NRC Form 398 to address these gaps is not urgent.
Furthermore, addressing the few process gaps that have been identified on NRC Form 398 to date in a revision to the form is also not urgent, and the cases that revealed the process gaps are very infrequent. Between now and the next revision to the form, the previously approved ROIs provide sufficient guidance to process NRC Form 398 submittals for cases similar to those discussed in the ROIs. Therefore, the NRC staff will revise NRC Form 398 to, at a minimum, address the identified process gaps as part of the renewal of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) clearance expiration date, which is January 31, 2026. Accordingly, the NRC staff will submit the revised form to the OMB no later than December 2, 2025, to ensure timely renewal.
Point of
Contact:
Lauren Nist, NRR/DRO/IOLB