ML24354A211

Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards - Membership Balance Plan

ML24354A211
Person / Time
Issue date:	12/02/2024
From:	Russell Chazell NRC/SECY
To:
References
Download: ML24354A211 (1)

Text

ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON REACTOR SAFEGUARDS Membership Balance Plan

1. Committee Name: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS)

2. Authority: Established as a statutory Committee under Section 29 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.

3. Objectives and Scope of Activities: The ACRS operates under the following statutory and regulatory direction.

a. Section 29 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, provides:

There is hereby established an Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards consisting of a maximum of fifteen members appointed by the Commission for terms of four years each. The Committee shall review safety studies and facility license applications referred to it and shall make reports thereon, shall advise the Commission with regard to the hazards of proposed or existing reactor facilities and the adequacy of proposed reactor safety standards, and shall perform such other duties as the Commission may request. One member shall be designated by the Committee as its Chairman. The members of the Committee shall receive a per diem compensation for each day spent in meetings or conferences, or other work of the Committee, and all members shall receive their necessary traveling or other expenses while engaged in the work of the Committee. The provisions of Section 163 shall be applicable to the Committee.

b. Section 182b. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, provides:

The Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards shall review each application under section 103 or section 104b. for a construction permit or an operating license for a facility, any application under section 104c. for a construction permit or an operating license for a testing facility, any application under section 104a. or c.

specifically referred to it by the Commission, and any application for an amendment to a construction permit or an amendment to an operating license under section 103 or 104a., b., or c. specifically referred to it by the Commission, and shall submit a report thereon which shall be made part of the record of the application and available to the public except to the extent that security classification prevents disclosure.

c. Section 313(f) of the AEA provides, with respect to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, that:

With the consent of and under appropriate support arrangements with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Board may obtain the advice and recommendations of the staff of the Commission on matters relating to the Boards responsibilities and may obtain the advice and recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards on such matters.

d. 10 CFR 1.13 provides that the ACRS:

... upon request of the Department of Energy (DOE), reviews and advises with regard to the hazards of DOE nuclear activities and facilities; reviews any generic issues or other matters referred to it by the Commission for advice. The Committee, on its own initiative, may conduct reviews of specific generic matters or nuclear facility safety-related items.

e. The Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, as amended by Section 6 of Public Law 95-209, added the ACRS Fellowship Program providing that:

To assist the ACRS in carrying out its function, the Committee shall establish a fellowship program under which persons having appropriate engineering or scientific expertise are assigned particular tasks relating to the functions of the Committee. Such fellowships are for two-year periods and the recipients of such fellowships shall be selected pursuant to such criteria as may be established by the Committee.

f.

10 CFR 52.23, 10 CFR 52.53, and 10 CFR 52.87 provide that the application for Early Site Permits, Standard Design Certifications, and Combined Licenses, respectively, be referred by the Commission to the ACRS and that the ACRS report on those portions of the applications which concern safety.

g. 10 CFR 54.25 provides that each application for the renewal of an Operating License for a nuclear power plant be referred to the ACRS and that the ACRS review and report on each application.

h. The ACRS shall report to and advise the Commission on issues associated with nuclear materials and waste management. The bases of reviews include 10 CFR Parts 20, 40, 50, 60, 61, 70, 71, and 72, and other closely related regulations and legislative mandates. These reviews shall include matters related to waste management, radiation health effects, and health physics as they pertain to the disposal of nuclear waste (including transportation issues) and the processing of nuclear materials.

4. Points of View. The Commission appoints ACRS members with the scientific and engineering expertise needed to address the safety issues of importance to the Commission. Members are sought who can provide an independent perspective on nuclear safety issues and possess outstanding scientific and technical ability, balanced and mature judgment, and a willingness to devote the time required to the demanding work involved.

The membership is comprised of individuals with diverse employment backgrounds and includes those with 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; health physics; and thermal-hydraulics and computational fluid dynamics. The diversity of viewpoints represented by members is based on special fields of interest, employment experience, and technical expertise. These member attributes provide the Committee with the balance of highly qualified technical expertise and diverse safety perspectives necessary to carry out the Committee's statutory responsibilities effectively. The Commission has the capability, through its appointment of committee members, to adjust the balance of areas of expertise represented on the ACRS as needed to support the committees work.

5. Broad Outreach. To create a more diverse applicant pool for ACRS positions, the NRC widely distributes ACRS member notices to a variety of external groups.

The NRC posts new member solicitations on the Federal Register website, NRC internal and external websites, and X (formerly known as Twitter). The recent member solicitation was sent to a broad external network, which included, but was not limited to, the following:

American Nuclear Society, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Society of Women Engineers, National Society of Black Engineers, National Organization for Women, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Minority Serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and White House Initiative Interagency Working Groups.

This outreach also leverages NRCs own internal EEO Advisory Committees, Office of Public Affairs, and Office of Small Business and Civil Rights, NRC retirees, and current ACRS members.

The applicants for ACRSs postings include individuals with a variety of professional, technical, and personal backgrounds.

6. Candidate Selection. Vacancies in the ACRS membership are filled from the pool of applicants which exists after solicitations of interest are published in the Federal Register, trade and professional society publications, and in the press. Recommendations to the Commission as to the selection of qualified candidates from this pool are made by the ACRS Member Candidate Screening Panel. This screening panel consists of the ACRS Executive Director, the NRC Committee Management Officer, and, as panel chair, an attorney from the Office of the General Counsel. The screening panel, with input from the Committee, determines the best qualified candidates based on technical qualifications as

well as membership balance considerations for Commission consideration and selection.

The makeup and processes of the screening panel are mandated by the Commission in its Internal Commission Procedures, Appendix 1, Procedures for Obtaining Nominations for NRCs Advisory Committees, (https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/policy-making/internal.html).

Given the need for the ACRS to provide recommendations based on scientific and engineering expertise pertinent to the safety issues of importance to the Commission, ACRS members are appointed as special government employees. While members do not have a fixed number of terms, an attempt is made to maintain a mix of new and experienced members. Absent unusual circumstances, they serve four-year terms and are eligible for reappointment.

7. Subcommittee Balance. Subcommittees are made up of full committee members with expertise in the fields necessary for the subcommittees review. All subcommittee recommendations are reviewed and approved by the full committee.

8. Date Prepared/Updated. December 2024