ML25022A123

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January 23 2025 Public Meeting Presentation on Advance Act Section 505 Nuclear Licensing Efficiency
ML25022A123
Person / Time
Issue date: 01/23/2025
From: Hipolito Gonzalez, Audrey Klett, Pelton J
NRC/NRR/DORL/LPL1
To:
References
EPID G-2024-AGN-0033
Download: ML25022A123 (1)
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ADVANCE Act Section 505 Nuclear Licensing Efficiency Jamie Pelton, NRR Hipolito Gonzalez, NRR Audrey Klett, NRR January 23, 2025

Meeting Logistics

  • Information public meeting with designated question and answer sessions
  • NRC will host a comment gathering public meeting for Section 505 in the future
  • Teams Webinar Operation
  • Attendees mics & cameras and meeting chat feature are disabled
  • During the Q&A sessions, use Teams raise hand feature, and NRC staff will enable you to unmute your mic
  • In-person attendees must disable/mute their laptop mics & speakers 2

Agenda Time Topic Speaker 9:00 AM

Introductions

NRC 9:15 AM Opening remarks NRC 9:30 AM Discussion of NRCs approach for addressing ADVANCE Act Section 505 NRC 10:30 AM Break 10:45 AM Question and Answer Session for the Industry NRC and Industry 11:15 AM Question and Answer Session for the Public NRC and the Public 11:45 AM Closing remarks and adjourn NRC If attendees would like their names listed in the publicly available meeting summary attendance record, please email Audrey.Klett@nrcgov.

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Opening Remarks - Jamie Pelton

  • NRC staff will discuss its approach for addressing ADVANCE Act, Section 505 (Section 505) on reactor licensing efficiency
  • NRC is developing near term actions and sustainable (long term) actions because Section 505 is a continual requirement
  • Safety and security remain NRCs priority
  • Section 505 requires that the NRC implement its mission in an efficient manner 4

Opening Remarks - Mike King

  • NRC ADVANCE Act Core Team
  • ADVANCE Act Section 505 - Nuclear Licensing Efficiency
  • One part of NRCs overall implementation of the ADVANCE Act.
  • NRCs public website has additional information about our overall implementation of the Act and plans for other upcoming and past public meetings related to the Act (QR codes on next slide)
  • Use the Contact Us form on the website for general questions, comments, and ideas on the ADVANCE Act (QR code on next slide) 5

Be Engaged!

6 Stay informed of progress and follow NRCs ADVANCE Act implementation For upcoming and past public meeting information on ADVANCE Act Contact us with ADVANCE Act questions, comments and ideas

NRCs Approach for Addressing ADVANCE Act Section 505:

Nuclear Licensing Efficiency

Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy Act of 2024 (ADVANCE Act) 8

  • ADVANCE Act was signed into law in July 2024
  • The Act builds on prior initiatives to modernize and streamline the regulatory environment for advanced nuclear technologies, including 1) facilitate American nuclear energy leadership 2) support development and deployment of new nuclear energy technologies 3) preserve existing nuclear energy 4) strengthen Americas nuclear energy fuel cycle and supply chain infrastructure 5) improve the Commissions resources and efficiency
  • The Act increases emphasis on efficiency

ADVANCE Act Section 505 Provisions ADVANCE Act, Section 505 amended the Energy Reorganization Act, Section 203 to state:

(c) Licensing process.In carrying out the principal licensing and regulation functions under subsection (b)(1), the Director of Nuclear Reactor Regulation shall (1) establish techniques and guidance for evaluating applications for licenses for nuclear reactors to support efficient, timely, and predictable reviews of applications for those licenses to enable the safe and secure use of nuclear reactors; (2) maintain the techniques and guidance established under paragraph (1) by periodically assessing and, if necessary, modifying those techniques and guidance; and (3) obtain approval from the Commission if establishment or modification of the techniques and guidance under paragraph (1) or (2) involves policy formulation.

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Approach for Section 505

  • Enable the safe and secure use of nuclear reactors
  • Establish and implement techniques and guidance that support safety, security, and efficiency in licensing reviews
  • Leveraging and refocusing initiatives and projects that are establishing techniques and guidance that meet Section 505
  • Identifying and implementing changes that optimize resources
  • Developing approaches to identify and address future needs
  • Address the periodic assessment requirement of Section 505
  • Quantitative measures (data-driven) - for example, using NRRs workload management and data analysis infrastructure to assess the techniques and guidance
  • Qualitative measures (feedback)
  • Consider feedback and recommendations
  • Future meetings to gather comments 10

Licensing Efficiency, Predictability, and Timeliness (LEPT)

Framework Concept 11

LEPT Concept - NRCs Mission 12 NRC is revising its mission statement per ADVANCE Act LEPT techniques and guidance must enable the safe and secure use of nuclear reactors

LEPT Concept - Licensing Strategies 13 Efficiency - the capability of producing desired results in a well-organized and competent way with minimum wasted effort or expense Predictability - the estimatebased on observation, experience, and reasoningthat something or a consequence will happen Timeliness - the quality of being done promptly and sensibly

LEPT Concept - Objectives 14 Cost/waste reduction - reducing or eliminating activities that are duplicative, not important, slow down processing, add administrative burden, or add unnecessary hours or duration to licensing reviews Production Improvement - improving the processing time and quality of licensing reviews Accountability and Proficiency - adhering to procedures, processes, and templates (unless otherwise justified); and maintaining high levels of proficiency and competence Data-driven decision-making - using data to inform decision-making in licensing, such as establishing realistic estimates and schedules for licensing reviews Risk-informed decision-making - using qualitative and quantitative risk to inform the depth of review and safety evaluation of proposed licensing actions Regulatory stability - using generic staff positions and precedents; creating clear regulations and expectations; adhering to backfit policy; being consistent when appropriate

LEPT Concept - Attributes 15 Human performance and Implementation - creating or updating processes and tools; resources are available; change management; training; procedure adherence Project management - managing reviews; setting and adhering to realistic milestones; identifying and communicating any project risks or delays; developing tools and workflows that leverage IT and improve PM processes External engagement -submitting high quality requests and adequately preparing NRC staff for efficient reviews; communicating schedules and risks; engaging the public in a timely manner Data analytics - collecting, organizing, and analyzing information to identify patterns and trends in licensing performance Innovation - identifying and making improvements; modernizing Culture - empowering and motivating staff to innovate and improve

LEPT Concept - Measures 16 Self assessment - using internal and external qualitative and quantitative feedback to identify successes and areas for improvement Resource impact assessment - assessing when to add or shed work, implement changes, perform cost-benefit analyses Metrics - assessing and trending duration, hours, production volume, timeliness of licensing actions

Current and New Initiatives/Projects

  • Monitoring licensing-related initiatives
  • Tracking progress and successes
  • Evaluating internal and external feedback
  • Monitoring overlap and other ADVANCE Act sections work
  • Established the R-LEAP (Reactor Licensing Efficiencies And Processes) team
  • Assessing suggestions, feedback, and prioritization
  • Addressing suggestions not covered by current licensing initiatives
  • Meetings/Workshops:
  • Public meetings to discuss Section 505 approach and progress
  • Future meeting(s) to collect feedback
  • Initiative working groups will have workshops and public meetings as needed
  • 10 CFR 50.69 knowledge management public workshop on February 11, 2025

Integrating Initiatives and Directions 18 NRR Initiatives related to reactor licensing efficiency NMSS Initiatives related to licensing efficiency Direction (Congress, Commission, OEDO)

Feedback and Suggestions (Public, Staff, Industry)

Section 505 Scope

Examples of Licensing Initiatives & Suggestions 19 Preapplication meetings Acceptance reviews Risk-informed decision-making RAIs and RCIs Power uprate reviews Artificial intelligence Project management processes and techniques Subsequent license renewal Shorter reviews Safety evaluation methods and format Metrics Reactor restarts M-LEAP R-LEAP

R-LEAP and M-LEAP Teams

  • NRCs Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) leads the Reactor Licensing Efficiencies and Processes (R-LEAP) team
  • NRCs Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS) leads the Materials Licensing Efficiencies and Processes (M-LEAP) team
  • R-LEAP and M-LEAP will coordinate and lead efforts to enhance the efficiency, predictability, and timeliness of licensing processes and share best practices between offices
  • Deliverables will include task-driven products, such as additional guidance on preapplication meetings and job aids
  • The LEAP teams will engage with staff and external parties 20

Licensing Efficiencies Expectations Memorandum

  • NRR managements expectations for implementing near-term actions that align with NRCs commitment to fulfill the ADVANCE Act
  • Transparency of organizational structure
  • Preapplication engagements
  • Disciplined, safety-focused, risk-informed reviews
  • Obtaining supplemental licensee information
  • Development of safety evaluations (draft SEs with holes)
  • Use risk-informed thinking

Key Messages and Path Forward

  • NRC is committed to meeting the mandate of Section 505 of the ADVANCE Act to meet our safety and security mission in a manner that is efficient, timely, and predictable.
  • NRC will use data-driven and risk-informed decision making.
  • NRC will improve project management techniques and guidance to:
  • improve production
  • enhance accountability and regulatory stability
  • reduce costs
  • Internal and external feedback are critical to NRCs success
  • NRC will hold a Section 505 comment gathering meeting (date TBD)
  • Initiative teams will have public meetings, as needed 22

Break

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Question and Answer Session between NRC and Industry

Question and Answer Session between NRC and the Public

Be Engaged!

27 Stay informed of progress and follow NRCs ADVANCE Act implementation For upcoming and past public meeting information on ADVANCE Act Contact us with ADVANCE Act questions, comments and ideas

Closing Remarks

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