ML20204C508

Informs Commission of Future Plans to Address Core Capabilities & Skill Needs in Ofc of RES

ML20204C508
Person / Time
Issue date:	03/02/1999
From:	Travers W NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO)
To:
References
SECY-99-064, SECY-99-064-01, SECY-99-064-R, SECY-99-64, SECY-99-64-1, SECY-99-64-R, NUDOCS 9903230122
Download: ML20204C508 (3)

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......,a POLICY ISSUE March 2.1999 SECY-99-064 FOR: The Commissioners FROM: William D. Travers Executive Director for Operations

SUBJECT:

CORE RESEARCH CAPABILITIES

, PURPOSE:

To inform the Commission of future plans to address core capabilities and skill needs in the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES).

BACKGROUND:

The Commission's Staff Requirements Memorandune (SRM) of September 3,1998, asked the staff to address Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) and NRC Inspector General comments on SECY-98-076, Core Research Capabilities, make appropriate revisions, and submit a paper documenting the results to the Commission. This SRM further stated that this should be considered a part of the overal1 agency effortc in identifying NRC core capabilities.

DISCUSSION:

. Over the past few' weeks, the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES) and other NRC offices have been coordinating with the Office of Human Resources on a new agency-wide effort to address skill needs as described in SECY 99-041. RES, like other NRC offices, will be participating in this agency-wide program and will be incorporating skill requirements in its Operating Plan.

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The Commissioners 2 In parallel, RES has considered the benefits of revising its core capability assessment relative to the agency wide effort to address skill needs and other office priorities. It has concluded that competing priorities such as the RES self assessment will have a far greater payoff for the office than investing resources at this time to modify the core capability study. The RES self assessment, being facilitated by Arf:nr Anderson, will further the implementation of the NRC's Planning, Budgeting and Performance Management process by developing outcome-based performance goals, establishing metrics, and identifying activitics needed to reach the goals. It is believed that the systematic framework to be used in the self assessment can assist in defining core capability areas. l For the reasons outlined above, RES does not plan to me' a further revisions to SECY-98-076 ahis time. Instead it will be employed as a reference r'.,cument and can be used to inform budget decisions. For example, it can be used to identity when budget cuts or scenario planning exercises might eroda expertise level core research capabilities. RES has met with the ACRS and it is in general agreement with this approach.

There is one area related to the RES core capability assessment that will be pursued by RES over the next few months. One of the comments in the OlG's review of SECY-97-075, Criteria and Methodology for Assessing Core Research Capabilities, was that it was unclear how RES would use the sunsetting criteria to determine when sunsetting conditions are reached and projects should be closed out. RES will be developing specific sunsetting criteria over the next few months during the second phase of its self assessment initiative. It is expected that the application of these criteria will clearly identify when projects should be terminated by defining, up front, the minimum types and depth of research information that are necessary to resolve an issue or to produce a product.

CONCLUSION:

RES will participate in the NRC agency wide assessment of skill needs and because of the high priority self assessment being facilitated by Arthur Andersen, RES will not, at this time, make .

revisions to SECY 98-076. l

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A The Commissioners 3 COORDINATION:

The Office of the General Counsel has no legal objection to this paper. The Chief Financial  :

Officer and the Chief Information. Officer have no objection to this paper.

A \W William D. Travers Executive Director for Operations DISTRIBUTION:

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