Notice of Enforcement Discretion

Notice of Enforcement Discretion is a NRC exception to the rule when the rule is such that complying is worse then breaking the rule. This does not occur very often and should not be sought as a matter of procedure to avoid following a certain regulation.

What Is a NOED?

Occasionally, a power reactor licensee might foresee that compliance with an NRC requirement would involve an unnecessary plant transient or startup delay or performance of testing, inspection, or system realignment is inappropriate with the specific plant conditions. Similarly, for a gaseous diffusion plant (GDP), compliance with NRC requirements might unnecessarily call for a total plant shutdown or, notwithstanding that, a safety, safeguards, or security feature was degraded or inoperable, compliance would unnecessarily place the plant in a transient or condition where those features could be required.

In these cases, the NRC staff may choose not to enforce the applicable technical specification, technical safety requirement, or other license or certificate condition. This type of enforcement discretion is called a NOED. The staff may also issue NOEDs in cases involving severe weather or other natural phenomena, based upon balancing the public health and safety or common defense and security of not operating against the potential radiological or other hazards associated with continued operation and a determination that safety will not be compromised by exercising this discretion.

NOEDs require justification from a licensee or certificate holder that documents the safety basis for the request and provides whatever other information the NRC staff deems necessary to issue a NOED.

NOEDs may be issued where the noncompliance is temporary and nonrecurring when an amendment is not practical or if the expected noncompliance will occur during the brief period it requires the NRC staff to process an emergency or exigent license amendment under the provisions of 10 CFR 50.91(a)(5) or (6) or a certificate amendment under 10 CFR 76.45.

The decision to issue a NOED does not change the fact that a violation will occur nor does it imply that enforcement discretion is being exercised for any violation that may have led to the violation at issue. In each case where the NRC staff has chosen to issue a NOED, enforcement action will normally be taken for the root causes, to the extent violations were involved, that led to the noncompliance for which enforcement discretion was used. The NRC does not expect to issue NOEDs frequently. When the NRC does issue a NOED, it will only do so if it is clearly satisfied that the action protects public health and safety.

To learn more about the guidelines that help the NRC determine whether a NOED is warranted, go to the implementing procedures in the NRC's Inspection Manual Chapter 9900: Technical Guidance - Operations - Notices of Enforcement Discretion or Chapter 9900: Operations - Notices of Enforcement Discretion for Gaseous Diffusion Plants.

See also

• NRC Enforcement Manual Appendix F, Notices of Enforcement Discretion
• Historical guidance: NRC Inspection Manual 9900, Attachment 1

Examples

• ML12192A637 - Braidwood Ultimate Heat sink temperature too high - request - 07/10/12
• JAF lake temperature - work in progress, not applied for yet

External Links

• NRC NOED list

Ways to avoid following the TS. (See Template:Amendment levels)

Time	Type	oe
Normal
> 1 year	Long - NRC is just taking a long time
1 year	Normal - NRC normal review time is expected to be within a year
< 1 year	Shorten - Licensee request a shorter turnaround to meet plant events
< 6 months	Expedited - Licensee requests a fast turnaround. NRC doesn't appreciate this.
Asking permission on a short timeline
< 30 days	Exigent License Amendment	The NRC needs to give a 30 day public comment period unless there is cause.
< 14 days	Emergency License Amendment	The NRC may grant permission without public comment.Public comment period is done afterward.
< 1 day	Notice of Enforcement Discretion (NOED)	NRC chooses not to penalize a licensee for violating TS
Without NRC Permission
Immediately	50.54(x)	A plant Operator has permission to violate TS for a good reason.
Discovered after the fact	You discover that equipment was Inoperable prior to discovery. This usually means a condition prohibited by tech specs.
Resources:
NEI 06-02, License Amendment Request Guidelines, LIC-109, Acceptance Review Procedures