ML19253B078

ROP Enhancement Team Charter

ML19253B078
Person / Time
Issue date:	11/08/2019
From:	Chris Miller Division of Inspection and Regional Support
To:
Gibbs R, NRR/DIRS, 301-415-8578
References
Download: ML19253B078 (7)

Text

TEAM CHARTER Reactor Oversight Process Enhancement Initiative Emphasis on Phase 2 September 2019 Purpose The primary purpose of this team charter is to specify the roles and responsibilities of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff and managers implementing Phase 2 of the Reactor Oversight Process (ROP) Enhancement initiative. This charter is also meant to help all stakeholders be informed on scope and schedule of Phase 2, which includes the following activities.

Cross-cutting Issues Program effectiveness review PI&R inspection program comprehensive review ISFSI oversight program review Radiation Protection inspection program optimization Emergency Preparedness focused self-assessment activities Significance Determination Process enhancements

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Background===

The ROP is a mature program with nearly 20 years of implementation experience. The ROP has greatly improved the NRCs regulatory oversight of operating nuclear reactors primarily by being more objective, predictable, transparent, risk-informed, and performance-based. The ROP has reduced unnecessary regulatory burden by better focusing on more important safety matters.

Self-assessment and continuous improvement are fundamental aspects of the ROP. However, in light of NRCs transformative and innovative environment and evolving nuclear industry landscape, NRC received numerous recommendations from internal and external stakeholders on ways to further improve the ROP. As such, a multi-disciplined team was established in October 2018 to evaluate and disposition the recommendations in an efficient and effective manner. In early 2018, the NRCs Executive Director for Operations established a Transformation Team. The primary objective of this team was to ensure the NRC was positioned to provide oversight of new technologies, such as accident tolerant fuel. From this effort, the Transformation Team received 72 recommendations for enhancing the ROP.

Because these recommendations were not directly relevant to the Transformation Teams objectives, they were referred to NRR for evaluation and disposition.

Subsequently, an additional 27 ROP recommendations were provided to NRR for consideration in a letter from the Nuclear Energy Institute. To further evaluate these potential improvements, the NRC initiated the ROP Enhancement Initiative. The recommendations were binned into nine thematic areas, including: assessment, performance indicators (PI), Significance Determination Process (SDP), ROP inspection, emergency preparedness (EP), radiation protection (RP), security, Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) oversight, and licensing/backfit. Each thematic area was assigned a manager and a senior expert to assess and resolve the associated recommendations. In early January 2019, at the direction of the NRR Office Director, the licensing/backfit thematic area was separated from ROP Enhancement to be dispositioned through a dedicated standalone effort.

2 Vision, Goal and Objectives The overall vision of the ROP Enhancement Initiative is to better risk-inform and performance-base the ROP taking into account NRC Principles of Good Regulation. Its goal is to improve efficiency and effectiveness by evaluating and dispositioning the recommendations received from internal and external stakeholders.

Specific objectives to support this vision and goal include the following:

Focus both NRC and industry resources on issues of higher safety significance and provide for more timely resolution of issues of relatively low safety significance.

Enhance the Significance Determination Process through improved risk assessment tools and communication.

Improve the efficiency and effectiveness of baseline and supplemental inspection programs.

Improve communications between NRC and industry on both licensing and oversight matters.

Team Composition SES Sponsor - Chris Miller Team Manager - Anthony Masters Team Leader - Russell Gibbs Thematic Lead/Manager for Cross-Cutting Issues Program - Alex Garmoe/Anthony Masters Thematic Area Lead/Manager for SDP - Mike Montecalvo/Antonios Zoulis Thematic Area Lead/Manager for comprehensive review of PI&R Inspection program - Ami Agrawal/Tom Hipschman Thematic Area Lead/Manager for Emergency Preparedness - Don Johnson/Robert Kahler Thematic Area Lead/Manager for Radiation Protection - Dave Garmon/Kevin Hsueh Thematic Area Lead/Manager for ISFSI - Jeremy Tapp/Margie Kotzales As with Phase 1, a regional advisory panel (RAP), comprised of regional division directors, was established to represent all four regions. The RAP members for Phase 2 include:

Region 1 - Jimi Yerokun Region 2 - Mark Miller/Steve Cochrum Region 3 - Mohammed Shuaibi Region 4 - Anton Tony Vegel

3 Roles and Responsibilities SES Sponsor The SES sponsor is responsible for ensuring the activities of the team are aligned with the NRC mission, NRC Principles of Good Regulation, and ROP goals and objectives. The SES sponsor is expected to ensure that NRC senior management is kept aware of the teams activities to solicit feedback, and to provide the necessary advice and direction to the team. In addition to NRC senior management, the SES sponsor is expected to interact with the team manager, the team leader and the RAP. Regularly scheduled meetings between the SES sponsor and the relevant managers is expected to effectively inform the progress of the work. In the event there are alternative views presented that are difficult to disposition by the team manager, the SES sponsor is expected to ensure there is a common understanding by all parties and to help reach consensus on a path forward.

Team Manager The team manager will provide overall management support, while helping to ensure the teams work is consistent with NRC Principles of Good Regulation, ROP goals and objectives, and the goal and objectives of the ROP Enhancement Initiative. The team manager is expected to keep the team leader aware of changing priorities and any substantive feedback received from relevant stakeholders, particularly feedback received from the SES sponsor, the RAP, and other senior managers, on the scope and progress of the work being performed. The team manager will primarily interact with the SES Sponsor, the RAP members, and the team leader. The team manager will approve of any changes to ROP governance documents (such as inspection manual chapters and inspection procedures) and provide the necessary support, including prioritization of resources, as needed. The team manager will also ensure that any interactions with the Executive Director for Operations and the Commission are effectively performed.

Regional Advisory Panel Members The RAP members are responsible for providing advice on the recommendations being evaluated from a regional perspective, with particular emphasis on whether the changes being proposed can be implemented in an efficient and effective manner. The RAP members are expected to provide uniformed and consistent feedback to the team, taking into account NRC Principles of Good Regulation and ROP goals and objectives. The RAP is expected to engage with regional inspectors and staff to solicit feedback, including alternative views, and to provide the feedback to the thematic leads, team leader, and team manager. The panel will primarily interact with the SES sponsor, the team manager and the team leader.

Team Leader The team leader will establish tools and processes to enable the ROP Enhancement Initiative to be successful in evaluating and dispositioning all the recommendations received by stakeholders. The team leader is not responsible for evaluating and dispositioning the recommendations themselves (this is the responsibility of the thematic leads and their management) but may serve as an advisor to the thematic area leads, as requested. The team leader is responsible for helping all team members to work together in an integrated fashion to meet the goal and objectives of the initiative. Below is a list of activities to support the teams work.

4 Develop and maintain the ROP Enhancement SharePoint site and external webpage Prepare a communications plan Brief managers and staff, as needed Prepare and facilitate approval of a team charter Prepare meeting summaries Draft communications mechanisms, such as EDO Daily Notes, one pagers, etc.

Arrange for and lead routine team meetings Lead ROP monthly meetings with industry Draft Commission paper(s) with thematic area lead input Facilitate widely attended meetings/conferences The team leader will primarily interact with the team manager and thematic area leads and their managers, as necessary, to keep the project on schedule and to identify areas that need attention. For the team leader to be effective, it is imperative that he be kept abreast of feedback from all stakeholders, be aware of all activities that would affect the entire team, and important activities for each thematic area.

Thematic Area Leads The thematic area leads and their management are responsible for evaluating and dispositioning their assigned recommendations. The leads and their management will ensure that all work done is consistent with NRC Principles of Good Regulation, ROP goals and objectives, and the goal and objectives of ROP Enhancement.

Specific responsibilities include:

Develop, update, and execute a thematic area project plan for their recommendation(s)

Develop communication tools, such as one pagers Arrange and facilitate meetings both internally and externally to efficiently and effectively disposition their recommendations Identify and engage with necessary internal stakeholders with an emphasis on ensuring the regions are appropriately engaged by ensuring the technical support branch chiefs/team leads are made aware of all activities and regional staff involved in their work Ensure that proposed changes and any supporting data is provided as early as possible to external stakeholders to enable productive interactions Attend team meetings and provide summary information, as requested Keep the team leader abreast of their activities Update the SharePoint site, as necessary Make the necessary program document changes, per IMC 0040 Prepare input for Commission paper(s), as appropriate Regional Technical Support Branch Chiefs/Team Leads The regional technical support branch chiefs/team leads will serve as the primary points of contact for the thematic area leads to ensure the appropriate regional staff are involved, as necessary, in proposed changes to the ROP. They will also be expected to coordinate the support within their respective regions, taking into account possible schedule and resource constraints, and work closely with their RAP member in helping to ensure that proposed

5 changes are implementable in an effective and efficient manner and do not cause unintended consequences.

Work Scope and Schedule The ROP Enhancement project is currently divided into two phases with Phase 1 addressing certain recommendations in a 6 to 8-month timeframe (October 2018 - June 2019). Phase 2 activities are expected to be completed before the end of calendar year 2019. Longer-term activities are expected to be completed in 2020 and possibly beyond. These activities may be performed under Phase 3 of the enhancement initiative unless it is determined that the activities would be performed independently of ROP Enhancement using normal management and work practices.

Phase 1 was completed with the issuance of SECY-19-0067, Recommendations for Enhancing the Reactor Oversight Process (ADAMS Accession No. ML19070A036). Implementation scope and timing is dependent on Commission review and direction back to the staff.

Deliverables The key deliverable for Phase 1 was the June 2019 Commission paper - SECY-19-0067. Other deliverables will be determined by the individual thematic area leads and their management working closely with the team leader and team manager to help ensure all work is done, as is appropriate, in an integrated manner. Certain changes may require Commission approval or notification consistent with Management Directive 8.13, Reactor Oversight Process, via a SECY paper or Commissioner Assistant Note, respectively. Changes that affect the ROP Inspection Manual will be processed in accordance with IMC 0040, Preparing, Revising and Issuing Documents for the NRC Inspection Manual, ensuring that all relevant stakeholders are involved in changes to any ROP program documents.

Meetings The team leader will facilitate and lead routine team meetings to ensure all team members are aligned on the overall initiative and its path forward and kept informed of any significant developments that could impact their work on the project. In addition, ROP monthly meetings will serve as routine opportunities for thematic area leads to communicate with industry representatives and other stakeholders on the progress of their respective projects and to solicit feedback. It is expected that these routine monthly meetings would be used, if possible, since industry representatives tend to participate these meetings on a regular basis. However, it is anticipated that separate standalone meetings will be needed for the individual thematic areas, since more time may be needed than is normally available in the ROP monthly meetings. For these meetings, it is the responsibility of the thematic leads to arrange for the meeting venue and associated equipment needs, issue the meeting notice, lead the meeting, and prepare the meeting summary. In all cases, the thematic area leads will post the meeting on the SharePoint site calendar and provide the meeting summary to the team leader such that it can be placed on the external webpage.

Other routine meetings described in the roles and responsibilities section will be conducted to ensure all relevant stakeholders are kept informed.

Communications

6 A communications plan was developed and is available on the ROP Enhancement (internal)

SharePoint site below. The communications plan is a living document and is not publicly available.

https://usnrc.sharepoint.com/teams/NRR-ROP-Enhancement An external website has also been developed which contains key documents and public meeting summaries.

https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/oversight/rop-enhancement.html#keydocs Team Disbandment Once the near and medium-term recommendations are evaluated and dispositioned, a decision will be made as to whether work should continue under this charter. It is not expected, however, that the team will be needed for longer-term recommendations to be dispositioned. In all cases, the SES sponsor will approve disbandment of the team. Note that some team members (i.e., thematic area leads and their immediate supervisor) may be excused from the team if their work is completed prior to the near and medium-term milestones.

Time and Labor Reporting The team leader will report time in HRMS to CAC A11018. Each thematic area lead will report time to the already established CAC used for the development and maintenance of the ROP in their specific organization. All involved managers will report their time to their management and supervision CAC.

Approval Christopher G. Miller, Director, Division of Reactor Oversight/NRR, or designee Signature: /RA by Christian J Araguas for/

Date: November 8, 2019 Christopher G. Miller, Director Division of Reactor Oversight Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

ML19253B078 OFFICE NRR/DIRS/IRAB NRR/DIRS/IRAB NRR/DRO NAME RGibbs AMasters CMiller (CAraguas for)

DATE 9/ 19 /19 9/ 23 /19 11 /8/ 19