Note: The Commission was briefed today by staff and external stakeholders on efforts to improve NRC oversight of fuel cycle facilities
– Source NRC –
Good morning. The Commission met to discuss the agency’s oversight approach for fuel cycle facilities. I would like to welcome Commissioner Apostolakis to his first Commission meeting in his new role.
As a former member and Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards, Commissioner Apostolakis is certainly no stranger to these meetings. The Commission will benefit greatly from his experience, expertise, and insights. I am pleased to be able to announce that this is the first meeting in several years in which the Commission will be operating at full strength with five Commissioners.
In recent years, the NRC has been working to revise our oversight approach for fuel cycle facilities to make it more risk-informed and performance-based. As I see it, greater predictability and transparency have been the core principles behind this ongoing effort. The staff recently provided a proposal to the Commission to develop a fuel cycle oversight process.
Under the proposed approach, the agency would conduct a baseline inspection program, assess identified problems by their safety significance, and determine what actions to take on the basis of that assessment. During today’s meeting, the Commission will try to flesh out the specifics of the staff’s recommendations in order to act on the staff’s proposal.