I believe our two commissions – and the hard-working staffs of both of our agencies – can take pride in the open and collaborative working relationship we’ve developed over the last few years
– Source NRC –
Good afternoon. I want to first welcome our colleagues from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). This is the fourth time our two commissions have met jointly to discuss issues important to both of our respective agencies. During today’s meeting, we will discuss our past work and our future plans on several issues, including grid reliability activities affecting nuclear power plants, cyber security, and planning for new reactors.
I believe our two commissions – and the hard-working staffs of both of our agencies – can take pride in the open and collaborative working relationship we’ve developed over the last few years.
Specifically, I want to highlight the significant progress the NRC and FERC, as well as the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), have made in coordinating our efforts on cyber security. Last September, the NRC and FERC updated the Memorandum of Agreement, which facilitates our interactions on areas of mutual interest, to include an additional section on cyber security. And just this past December, the NRC and NERC finalized a Memorandum of Understanding that will coordinate our roles and responsibilities in implementing our respective cyber security requirements. It’s important that we continue our collaborative efforts on this issue. The cyber threat is a dynamic threat that evolves quickly, and one that we have to work together effectively to guard against.
We have a busy agenda this afternoon. During today’s meeting, we will hear presentations from both the NRC and FERC staff, as well as from representatives from NERC. We have several important issues to discuss today and I look forward to a productive meeting.
Note: Briefing slides for this meeting are available at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/commission/slides/2010/20100316/. A full transcript of the meeting will be available soon at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/commission/tr/2010/.