The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is preparing a new strategic plan to guide its operations from fiscal years 2018 to 2022.
The is the seventh volume of the regulator’s strategic plan, which must be updated every four years, and is not a major departure from the document covering fiscal 2014 to 2018, according to an NRC press release.
“The draft establishes a framework for the next four years for the NRC to achieve its mission to license and regulate the nation’s civilian use of radioactive materials to provide reasonable assurance of adequate protection of public health and safety, and to promote the common defense and security (and to protect the environment),” the release says. “It also provides an overview of the NRC’s responsibilities, key challenges and management priorities, and it outlines the objectives and key activities to achieve the agency’s goals.”
The full version of the document can be found on the NRC website, along with prior strategic plans.
Among the activities listed to help the agency meet its commitment to ensuring the safe and secure use of radioactive materials:
- “Improve the regulatory framework, analytical tools, and data needed to ensure the safe and secure storage, transportation, and disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste”; and
- “Enhance and implement nuclear reactor, material, spent nuclear fuel storage, and radioactive waste oversight programs to ensure the timely identification of safety issues and that licensees take the actions necessary to maintain acceptable safety performance.”
Comments are being accepted on the draft plan. They can be submitted via the federal government’s rulemaking website, Docket ID NRC-2017-0153; or by mail to Cindy Bladey, Chief, Rules, Announcements, and Directives Branch, Office of Administration, Mail Stop: TWFN-08-E18, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
The NRC has until Feb. 5, 2018, to submit the finished version of the plan to Congress and the president.
