Nuclear Regulatory Commission September 17, 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On November 6, 2009, the NRC published a draft policy statement,'' Safety Culture Policy Statement,'' in the Federal Register (FRN) (74 FR 57525; NRC ADAMS Accession Number ML093030375).\1\ The Statement of Policy (SOP) contained in the FRN focuses on the interface of nuclear safety and security in a positive safety culture, and highlights the Commission's expectation that all licensees and certificate holders \2\ establish and maintain a positive safety culture that protects public health and safety and the common defense and security when carrying out licensed activities. The FRN requested that interested persons provide comments within 90 days of its publication. On January 12, 2010, the comment period was extended to March 1, 2010 (75 FR 1656; ML100050288). As part of its outreach activities, the NRC held a Safety Culture Workshop in February 2010 that provided a venue for interested parties to provide comments on the draft safety culture policy statement. The additional goal of the workshop was for panelists representing a broad range of stakeholders to reach alignment on a common definition of safety culture and a high- level set of traits that describe areas important to a positive safety culture. The workshop panelists, with the assistance of the other workshop participants, developed both. Following the February workshop, the staff evaluated the public comments that were submitted in response to the November 2009 FRN. Additionally, the staff participated on panels and made presentations at various industry forums in order to provide information to stakeholders about the development of the safety culture policy statement and/or to obtain additional input and to ascertain whether the draft definition and traits developed at the workshop accurately reflect a broad range of stakeholders' views.