Re: GAO Report: NRC Staff Have Not Fully Accepted Planned Changes

["D. Kosloff" <dkosloff@ncweb.com>]

As a former NRC resident inspector (14 years), I expect that acceptance of a
headquarters-designed risk-based approach is inversely proportional to the
years of on-site inspection experience.  The information that I have seen on
risk-based "approaches" has not been impressive to someone with field
experience.  On the other hand, inspectors had always used a semi-intuitive
"risk-based" approach to inspection and enforcement, until the method was
eliminated by headquarters decree.  I know of no reason why the staff would
not accept a well-designed and well-explained "risk-based" approach.
However, I believe that every experienced inspector would always have some
doubt about a risk-based approach because the tie to empirical data is
necessarily tenuous.

----- Original Message -----
From: Dunn, Wes <WDunn@intiso.com>
To: Multiple recipients of list <radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu>
Sent: Friday, February 25, 2000 3:14 PM
Subject: FW: GAO Report: NRC Staff Have Not Fully Accepted Planned Changes


>
> FYI.  I will note that, in my personal experience, there are several NRC
> regional staff members who have fully bought into the risk-based approach.
>
> Wes
>
> Wdunn@intiso.com <mailto:Wdunn@intiso.com>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
> > NRC WILL HAVE TROUBLE "EFFECTIVELY" IMPLEMENTING ITS NEW RISK-INFORMED
> > regulatory approach because of what appears to be a limited buy-in by
the
> > staff and resident inspectors, the General Accounting Office (GAO)
> > suggested
> > in a report released today. The report, titled "NRC Staff Have Not Fully
> > Accepted Planned Changes" (GAO/RCED-00-29), found there is a lack of
> > strong
> > management leadership to steer through the changes and that there may be
> > some morale problems at the agency. On a more positive note, the GAO
said
> > results of the survey it conducted showed that a majority of NRC
staffers
> > take personal responsibility for the quality of their work and have a
> > strong
> > commitment to ensuring public health and safety. NRC Executive Director
> > for
> > Operations William Travers said the agency believes the GAO survey
results
> > were interpreted in a "more negative light than the data warrants." In a
> > written response, Travers said that risk-informing is only one of many
> > changes the agency has undertaken and that the adjustment period for
> > staffers is typically about five years. NRC is only two years into the
> > change process, he noted.
> >
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