United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission NRC’s Risk-Informed and Performance- Based Approach to Decommissioning DOE Workshop on Risk-Based End States October 7, 2004 Chicago, IL John T. Greeves, Director Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555

United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Outline Overview of NRC’s approach Lessons learned General views about DOE’s approach DOE/NRC Interagency Agreement

United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Overview of NRC’s Risk-Informed and Performance-Based Program Program evolved over the past decade –Commission policy –Developed regulations –Developed risk-informed guidance and tools –Identified issues and lessons learned –Resolving issues

United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Overview of NRC’s Risk-Informed and Performance-Based Program Commission’s policy for Agency –1995 Policy Statement in 60 FR –1998 Direction in SRM-SECY –Defined NRC’s approach and terms –Risk-informed: use risk insights to focus on issues important to safety –Performance-based: flexibility to meet measurable performance criteria

United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Overview of NRC’s Risk-Informed and Performance-Based Program Key elements of NRC’s risk-informed approach used for all decommissioning sites –Regulations provide quantitative measure of safe cleanup –Graded approach for decommissioning activities –Risk-informed framework and dose modeling methods, including sensitivity and uncertainty analyses –New tools developed to apply probabilistic approach –More realistic exposure scenario approach –Risk-informed approach for institutional controls

United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Lessons Learned Development has been difficult and taken many years Dose criteria in regulations and derived site-specific criteria are key A single source of guidance is necessary Time and effort is needed to train staff Risk-informed approaches are more realistic and reduce unnecessary conservatism Risk-informed approaches improve focus on safety and efficient use of resources Risk communication with stakeholders is necessary but challenging

United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Views on DOE’s Risk-Based End States Headed in the right direction Policy statement and guidance should help consistent application Visions are useful qualitative tools for risk communication Early quantitative assessments would help decision making by quantifying level of safety and significance of uncertainties

United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission DOE/NRC Interagency Agreement Signed in September 2004 Consultation and independent technical reviews NRC decommissioning guidance and experience at over 70 commercial sector sites (power reactors, research/test reactors, materials sites, fuel cycle sites, and West Valley) Risk-informed and performance-based approaches Quantitative assessment methods NRC welcomes opportunity to exchange information and experience