Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Contents
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) collects and publishes extensive data to support its mission of ensuring the safety and security of nuclear facilities and materials. Its data programs are crucial for oversight, enforcement, and public transparency.
Reactor Oversight Program Data
The NRC's main statistics program is the Reactor Oversight Program (ROP). It uses objective data to monitor the performance of commercial nuclear power plants.
| • | Performance Indicators (PIs): The NRC requires plants to report data on specific PIs, such as the number of unplanned shutdowns, safety system failures, and other metrics related to reactor safety, radiation safety, and physical protection. This data is used to place plants in a color-coded Action Matrix, with green indicating good performance and white, yellow, or red indicating increasing levels of regulatory concern and required action. |
| • | Inspection Findings: The NRC conducts routine inspections and assigns a color-coded significance level (green, white, yellow, or red) to any findings of non-compliance. This data is used in conjunction with the PIs to determine a plant's position in the Action Matrix. |
Event Reporting and Operational Experience
The NRC maintains several databases related to operational events and incidents at nuclear facilities.
| • | Event Notifications: The NRC's Headquarters Operations Center receives notifications of significant events from licensees 24/7. These events are compiled into Daily Event Reports that are made public. |
| • | Licensee Event Reports (LERs): Licensees are required to submit detailed reports on events that are significant to public health and safety. The NRC maintains a searchable database of these LERs. |
| • | Operational Experience (OpE): The NRC analyzes trends and patterns in event data to identify potential safety issues that may be generic to the industry. These analyses are used to develop safety recommendations and share lessons learned with the industry. |
Public Document and Data Repositories
The NRC has several tools for the public to access its data and documents.
| • | Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS): ADAMS is the NRC's official recordkeeping system. It contains millions of publicly available documents, including inspection reports, license applications, and technical reports. The system is searchable and provides a wealth of historical and current data. |