18.1.3 Federal agencies

US Nuclear Regulatory Commission

The NRC is an independent regulatory agency created from the former AEC by Congress under the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 to ensure protection of the public health and safety and the environment, and to promote the common defense and security in the civilian use of byproduct, source, and special nuclear materials. The NRC is authorized to regulate private sector and certain government nuclear facilities, regulating the pos­session and use of nuclear materials as well as the siting, construction, and operation of nuclear facilities. It performs its mission by issuing regulations, licensing commercial nuclear reactor construction and operation, licensing the possession of and use of nuclear materials and wastes, safeguarding nuclear materials and facilities from theft and radiological sabotage, inspect­ing nuclear facilities, and enforcing regulations. The NRC regulates com­mercial nuclear fuel cycle materials and facilities as well as commercial sealed sources, including disused sealed sources.

The NRC regulates:

• commercial nuclear power, nonpower research, test, and training reactors

• fuel cycle facilities and medical, academic, and industrial uses of nuclear materials

• licensing of nuclear waste management facilities (including storage and disposal of SNF and HLW) as well as independent SNF management facilities

• certain DOE activities and facilities over which Congress has provided NRC licensing and related regulatory authority.

The NRC also regulates manufacture, production, transfer or delivery, receiving, acquisition, ownership, possession, and use of commercial radio­active materials, including associated RAW. The key elements of the NRC regulatory program are described in detail at http://www. nrc. gov. In addi­tion, the Department of Transportation has certain regulatory authority over the transport of SNF and HLW. Specifically, the NRC regulates man­agement and disposal of LLW and HLW, as well as decontaminating and decommissioning of facilities and sites. The NRC is also responsible for establishing the technical basis for regulations, and provides the informa­tion and technical basis for developing acceptance criteria for licensing reviews.

An important aspect of the NRC regulatory program is inspection and enforcement. The NRC has four regional offices that inspect licensed facili­ties in their regions, including nuclear waste facilities. Specific information on NRC Regional Offices can be accessed at http://www. nrc. gov/about-nrc/ organization. html. The NRC Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs communicates with state, local, and tribal governments, and oversees the Agreement State Program.