Maintenance Rule Information Available on the NRC Home Page

UNITED STATES
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001

February 20, 1998

Addressees

All holders of operating licenses for nuclear power reactors.

Purpose

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing this administrative letter to notify addressees that information on the maintenance rule is available on the NRC Home Page on the internet. This administrative letter does not create any new or changed NRC requirements or staff positions; no specific action or written response is required.

Background

In SECY 97-055, "Maintenance Rule Status, Results, and Lessons Learned" (March 4, 1997), the staff committed to make documents related to the maintenance rule (i.e., regulatory documents, guidance documents, inspection procedures, and inspection reports) available to industry and the public through a Maintenance Rule Home Page. This delivery of information through the "home page" does not supersede or replace the information available in the Public Document Room.

Discussion

The Maintenance Rule Web Site can now be accessed through the NRC Home Page located on the World-Wide Web. The web site contains maintenance rule documents, including 10 CFR 50.65, various SECY letters, and the statements of consideration issued on July 10, 1991. Maintenance rule pilot and baseline inspection reports are presented in hypertext form, which allows for horizontal as well as vertical links to other reports and documents within the site. A user interested in only a specific part of each report, such as "equipment within scope," can follow hyperlinks from that section (typically Section M1.1 in the reports) through every report. The reports are further linked to applicable regulatory guides and NRC inspection procedures. The site features a "fill in the blanks" form, which can be used to ask the staff questions about the web site or the rule. A "What's New" page lists a chronology of the web site and describes recent changes. The Maintenance Rule Web Site contains information that can be presented in a "Frames" format or may be viewed in a single screen presentation (no frames). The user has the ability to download a compressed copy of any baseline inspection report on the sites inspected.

The Maintenance Rule Home Page may be accessed from the "Nuclear Reactors" page of the site.

When using this method, the user must ensure that the URL is typed exactly as shown because the web server file name convention is case sensitive.

This administrative letter requires no specific action or written response. If you have any questions about the information in this notice, please contact the technical contact listed below or the appropriate Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) project manager.

(NUDOCS Accession Number 9802200050)