Commission Policy Statements

On this page:

• Administration
• Agreement States
• Allegations
• Conduct of Proceedings
• Consumer Products
• Decommissioning
• Enforcement
• Environment
• International Activities
• Medical Uses
• Nuclear Fuel
• Nuclear Materials
• Power Plants
• Radioactive Waste
• Reports and Reporting
• Risk Management
• Safety Culture
• Transportation
• Tribal

Note: Many of these documents are copies of the original published version in the Federal Register. You may need to use your magnify or zoom tools in Adobe Acrobat to read the documents on your computer monitor.

Administration

• Camera Coverage of Hearings Before Atomic Safety and Licensing Boards and Atomic Safety and Licensing Appeal Boards (43 FR 4294; February 1, 1978)
• Proposed Agency Policy and Procedures for Differing Professional Opinions; Request for Comments (44 FR 59686; October 16, 1979)
• Regionalization (49 FR 7676; March 1, 1984)
• Coordination and Information Exchange Meetings Between the NRC Staff and Organizations Involved in the Study of the Nuclear Power Industry (50 FR 41480; October 11, 1985)
• Release of PDR User Information (53 FR 40293; October 14, 1988)
• Possible Safety Impacts of Economic Performance Incentives (56 FR 33945; July 24, 1991)
• Use of Probabilistic Risk Assessment Methods in Nuclear Regulatory Activities (60 FR 42622; August 16, 1995)
• Communications Between the NRC and Licensees (60 FR 56068; November 6, 1995)
• Freedom of Employees in the Nuclear Industry To Raise Safety Concerns Without Fear of Retaliation (61 FR 24336; May 14, 1996)
• Conversion to the Metric System (61 FR 31169; June 19, 1996)
• Evidence-Building and Evaluation Policy Statement (86 FR 29683; June 3, 2021)

Agreement States

• Agreement State Program Policy Statement (82 FR 48535; October 18, 2017)
• Safety Culture Policy Statement (76 FR 34773; June 14, 2011)
• Criteria for Guidance of States and NRC in Discontinuance of NRC Regulatory Authority and Assumption Thereof by States Through Agreement (46 FR 7540; January 23, 1981 as amended by policy statements published at 46 FR 36969; July 16, 1981 and 48 FR 33376; July 21, 1983)
• Principles and Policy for the Agreement State Program; Adequacy and Compatibility of Agreement State Programs (62 FR 46517; September 3, 1997)
• Evaluation of Agreement State Radiation Control Programs; Rescission of a Final General Statement of Policy (62 FR 53839; October 16, 1997)

Allegations

• Freedom of Employees in the Nuclear Industry To Raise Safety Concerns Without Fear of Retaliation (61 FR 24336; May 14, 1996)

Conduct of Proceedings

• Conduct of Licensing Proceedings (46 FR 28533; May 27, 1981)
• Issuance of Uncontested Fuel Loading and Low Power Testing Operating Licenses (46 FR 47906; September 30, 1981)
• Investigations, Inspections, and Adjudicatory Proceedings (49 FR 36032; September 13, 1984)
• Handling of Late Allegations (50 FR 11030; March 19, 1985)
• Two-Year Trial Program for Conducting Open Enforcement Conferences (57 FR 30762; July 10, 1992)
• Alternative Means of Dispute Resolution (57 FR 36678; August 14, 1992)
• Two-Year Trial Program for Conducting Open Enforcement Conferences; Availability of Toll-Free Phone Number (57 FR 41154; September 9, 1992)
• Two-Year Trial Program for Conducting Open Enforcement Conferences; Continuation of Trial Program (59 FR 36796; July 19, 1994)
• Protecting the Identify of Allegers and Confidential Sources (61 FR 25924; May 23, 1996)
• Conduct of Adjudicatory Proceedings (63 FR 41872; August 5, 1998)
• Conduct of New Reactor Licensing Proceedings; Final Policy Statement (73 FR 20963; April 17, 2008)
• Enhancing Public Participation in NRC Meetings (86 FR 14964; March 19, 2021)
• Policy Statement on Mandatory Hearings for Reactor Licensing (91 FR 34661; June 8, 2026)

Consumer Products

• Products Intended for Use by General Public (Consumer Products)
  (79 FR 2907; January 16, 2014)

Decommissioning

• Decommissioning Criteria for the West Valley Demonstration Project
  (67 FR 5003; February 1, 2002)

Enforcement

• The Enforcement Policy is applicable to enforcement matters involving the radiological health and safety of the public, including employee health and safety, the common defense and security, and the environment. However, the medical event reporting interim enforcement policy applies only to medical events occurring under an NRC licensee's permanent implant brachytherapy program.

Environment

• Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement of the Cleanup of Three Mile Island Unit 2 (46 FR 24764; May 1, 1981)
• Licensing and Regulatory Policy and Procedures for Environmental Protection, Uranium Fuel Cycle Impacts (47 FR 50591; November 8, 1982)

International Activities

• International Policy Statement   (79 FR 39415; July 10, 2014)

Medical Uses

• Medical Use of Byproduct Material; Revision (65 FR 47654; August 3, 2000)

Nuclear Fuel

• Mixed Oxide Fuel (42 FR 65334; December 30, 1977)
• Use of High-Enriched Uranium (HEU) in Research Reactors (47 FR 37007; August 24, 1982)

Nuclear Materials

• Policy of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on the Protection of Cesium-137 Chloride Sources (76 FR 44378; July 25, 2011)
• Safety Culture Policy Statement (76 FR 34773; June 14, 2011)

Power Plants

• Safety Culture Policy Statement (76 FR 34773; June 14, 2011)
• Policy Statement on the Regulation of Advanced Reactors (73 FR 60612; October 14, 2008)
• Restructuring and Economic Deregulation of the Electric Utility Industry (62 FR 44071; August 19, 1997)
• Regulation of Advanced Nuclear Power Plants (59 FR 35461; July 12, 1994)
• Use of Decommissioning Trust Funds Before Decommissioning Plan Approval; Draft Policy statement (59 FR 5216; February 3, 1994)
• Technical Specifications Improvements for Nuclear Power Reactors (58 FR 39132; July 22, 1993)
• Integrated Schedules (57 FR 43886; September 23, 1992)
• Availability and Adequacy of Design Bases Information at Nuclear Power Plants (57 FR 35455; August 10, 1992)
• Cooperation with States at Commercial Nuclear Power Plants and Other Nuclear Production or Utilization Facilities (57 FR 6462; February 25, 1992)
• Education for Senior Reactor Operators and Shift Supervisors at Nuclear Power Plants (54 FR 33639; August 15, 1989)
• Program for Resolution of Generic Issues Related to Nuclear Power Plants, Withdrawal (54 FR 24432; June 7, 1989)
• Additional Applications of Leak-Before-Break Technology (54 FR 18649; May 2, 1989)
• Litigation of TMI-Related Issues in Power Reactor Operating License Proceedings; Revocation of Superseded Policy Statement Concerning TMI-Related Procedures (54 FR 7897; February 23, 1989)
• Conduct of Nuclear Power Plant Operations (54 FR 3424; January 24, 1989)
• Deferred Plants (52 FR 38077; October 14, 1987)
• Nuclear Power Plant Standardization (52 FR 34884; September 15, 1987)
• Request for Comments on Development of Policy for Nuclear Power Plant License Renewal (51 FR 47249; December 31, 1986)
• Production and Utilization Facilities; Request for Comments on Development of Policy for Nuclear Power Plant License Renewal (51 FR 40334; November 8, 1986)
• Emergency Planning-Medical Services (51 FR 32904; September 17, 1986)
• Safety Goals for the Operation of Nuclear Power Plants (51 FR 28044; August 4, 1986 as corrected and republished at 51 FR 30028; August 21, 1986)
• Engineering Expertise on Shift (50 FR 43621; October 28, 1985)
• Severe Reactor Accidents Regarding Future Designs and Existing Plants (50 FR 32138; August 8, 1985)
• Emergency Planning (50 FR 20892; May 21, 1985)
• Environmental Qualification of Electrical Equipment; Status of June 30, 1982, Deadline (49 FR 45114; November 15, 1984)
• Systematic Safety Evaluation of Operating Nuclear Power Reactors (49 FR 45112; November 15, 1984)
• Environmental Qualification of Electric Equipment (49 FR 8422; March 7, 1984)
• Nuclear Power Plant Staff Working Hours (47 FR 23836; June 1, 1982)
• Further Commission Guidance for Power Reactor Operating Licenses (45 FR 85236; December 24, 1980 as corrected by policy statement published at 46 FR 15242; March 4, 1981)
• Nuclear Power Plant Accident Considerations Under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (45 FR 40101; June 13, 1980)
• Planning Basis for Emergency Responses to Nuclear Power Reactor Accidents; NRC Policy Statement (44 FR 61123; October 23, 1979); EPA Policy Statement (45 FR 2893; January 15, 1980)
• Generic Rulemaking to Improve Nuclear Power Plant Licensing (43 FR 58377; December 14, 1978)
• Recommendations for Improving Nuclear Power Plant Licensing (43 FR 49082; October 20, 1978)
• Program for Resolution of Generic Issues Related to Nuclear Power (43 FR 1565; January 10, 1978)

Radioactive Waste

• Volumn Reduction and Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management (77 FR 25760; May 1, 2012)

Reports and Reporting

• Abnormal Occurrence Reports: Implementation of Section 208 Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 (62 FR 18820; April 17, 1997)
• Abnormal Occurrence Reports: Implementation of Section 208 of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974; Revised Policy Statement (71 FR 10568; March 1, 2006)
• Abnormal Occurrence Reports: Implementation of Section 208 of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974; Revised Policy Statement (71 FR 60198; October 12, 2006)
• Abnormal Occurrence Reports: Implementation of Section 208 of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974; Revised Policy Statement (82 FR 45907; October 2, 2017)

Risk Management

• White Paper on a Conceptual Example of a Proposed Risk Management Regulatory Framework Policy Statement (78 FR 70354; November 25, 2013)
• Use of Probabilistic Risk Assessment Methods in Nuclear Regulatory Activities; Final Policy Statement (60 FR 42622; August 16, 1995)

Safety Culture

• Safety Culture Policy Statement (76 FR 34773; June 14, 2011)
• Freedom of Employees in the Nuclear Industry To Raise Safety Concerns Without Fear of Retaliation (61 FR 24336; May 14, 1996)
• Conduct of Nuclear Power Plant Operations (54 FR 3424; January 24, 1989)

Transportation

• NRC Response to Accidents Occurring During the Transportation of Radioactive Material (49 FR 12335; March 29, 1984)

Tribal

• Tribal Policy Statement (82 FR 2402; January 9, 2017)