Issues associated with the development of nuclear power plant 'programm effectiveness' indicators for regulatory use

This paper outlines several data issues related to the development of programmatic indicators for monitoring nuclear power plants (NPP) safety. The programmatic indicators are used by management to monitor program effectiveness. The development of program effectiveness indicators for the use of regulatory organizations which are external to the 'program' requires an entirely different approach than the development of indicators for program internal use. A regulatory agency is required to manage NPPs according to its objective, which is to protect public health and safety, and hence its indicators should reflect this objective. The NPPs, on the other hand, exist for productivity and profitability, and, therefore, their indicators should reflect primarily those goals. A safe plant may not be an economic plant, and the reverse is also not necessarily true; profitability and safety do not coincide at all times. This paper outlines methods for developing programmatic indicators for regulatory use (USNRC). (orig./HSCH)