RRG: Should certification outrank burden-cutting?

This article reports on the recommendations from the Regulatory Review Group (RRG) of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission released on August 20. The general thrust of the report is that the RRG considers the technical substance of the agency's regulations to be either acceptable or under an appropriate review process, but believes that licensees are improperly burdened by arbitrary or vague 'commitments,' decreed by NRC personnel and not clearly based on regulations. The RRG report stated a belief 'that fundamental change can be achieved and maintained only through rulemaking which unambiguously sets the standards to be pursued by both the staff and the industry. If the performance objectives of the regulations are deficient they should be changed and subject to the Backfit Rule. This recommendation is so dominant in effecting change that the Review Group has included as Appendix A a commission paper and proposed rule.'