U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Program on Risk-Informing the Materials and Waste Arenas: Pilot Studies

The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission has a program to encourage the use of risk information in regulation of nuclear materials and waste. Within this program there is a project to develop methods and guidelines for risk-informed decision-making in a regulatory context. A basic framework for risk-informed decision-making has been proposed, as well as some preliminary logic algorithms and risk guidelines. To test these preliminary algorithms and guidelines, several pilot studies were conducted on specific regulatory decisions of interest. This paper will describe the overall risk-informing framework, as well as the decision algorithm applicable to these pilot studies. Although only refinements are expected in the overall process, the decision algorithms and risk guidelines are still in a developmental stage of which these pilot studies are a test phase. In this paper two of these pilot studies will be described. Insights concerning the usefulness of the decision algorithms and risk guidelines in similar situations are also stated.