The Nuclear Energy Standards Coordination Collaborative (NESCC) is pleased to announce the launch of a database providing easily accessible information about the listings of standards in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)'s Regulatory Guides. The new database is expected to make it easier for standards developing organizations (SDOs) and other nuclear industry stakeholders to track government adoption of private-sector standards in regulations. Under the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (NTTAA), federal agencies are directed to make use of voluntary consensus standards when possible, rather than relying exclusively on guidance documents developed by the government. As a result of this provision, the NRC has incorporated a number of SDO-developed standards in NRC regulations and guidance documents, allowing the Commission to effectively regulate all aspects of the nuclear community at a reduced cost to both government regulators and industry.
| What Is the NESCC? The NESCC, a joint initiative of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), was established in 2009 under the sponsorship of the Department of Energy (DOE) and the NRC. The Collaborative serves as a forum where nuclear energy stakeholders - including SDOs, industry associations, reactor vendors, researchers, international and domestic regulatory bodies, among others - work together to respond to industry needs for new and revised standards. |
The new database, known as the NRC Document Collection Database, will allow SDOs and other affected groups to quickly and efficiently identify instances where their standards have been cited in NRC regulatory documents, and to determine which version of a given standard has been referenced. Access to this important information will make it easier for organizations to carry out effective communications with the NRC over which standards would be best to cite and provide important assistance to committees revising standards that have been cited in NRC regulations.
The NRC Document Collection Database can be downloaded from ANSI's website in Microsoft Access form; related documentation is also available. For more information about the NESCC and its activities, visit www.ansi.org/nuclear.