U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chairman Shirley Ann Jackson and former Secretary of Energy Hazel O'Leary have signed a new memorandum of understanding governing joint cooperation on significant projects between their two agencies. The agreement supplements one dating from February 1978 which addressed interagency relationships in the conduct of research programs. It provides a basic framework for the staffs of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy (DOE) to use in developing further agreements on specific projects, such as the NRC-DOE memorandum on tritium production which was signed last May. This agreement does not address issues related to possible external regulation of DOE by NRC. Under the new basic agreement, both NRC and DOE agree to cooperate on long-range planning for activities on which both agencies can work together. It designates the NRC Executive Director for Operations and the DOE Assistant Secretary for Environment, Safety and Health as the initial points of contact. One provision calls for use of the NRC ''open meetings'' policy for NRC-DOE staff meetings on joint project activities pertaining to specific regulatory decisions or actions. Under that policy, meetings between the NRC staff and outside persons are open unless proprietary, privacy, safeguards or investigative matters are to be discussed. Another provision holds that, in developing specific memoranda of understanding for particular projects, the parties shall include provisions for handling employee whistleblower issues and other complaints or allegations from private citizens. Edited text of the Memorandum of Understanding Between the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Support of Significant Projects and Activities is shown below.
