Access to Nuclear Regulatory Commission Bulletin Board Systems

	 
UNITED STATES
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION
WASHINGTON, D.C.  20555

September 13, 1994


NRC ADMINISTRATIVE LETTER 94-13:ACCESS TO NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
BULLETIN BOARD SYSTEMS


Addressees

All NRC licensees.

Purpose

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing this administrative
letter to inform addressees of the availability of NRC bulletin boards
containing the Standard Technical Specifications, NRC generic communications,
and files on several other subjects.  This administrative letter does not
transmit or imply any new or changed requirements or staff positions.  No
specific action or written response is required.

Discussion

NRC operates a bulletin board system (BBS) called Tech Specs Plus.  The system
contains the following files:

the Standard Technical Specifications, (versions reflecting each nuclear
steam supply vendor),

NRC generic communications, (Bulletins, Generic Letters, Information
Notices, Administrative Letters),

information on the status of public petitions submitted in accordance
with Section 2.206 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations
(10 CFR 2.206),

an electronic copy of the NRC Inspection Manual, and

daily reports.

The daily reports consist of (1) a summary of the operational status for each
nuclear power plant, (2) the morning reports from the NRC regional offices and
headquarters, and (3) licensee event reports submitted in accordance with
10 CFR 50.72.  All documents issued in 1994 include figures and other
attachments that in the past were frequently omitted.

New users establish their own password when they first log onto the BBS.
Therefore, new users do not need to contact the NRC staff to obtain an

9409080011                                            AL 94-13
                                            September 13, 1994
                                            Page 2 of 2


account.  Attachment 1 contains detailed information on accessing and using
the system.

Although every effort is made to ensure that the information on the BBS is
accurate, documents obtained from the BBS are not considered official
documents.  Every user explicitly acknowledges that all information obtained
from the BBS is provided "as-is" without warranty of any kind, either
expressed or implied, including, but not limited to the implied warranties of
merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose and that the entire risk
of acting on information obtained from the BBS, including the entire cost of
all necessary remedies, is with those who choose to act on such information
and not the operators of the BBS.

NRC also operates the Enhanced Participatory Rulemaking BBS.  This system has
(1) the text of the decommissioning release criteria rulemaking and associated
background documents and (2) public comments on this rulemaking.  The
telephone number for connecting by modem to the system is 800-880-6091.
Comments on the rulemaking may be posted on the system as a message or
uploaded onto the system as a file.  NRC plans to expand this system to
include all active NRC rulemaking activities.

The NRC staff plans to move the files on the Tech Specs Plus BBS and the
Rulemakng BBS to subsystems of FEDWORLD, the Federal Government bulletin board
system operated by the National Technical Information Service (NTIS).  This
move will give users more telephone lines for access, higher file transfer
rates (up to 19,200 baud), and access through INTERNET.  When this move is
completed, NRC will issue a supplement to this administrative letter to
describe how to use the new system.

This administrative letter requires no specific action or written response.
If you have any questions about this letter, please contact one of the
contacts listed below or the appropriate Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
(NRR) project manager.

                          original signed by

                        Brian K. Grimes, Director
                        Division of Operating Reactor Support
                        Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Contacts:  Andrew J. Kugler, NRR
           (301) 504-2828

         Thomas G. Dunning, NRR
         (301) 504-1189

         Kevin Ramsey, NMSS
         (301) 415-7887

Attachments:
1.  Tech Specs Plus Bulletin Board System Basics
2.  List of Recently Issued NRC Administrative Letters
Attachment 1                                         AL 94-13
                                        September 13, 1994
                                        Page 1 of 1

TECH SPECS PLUS BULLETIN BOARD SYSTEM BASICS


The telephone numbers for connecting by modem to the system are 800-679-5784
and 301-504-1778.  The system will interface with almost any
telecommunications software.  Before dialing, users should set their
communications parameters as follows:

    bits/character       - 8
    parity               - N
    number of stop bits  - 1
    full duplex
    ANSI BBS terminal emulation (optional); if not available, choose none

Users should know (1) the protocol their telecommunications software will use
for downloading files and (2) the command(s) necessary to initiate a file
transfer using their software.  Files may be transferred at a rate of up to
9600 baud.

The STS files on the system may be listed by the nuclear steam supply system
vendor (e.g., General Electric, Westinghouse).  The files for each vendor are
subdivided by sections and subsections just as they are in the paper copy of
the technical specifications.

The system includes generic communications files in two basic groups: (1)
those issued during 1994 are provided as individual files and (2) those issued
before 1994 are combined into one file for each type and year.  For instance,
Information Notice 94-48 is an individual file (IN-94-48.ZIP) while all of the
information notices issued in 1992 are in one file (IN-1992.ZIP).  The
directories for the files may be listed by the type of generic communication
(administrative letters, bulletins, generic letters, and information notices)
and by the type of licensee affected (e.g., power reactors, materials and
medical licensees).

BULLETIN.ZIP is a useful file containing all of the "system bulletins" that
describe how to use the system.

If you have questions about the generic communications files, call Andy Kugler
(301-504-2828).  If you have questions about other files or system problems
(such as access and downloading), call the BBS system operators: Tom Dunning
(301-504-1189) and Chris Hoxie (301-504-3138).