![A public meeting about the San Onofre nuclear power plant draws a large crowd.]()
A public meeting about the San Onofre nuclear power plant draws a large crowd.
Lance Rakovan
Senior Communications Specialist
One
of my jobs at the NRC is managing the agency’s Meeting Facilitation and
Advisor Program. This means, I train employees to facilitate
public meetings and
recommend ways to make public meetings as meaningful as possible. One
of the challenges I face is explaining – both to those inside and
outside the agency – what the three meeting categories mean. The answer?
Simply this: the category of the meeting is a reflection of the purpose
of the meeting.Category 1 meetings, for example, are between the NRC
and one other party – typically a licensee of the NRC, a vendor, or an
applicant or potential applicant for a license. The NRC has these types
of meetings in a public forum to provide transparency even though the
purpose is to have a one-on-one discussion. The public can observe the
meeting and has the opportunity to ask questions of the NRC after the
business portion of the meeting, but doesn’t participate in the
discussion itself.
Category
2 meetings are between the NRC and a number of individuals representing
groups such as licensees, vendors, other federal agencies, or
non-governmental organizations. Like Category 1 meetings, the NRC holds
these meetings in a public forum. The purpose of the meeting is for the
NRC to conduct a discussion with the designated group. The public can
observe the meeting and ask questions of the NRC after the business
portion of the meeting, but again, doesn’t participate in the discussion
itself.
A
common type of Category 2 meeting is a roundtable meeting where the NRC
invites representatives of the broad spectrum of interests affected by
an issue to engage in discussion with each other and the NRC, with the
public in an observing role.
Category
3 meetings are fully engaged discussions between the NRC and the public
(as well as stakeholders that might include other government agencies,
the industry and others). Public participation is actively sought at
this type of meeting, which has the widest participation opportunities
and is specifically tailored for the public to comment or ask questions.
Category
3 meetings are also known as Town Hall meetings. We might hold such a
meeting to inform the public about a particular issue, respond to
questions or receive comments from attendees. These meetings might be
preceded by other information opportunities, such as a poster session or
open house.
We
do our best to conduct public meetings that not only accomplish a
particular purpose, but also allow the public to observe and
participate. The meeting category just gives an indication of what kind
of meeting you can expect.
Additional Information on our public meeting policies can be found on our
web site.
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