Overview of the Interagency Nuclear Safety Review Board Playbook

National Security Presidential Memorandum #20
(NSPM-20) directed the NASA Administrator to establish
an Interagency Nuclear Safety Review Board (INSRB),
replacing the ad hoc safety review panels used for space
nuclear system launch reviews since the 1960s. NSPM-20
provides over-arching direction regarding the Board’s
purpose and intent. Upon formation of this new entity, its
members recognized that more detailed guidance was
needed to ensure predictable and reliable performance of
the Board’s functions. The Board drafted and later
approved a guidance document referred to as “the
Playbook” for this purpose. This paper will summarize the
main features of this publicly-available document, along
with providing context for its initial drafting and revision.
The goal of this paper is to broaden the degree of
awareness by the space nuclear system community of
INSRB’s activities and intents.