§ 73.60 - Additional requirements for physical protection at nonpower reactors.

§ 73.60 Additional requirements for physical protection at nonpower reactors.

Cross Reference

Link to an amendment published at 86 FR 43403, Aug. 9, 2021.

Each nonpower reactor licensee who, pursuant to the requirements of part 70 of this chapter, possesses at any site or contiguous sites subject to control by the licensee uranium-235 (contained in uranium enriched to 20 percent or more in the U-235 isotope), uranium-233, or plutonium, alone or in any combination in a quantity of 5000 grams or more computed by the formula, grams = (grams contained U-235) + 2.5 (grams U-233 + grams plutonium), shall protect the special nuclear material from theft or diversion pursuant to the requirements of paragraphs 73.67 (a), (b), (c), and (d), in addition to this section, except that a licensee is exempt from the requirements of paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (d), and (e) of this section to the extent that it possesses or uses special nuclear material that is not readily separable from other radioactive material and that has a total external radiation dose rate level in excess of 1 gray (100 rems rad) per hour at a distance of 1 meter (3.3 feet) from any accessible surface without intervening shielding.

(a) Access requirements.

(1) Special nuclear material shall be stored or processed only in a material access area. No activities other than those which require access to special nuclear material or equipment employed in the process, use, or storage of special nuclear material, shall be permitted within a material access area.

(2) Material access areas shall be located only within a protected area to which access is controlled.

(3) Special nuclear material not in process shall be stored in a vault equipped with an intrusion alarm or in a vault-type room, and each such vault or vault-type room shall be controlled as a separate material access area.

(4) Enriched uranium scrap in the form of small pieces, cuttings, chips, solutions or in other forms which result from a manufacturing process, contained in 30-gallon or larger containers, with a uranium-235 content of less than 0.25 grams per liter, may be stored within a locked and separately fenced area which is within a larger protected area provided that the storage area is no closer than 25 feet to the perimeter of the protected area. The storage area when unoccupied shall be protected by a guard or watchman who shall patrol at intervals not exceeding 4 hours, or by intrusion alarms.

(5) Admittance to a material access area shall be under the control of authorized individuals and limited to individuals who require such access to perform their duties.

(6) Prior to entry into a material access area, packages shall be searched for devices such as firearms, explosives, incendiary devices, or counterfeit substitute items which could be used for theft or diversion of special nuclear material.

(7) Methods to observe individuals within material access areas to assure that special nuclear material is not diverted shall be provided and used on a continuing basis.

(b) Exit requirement. Each individual, package, and vehicle shall be searched for concealed special nuclear material before exiting from a material access area unless exit is into a contiguous material access area. The search may be carried out by a physical search or by use of equipment capable of detecting the presence of concealed special nuclear material.

(c) Detection aid requirement. Each unoccupied material access area shall be locked and protected by an intrusion alarm on active status. All emergency exits shall be continuously alarmed.

(d) Testing and maintenance. Each licensee shall test and maintain intrusion alarms, physical barriers, and other devices utilized pursuant to the requirements of this section as follows:

(1) Intrusion alarms, physical barriers, and other devices used for material protection shall be maintained in operable condition.

(2) Each intrusion alarm shall be inspected and tested for operability and required functional performance at the beginning and end of each interval during which it is used for material protection, but not less frequently than once every seven (7) days.

(e) Response requirement. Each licensee shall establish, maintain, and follow an NRC-approved safeguards contingency plan for responding to threats, thefts, and radiological sabotage related to the special nuclear material and nuclear facilities subject to the provisions of this section. Safeguards contingency plans must be in accordance with the criteria in Appendix C to this part, “Licensee Safeguards Contingency Plans.”

(f) In addition to the fixed-site requirements set forth in this section and in § 73.67, the Commission may require, depending on the individual facility and site conditions, any alternate or additional measures deemed necessary to protect against radiological sabotage at nonpower reactors licensed to operate at or above a power level of 2 megawatts thermal.

[38 FR 35430, Dec. 28, 1973, as amended at 44 FR 68199, Nov. 28, 1979; 57 FR 33431, July 29, 1992; 58 FR 13700, Mar. 15, 1993; 86 FR 43403, Aug. 9, 2021]