2015-32778. Training and Qualification of Security Personnel at Nuclear Power Reactor Facilities

AGENCY:

Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION:

Draft regulatory guide; request for comment.

SUMMARY:

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for public comment draft regulatory guide (DG) DG-5043, “Training and Qualification of Security Personnel at Nuclear Power Reactor Facilities.” The proposed revision to the regulatory guide (RG) updates training and qualification guidance that incorporates lessons learned since the original publication of the guide.

DATES:

Submit comments by February 29, 2016. Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before this date. Although a time limit is given, comments and suggestions in connection with items for inclusion in guides currently being developed or improvements in all published guides are encouraged at any time.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments by any of the following methods (unless this document describes a different method for submitting comments on a specified subject):

• Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0287. Address questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: [phone]; email: [e-mail]. For technical questions, contact the individual(s) listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document.
• Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Office of Administration, Mail Stop: OWFN-12H08, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. For additional direction on accessing information and submitting comments, see “Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments” in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

James Vaughn, Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response, telephone: [phone], email: [e-mail] or Mekonen Bayssie, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, telephone: [phone], email: [e-mail]; U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0287 when contacting the NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You may obtain publically-available information related to this document, by any of the following methods:

• Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0287. Address questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: [phone]; email: [e-mail]. For technical questions, contact the individual(s) listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document.
• NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the ADAMS Public Documents collection at http://www.nrc.gov/​reading-rm/​adams.html. To begin the search, select “ADAMS Public Documents” and then select “Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.” For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by email to [e-mail]. The DG is electronically available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML14297A272
• NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

B. Submitting Comments

Please include Docket ID NRC-2015-0287 in your comment submission. The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your comment submission. The NRC posts all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as enters the comment submissions into ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove identifying or contact information.

If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove such information before making the comment submissions available to the public or entering the comment submissions into ADAMS.

II. Additional Information

The NRC is issuing for public comment a DG in the NRC's “Regulatory Guide” series. This series was developed to describe and make available to the public information regarding methods that are acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the NRC's regulations, techniques that the staff uses in evaluating specific issues or postulated events, and data that the staff needs in its review of applications for permits and licenses.

The DG, entitled, “Training and Qualification of Security Personnel at Nuclear Power Reactor Facilities,” is a proposed revision guide temporarily identified by its task number, DG-5043. DG-5043 is proposed revision 1 of RG 5.75, “Training and Qualification of Security Personnel at Nuclear Power Reactor Facilities.” The guide proposes revised guidance for methodologies that licensees and applicants should use to select, train, equip, test, qualify, and re-qualify armed and unarmed security personnel, watchpersons, and members of the licensee staff that support the licensee's security organization, to ensure that these individuals possess and maintain the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to carry out their assigned duties and responsibilities effectively.

III. Backfitting and Issue Finality

DG-5043 describes a method that the NRC staff considers acceptable for use by nuclear power plant licensees in meeting the requirements for training and qualification of security personnel as set forth in Section VI of Appendix B to title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 73 (10 CFR part 73), “Physical Protection of Plants and Materials.” Issuance of this DG, if finalized, would not constitute backfitting as defined in 10 CFR 50.109 (the Backfit Rule) and would not otherwise be inconsistent with the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52. As discussed in the “Implementation” section of this DG, the NRC has no current intention to impose this guide, if finalized, on holders of current operating licenses or combined licenses.

This DG may be applied to applications for operating licenses and combined licenses docketed by the NRC as of the date of issuance of the final regulatory guide, as well as future applications submitted after the issuance of the regulatory guide. Such action would not constitute backfitting as defined in the Backfit Rule or be otherwise inconsistent with the applicable issue finality provision in 10 CFR part 52, inasmuch as such applicants or potential applicants are not within the scope of entities protected by the Backfit Rule or the relevant issue finality provisions in part 52. Neither section 50.109 nor the issue finality provisions under 10 CFR part 52—with certain exceptions—were intended to apply to every NRC action that substantially changes the expectations of current and future applicants. The exceptions to the general principle are whenever an applicant references a part 52 license (e.g., an early site permit) and/or NRC regulatory approval (e.g., a design certification rule, a standard design approval) with specified issue finality provisions. However, the scope of issue finality provided extends only to the matters resolved in the license or regulatory approval. Early site permits, design certification rules, and standard design approvals typically do not address or resolve compliance with operational programs such as the security personnel requirements in 10 CFR part 73.

Therefore, no applicant referencing an early site permit, design certification rule, or standard design approval would be protected by relevant issue finality provisions with respect to the security matters addressed in this draft regulatory guide.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 22nd day of December 2015.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Kurt O. Cozens,

Acting Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic Issues Branch, Division of Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.