2012-31419. Proposed Revision 0 on Access Authorization-Operational Program

AGENCY:

Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION:

Standard review plan-draft section revision: request for comment.

SUMMARY:

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) is soliciting public comment on NUREG-0800, “Standard Review Plan for the Review of Safety Analysis Reports for Nuclear Power Plants” LWR Edition: Section 13.6.4, “Access Authorization—Operational Program.” The NRC seeks comments on the new Section 13.6.4 of the Standard Review Plan (SRP) concerning implementation of an access authorization program through revisions to the nuclear power reactor licensee Commission-approved Physical Security Plan under of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 73.55, “Requirements for Physical Protection of Licensed Activities in Nuclear Power Reactors against Radiological Sabotage,” Section (b)(7), that integrates the performance requirements contained within 10 CFR 73.56, “Personnel Access Authorization Requirements for Nuclear Power Plants,” and the criminal history checks of 10 CFR 73.57, “Requirements for Criminal History Checks of Individuals Granted Unescorted Access to a Nuclear Power Facility or Access to Safeguards Information by Power Reactor Licensees.” The current SRP does not contain guidance on the review of an applicant's proposed access authorization program.

DATES:

Comments must be filed no later than 30 days from the date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register. Comments received after this date will be considered, if it is practical to do so, but the Commission is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before this date.

ADDRESSES:

You may access information and comment submissions related to this document, which the NRC possesses and is publicly available, by searching on http://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2012-0314. You may submit comments by any of the following methods:

• Federal rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0314. Address questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: [phone]; email: [e-mail].
• Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Chief, Rules, Announcements, and Directives Branch (RADB), Office of Administration, Mail Stop: TWB-05-B01M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
• Fax comments to: RADB at 301-492-3446.

For additional direction on accessing information and submitting comments, see “Accessing Information and Submitting Comments” in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Amy E. Cubbage, Division of Advanced Reactors and Rulemaking, Office of New Reactors, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone: [phone], email: [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments

A. Accessing Information

Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0314 when contacting the NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You may access information related to this document, which the NRC possesses and are publicly available, by any of the following methods:

• Federal Rulemaking Web Site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0314.
• NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS): You may access publicly available documents online in the NRC Library 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 ADAMS Accession number for the proposed revision of SRP 13.6.4 on “Access Authorization—Operational Program,” is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML12125A098.
• 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-2012-0314 in the subject line of your comment submission, in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make your comment submission available to the public in this docket.

The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact information in comment submissions that you do not want to be publicly disclosed. 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 in their comment submissions that they do not want to be publicly disclosed. 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 Further Information

The NRC seeks public comment on a proposed a new section of the SRP Section 13.6.4, “Access Authorization—Operational Program,” (ADAMS Accession No. ML12125A098). This section has been developed to assist NRC staff with the review of applications for certain construction permits, early site permits, licenses, license amendments, and combined licenses and to inform new reactor applicants and other affected entities of proposed SRP guidance regarding an acceptable method by which to evaluate a proposed access authorization program for compliance with 10 CFR Part 26, 10 CFR 73.56 and 73.57. Following NRC staff evaluation of public comments, the NRC intends to incorporate the final approved guidance into the next revision of NUREG-0800. The SRP is guidance for the NRC staff. The SRP is not a substitute for the NRC regulations, and compliance with the SRP is not required. Accordingly, issuance of the SRP does not constitute “backfitting” as defined in 10 CFR 50.109(a)(1) of the Backfit Rule and is not otherwise inconsistent with the applicable issue finality provisions in 10 CFR Part 52.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 21st day of December 2012.

Amy E. Cubbage,

Chief, Policy Branch, Division of Advanced Reactors and Rulemaking, Office of New Reactor.