[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 113 (Tuesday, June 13, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31170-31171]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-14408]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-348 and 50-364]
Southern Nuclear Operating Company and Alabama Power Company,
Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant Units 1 and 2; Exemption
I
The Southern Nuclear Operating Company, et al. (SNC or the
licensee) is the holder of Facility Operating License Nos. NPF-2 and
NPF-8 for the Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2 (Farley).
The licenses provide, among other things, that the licensee is subject
to all rules, regulations, and orders of the Commission in effect now
and hereafter.
The facility consists of two pressurized water reactors at Farley,
located in Houston County, Alabama.
II
Title 10 CFR 73.55, ``Requirements for Physical Protection of
Licensed Activities in Nuclear Power Reactors Against Radiological
Sabotage,'' paragraph (a), in part, states that ``The licensee shall
establish and maintain an onsite physical protection system and
security organization which will have as its objective to provide high
assurance that activities involving special nuclear material are not
inimical to the common defense and security and do not constitute an
unreasonable risk to the public health and safety.''
Section 73.55(d), ``Access Requirements,'' paragraph (1), specifies
that ``The licensee shall control all points of personnel and vehicle
access into a protected area.'' Section 73.55(d)(5) requires that ``A
numbered picture badge identification system shall be used for all
individuals who are authorized access to protected areas without
escort.'' Section 73.55(d)(5) also states that an individual not
employed by the licensee (i.e., contractors) may be authorized access
to protected areas without escort provided the individual ``receives a
picture badge upon entrance into the protected area which must be
returned upon exit from the protected area * * *''
The licensee has proposed to implement an alternative unescorted
access control system that would eliminate the need to issue and
retrieve badges at each entrance/exit location and would allow all
individuals with unescorted access to keep their badges when departing
the site.
An exemption from 10 CFR 73.55(d)(5) is required to allow
contractors who have unescorted access to take their badges offsite
instead of returning them when exiting the site. By letter dated April
3, 1995, SNC requested an exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR
73.55(d)(5) for this purpose.
III
Pursuant to 10 CFR 73.5, ``Specific exemptions,'' the Commission
may, upon application of any interested person or upon its own
initiative, grant such exemptions in this part as it determines are
authorized by law and will not endanger life or property or the common
defense and security, and are otherwise in the public interest.
Pursuant to 10 CFR 73.55, the Commission may authorize a licensee to
provide alternative measures for protection against radiological
sabotage provided the licensee demonstrates that the alternative
measures have ``the same high assurance objective'' and meet ``the
general performance requirements'' of the regulation, and ``the overall
level of system performance provides protection against radiological
sabotage equivalent'' to that which would be provided by the
regulation.
Currently, unescorted access into the protected areas at the SNC
plants is controlled through the use of a photograph on a badge/keycard
(hereafter, referred to as ``badge''). The security officers at each
entrance station use the photograph on the badge to visually identify
the individual requesting access. The licensee's employees and
contractor personnel who have been granted unescorted access are issued
badges upon entrance at each entrance/exit location and are returned
upon exit. The budges are stored and are retrievable at each entrance/
exit location. In accordance with 10 CFR 73.55(d)(5), contractors are
not allowed to take these badges offsite.
Under the proposed biometric system, each individual who is
authorized unescorted entry into protected areas would have the
physical characteristics of his/her hand (i.e., hand geometry)
registered, along with his/her badge number, in the access control
system. When a registered user enters his/her badge into the card
reader and places his/her hand onto the measuring surface, the system
detects that the hand is properly positioned, and records the image.
The unique characteristics of the hand image are then compared with the
previously stored template in the access control computer system
corresponding to the badge to verify authorization for entry.
Individuals, including SNC employees and contractors, would be
allowed to keep their badges when they depart the site and, thus,
eliminate the need to issue, retrieve, and store badges at the entrance
stations to the plant. Badges do not carry any information other than a
unique identification number.
All other access processes, including search function capability,
would remain the same. This system would not be used for persons
requiring escorted access (i.e., visitors).
Based on the Sandia report, ``A Performance Evaluation of
Biometrics Identification Devices,'' SAND91-0276UC-906,
Unlimited Release, June 1991, that concluded hand geometry equipment
possesses strong performance and high detection characteristics, and on
its own experience with the current photo-identification system SNC
determined that the proposed hand geometry system would provide the
same high level of assurance as the current system that access is only
granted to authorized individuals. The biometric system has been in use
for a number of years at several sensitive Department of Energy
facilities and, recently, at nuclear power plants.
The licensee will implement a process for testing the proposed
system to ensure continued overall level of performance equivalent to
that specified in the regulation. When the changes are implemented, the
respective Physical Security Plan will be revised to include
implementation and testing of the hand geometry access control system
and to allow SNC employees and contractors to take their badges
offsite.
When implemented, SNC will control all points of personnel access
into a protected area under the observation of security personnel
through the use of a badge and a hand geometry verification system. The
numbered picture badge identification system will continue to be used
for all individuals who are authorized unescorted access to protected
areas. Badges will continue to be displayed by all individuals while
inside the protected areas.
Since both the badge and hand geometry would be necessary for
access into the protected areas, the proposed system would provide a
positive verification process. The potential loss of a badge by an
individual as a result of taking the badge offsite would not enable an
unauthorized entry into protected areas. [[Page 31171]]
IV
For the foregoing reasons, pursuant to 10 CFR 73.55, the NRC staff
has determined that the proposed alternative measures for protection
against radiological sabotage meet ``the same high assurance
objective,'' and ``the general performance requirements'' of the
regulation and that ``the overall level of system performance provides
protection against radiological sabotage equivalent'' to that which
would be provided by the regulation.
Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR
73.5, this exemption is authorized by law and will not endanger life or
property or common defense and security, and is otherwise in the public
interest. Therefore, the Commission hereby grants the requested
exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR 73.55(d)(5) to allow
individuals not employed by SNC (i.e., contractors) to take their photo
identification badges offsite in conjunction with the use of hand
geometry biometrics system to control access into protected areas at
the Farley Nuclear plant.
Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the Commission has determined that the
granting of this exemption will not result in any significant adverse
environmental impact (60 FR 29718).
For further details with respect to this action, see the request
for exemption dated April 3, 1995, which is available for public
inspection at the Commission's Public Document Room, 2120 L Street,
NW., Washington, DC, and at the local public document room located at
the Houston-Love Memorial Library, 212 W. Burnshaw Street, Post Office
Box 1369 Dothan, Alabama.
This exemption is effective upon issuance and is expected to be
implemented when modifications, procedures, and training are completed.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 5th day of June 1995.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Steven A. Varga,
Director, Division of Reactor Projects--I/II, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 95-14408 Filed 6-12-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-M
