[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 119 (Wednesday, June 21, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32382-32384]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-15139]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-443 (License No. NPF-86]]
North Atlantic Energy Service Corp. (Seabrook Station, Unit No.
1); Exemption
I
North Atlantic Energy Service Corporation (North Atlantic or the
licensee) is the holder of Facility Operating License No. NPF-86, which
authorizes operation of Seabrook Station, Unit No. 1 (the facility or
Seabrook), at a steady-state reactor power level not in excess of 3411
megawatts thermal. The facility is a pressurized water reactor located
at the licensee's site in Rockingham County, New Hampshire. The license
provides among other things, that it is subject to [[Page 32383]] all
rules, regulations, and Orders of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (the Commission or NRC) now or hereafter in effect.
II
Part 73 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations prescribes
the requirements for the physical protection of plants and materials.
Paragraph 10 CFR 73.55(a), Requirements for physical protection of
licensed activities in nuclear power reactors against radiological
sabotage, states, in part, ``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 safety.''
Paragraph 10 CFR 73.55(d)(1), Access Requirement, specifies that
``The licensee shall control all points of personnel and vehicle access
into a protected area.'' Paragraph 10 CFR 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.'' Paragraph 73.55(d)(5) allows an individual not employed by
the licensee to be authorized access to protected areas without escort
provided, among other requirements, the individual receives a picture
badge upon entrance into the protected area which must be returned upon
exit from the protected area.
North Atlantic plans to implement a biometric access control system
which would eliminate the need to issue and retrieve badges at each
entrance/exit location and would allow all individuals with unescorted
access to retain their badge when leaving the protected area.
An exemption from a requirement of 10 CFR 73.55(d)(5) is required
to allow North Atlantic to permit individuals who have unescorted
access but who are not employees of North Atlantic to retain their
badges instead of returning them when leaving the protected area. By
letter dated October 17, 1994, North Atlantic requested an exemption
from a requirement of 10 CFR 73.55(d)(5) for this purpose. Supplemental
information was submitted by North Atlantic by letters dated February
13, 1995, April 26, 1995, and May 12, 1995.
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 (1) authorized
by law and will not endanger life or property or the common defense and
security, and (2) 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 that the overall
level of protection of system performance provides equivalent
protection against radiological sabotage as would otherwise be provided
and meets the general performance requirements of the regulation.
Currently, unescorted access into the protected area of Seabrook is
controlled through the use of a numbered picture badge and a separate
keycard attached to the badge. The security personnel at the entrance
to the protected area use the photograph on the badge to confirm
visually the identify of the individual requesting access. The
individual is then given the badge and keycard to allow access. The
badge and keycard are returned for storage when the individual leaves
the protected area. The same procedure is used for issuing and
retrieving badges and keycards for both North Atlantic employees and
individuals who are not North Atlantic employees who have been granted
unescorted access. Thus, the requirement of 10 CFR 73.55(d)(5) that
individuals not employed by the licensee are not allowed to take badges
from the protected area is met in that no individual is allowed to take
a badge or keycard from the protected area.
Under the biometric access control system, the physical
characteristics of the hand (hand geometry) of each individual who is
authorized for unescorted entry into the Seabrook protected area will
be registered with the individual's badge number and keycard number in
the access control computer. Access is controlled by placing the
individual's keycard into the card reader causing the access control
computer to retrieve the hand geometry template registered with the
keycard. Next, the hand of the individual requesting access is placed
on a measuring surface; the computer then compares the measured hand
geometry to the hand geometry template registered with the keycard. If
the characteristics of the measured hand geometry match the template
stored in the computer, access is granted. If the characteristics do
not match, access is denied. This provides a nontransferable means of
identifying that the individual possessing the keycard is the
individual who was granted unescorted access. It also provides a
positive means of assuring that a lost or stolen badge and/or keycard
could not be used to gain access, thus eliminating the need to issue
and retrieve the badges and keycards while maintaining the same high
level of assurance that access is granted to only authorized
individuals. All other access processes, including search function
capability, would remain the same. The system will not be used for
persons requiring escorted access. The access process will continue to
be under the observation of security personnel located within a
hardened cubicle who have final control over the release of the station
entrance turnstiles. A numbered picture badge visual identification
system will continue to be used for all individuals who are authorized
unescorted access to the protected area. Badges will continue to be
displayed by all individuals while inside the protected area.
North Atlantic will use hand geometry equipment which will meet the
detection probability of 90 percent with a 95 percent confidence level.
Testing evaluated by Sandia National Laboratory (Sandia Laboratory
report, ``A Performance Evaluation of Biometric Identification
Devices,'' SAND91-0276 UC-906 Unlimited Release, Printed June 1991),
demonstrated that the proposed hand geometry system is capable of
meeting this detection probability and confidence level. Based upon the
results reported in the Sandia report and on North Atlantic's
experience with the current photo-identification system, North Atlantic
asserts that the biometric access control system will increase
reliability above that of the current system. North Atlantic will
implement a testing program to ensure that the biometric access control
system will maintain the expected level of system performance. The
Physical Security Plans for the site will be revised to include
implementation and testing of the biometric access control system and
to allow North Atlantic employees and other individuals authorized
unescorted access to retain their badges and keycards when leaving the
protected area.
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 have the same high assurance objective
and meets the general performance requirements of the regulation and
that the overall level of system performance provides protection
against radiological [[Page 32384]] sabotage equivalent to that which
would be provided by the regulation.
Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR
73.5, an exemption is authorized by law, will not endanger life or
property or common defense and security, and is otherwise in the public
interest. Therefore, the Commission hereby grants North Atlantic Energy
Service Corporation an exemption from the requirement of 10 CFR
73.55(d)(5) relating to the returning of picture badges upon exit from
the protected area such that individuals who are authorized unescorted
access into the protected area but who are not employed by North
Atlantic, can take their badges from the protected area.
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 30118).
This exemption is effective upon issuance.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 14th 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. 95-15139 Filed 6-20-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-M
