[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 138 (Wednesday, July 19, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37109-37110]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-17720]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-424 and 50-425]
Georgia Power Company, et al.; Vogtle Electric Generating Plant,
Units 1 and 2; Exemption
I
Georgia Power Company, et al. (the licensee) is the holder of
Facility Operating License Nos. NPF-68 and NPF-81 for the Vogtle
Electric Generating Plant, Units 1 and 2. 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 near
Waynesboro in Burke Country, Georgia.
II
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,'' 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 exist 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
February 14, 1995, the licensee 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
[[Page 37110]]
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 Vogtle
site 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 the badges are
returned upon exit. The badges 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 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 Vogtle plant 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.be., 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 the
licensee 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 Vogtle plant employees and contractors to take their
badges offsite.
When implemented, the licensee 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.
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 the licensee (i.e., contractors) to take
their photo identification badges offsite, provided that the proposed
hand geometry biometrics system is in effect to control access into
protected areas at the Vogtle 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 35964).
For further details with respect to this action, see the request
for exemption dated February 14, 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 Burke County Public Library, 412 Fourth Street, Waynesboro,
Georgia.
This exemption is effective when modifications, procedures, and
training to implement the hand geometry biometrics system have been
completed and the corresponding revisions to the Physical Security Plan
for the Vogtle plant have been submitted, and reviewed and approved by
the staff.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 12th day of July 1995.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Steven A. Varga,
Director, Division of Reactor Projects--I/II, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 95-17720 Filed 7-18-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-M
