[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