[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]



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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