[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 136 (Monday, July 17, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36446-36447]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-17448]



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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-458]


Exemption

    In the matter of Entergy Operations, Inc. (River Bend Station, 
Unit 1).

I

    Entergy Operations, Inc., (the licensee) is the holder of Facility 
Operating License No. NPF-47, which authorizes operation of the River 
Bend Station, Unit 1. The operating license provides, among other 
things, that the licensee is subject to all rules, regulations, and 
orders of the Commission now and hereafter in effect.
    The facility consists of a boiling water reactor at the licensee's 
site in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana.

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 and 
unreasonable risk to the public health and safety.''
    10 CFR 73.55(d), ``Access Requirements,'' paragraph (I), specifies 
that ``The licensee shall control all points of personnel and vehicle 
access into a protected area.'' 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.'' 10 CFR 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 areas which must be 
returned upon exit from the protected area* * *''
    The licensee proposed to implement an alternative unescorted 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 keep their badge with them 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 
October 24, 1994, the licensee requested an exemption from certain 
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 from the requirements of the 
regulations 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, employee and contractor identification/access control 
cards are issued and retrieved on the occasion of each entry to and 
exit from the protected areas of the River Bend site. Station security 
personnel are required to maintain control of the badges while the 
individuals are offsite. This practice has been in effect at the River 
Bend Station, Unit 1 since the operating license was issued. Security 
personnel retain each identification access control card, when not in 
use by the authorized individual, within appropriately designed storage 
receptacles inside a bullet-resistant enclosure. An individual who 
meets the access authorization requirements is issued a picture 
identification card which also serves as an access control card. This 
card allows entry into preauthorized areas of the station. While 
entering the plant in the present configuration, an authorized 
individual is ``screened'' by the required detection equipment and by 
the issuing security officer. Having received the badge, the individual 
proceeds to the access portal, inserts the access control card into the 
card reader, and passes through the turnstile which is unlocked by the 
access card. Once inside the station, the access card allows entry into 
areas if the preauthorized criteria are met.
    This present procedure is labor intensive since security personnel 
are required to verify badge issuance, ensure badge retrieval, and 
maintain the badges in orderly storage until the next entry into the 
protected area. The regulations permit employees to remove their badges 
from the site, but an exemption from 10 CFR 73.55(d)(5) is required to 
permit contractors to take their badges offsite instead of returning 
them when exiting the site.
    Under the proposed system, all individuals authorized to gain 
unescorted access will have the physical characteristics of their hand 
(hand geometry) recorded with their badge number. Since the hand 
geometry is unique to each individual and its application in the entry 
screening function would preclude unauthorized use of a badge, the 
requested exemption would allow employees and contractors to keep their 
badges at the time of exiting the protected area. The process of 
verifying badge issuance, ensuring badge retrieval, and maintaining 
badges could be eliminated while the balance of the access procedure 
would remain intact. Firearm, explosive and metal detection equipment 
and provisions for conducting searches will remain as well. The 
security officer responsible for the last access control function 
(controlling admission to the protected area) will also remain isolated 
within a bullet-resistant structure in order to assure his or her 
ability to respond or to summon assistance.
    Use of a hand geometry biometrics system exceeds the present 
verification methodology's capability to discern an individual's 
identity. Unlike the photograph identification badge, hand geometry is 
nontransferable. During the initial access authorization or 
registration process, hand measurements are recorded and the template 
is stored for subsequent use in the identity verification process 
required for entry into the protected area.
    Authorized individuals insert their access authorization card into 
the card reader and the biometrics system records an image of the hand 
geometry. The unique features of the newly recorded image are then 
compared to the template previously stored in the database. Access is 
ultimately granted based on the degree to which the characteristics of 
the image match those of the ``signature'' template.
    Since both the badge and hand geometry would be necessary for 
access into the protected area, the proposed system would provide for a 
positive 

[[Page 36447]]
verification process. 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.
    The access process will continue to be under the observation of 
security personnel. The system of identification badges coupled with 
their associated access control cards will continue to be used for all 
individuals who are authorized access to protected areas without 
escorts. Badges will continue to be displayed by all individuals while 
inside the protected area. Addition of a hand geometry biometrics 
system will provide a significant contribution to effective 
implementation of the security plan at each site.

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, 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, as long as the licensee uses the hand geometry 
access control system, the Commission hereby grants Entergy Operations, 
Inc. an exemption from those requirements of 10 CFR 73.55(d)(5) 
relating to the returning of picture badges upon exit from the 
protected area such that individuals not employed by the licensee, 
i.e., contractors, who are authorized unescorted access into the 
protected area, can take their badges offsite.
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the Commission has determined that the 
granting of this exemption will have no significant impact on the 
quality of the human environment (60 FR 30116). This exemption is 
effective upon issuance.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 7th day of July 1995.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jack W. Roe,
Director, Division of Reactor Projects III/IV, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 95-17448 Filed 7-14-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-M