[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]
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