[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 146 (Tuesday, July 29, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43960-43962]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-17324]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2008-0413]


Possible Improvements to the Level of Openness and Transparency 
of Information Associated With NRC Security Inspection and Security 
Performance Assessment of NRC Licensees

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is seeking comment 
from all interested persons on options for improving the level of 
openness and transparency associated with security-related information 
obtained from the conduct of NRC inspection and licensee performance 
assessments.

DATES: Submit comments by September 5, 2008. Comments received after 
this date will be considered only if it is practical to do so.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted electronically through http://www.regulations.gov or mailed to Michael T. Lesar, Chief, Rulemaking, 
Directives and Editing Branch, Office of Administration (Mail Stop: T6-
D59), U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. 
Comments may also be hand delivered to Mr. Lesar at 11545 Rockville 
Pike, Rockville, Maryland, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on Federal 
workdays.
    Publicly-available documents referenced for this action are 
available electronically through the NRC's Electronic Reading Room on 
the Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm.html. From this site the 
public can also access the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and 
Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and image files of the 
NRC's public documents. For more information, contact the NRC's Public 
Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 301-415-4737 or 800-397-4209, or 
by e-mail at [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul W. Harris, Senior Program 
Manager, Reactor Security Oversight Branch, Division of Security 
Operations, Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Telephone: 
(301) 415-1169; fax number (301) 415-6077; e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The NRC views nuclear regulation as the public's business and, as 
such, believes it should be transacted as openly and candidly as 
possible to maintain and enhance the public's confidence in the 
regulatory process. Ensuring appropriate openness explicitly recognizes 
that the public must be informed about, and have a reasonable 
opportunity to participate meaningfully in the NRC's regulatory 
processes. At the same time, the NRC must also control sensitive 
information so that security goals are met. This vision is described in 
the NRC's Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2008-

[[Page 43961]]

2013, NUREG-1614, Volume 4, February 2008 (http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1614/v4/).
    The NRC has traditionally given the public access to a significant 
amount of information about facilities and materials the agency 
regulates. This information has included, but has not been limited to, 
licensee performance assessments, inspection findings, and details 
regarding escalated enforcement actions. To help ensure openness, the 
agency provides accurate and timely information to the public about the 
risks associated with radioactive material and the safety performance 
of the licensees regulated by the NRC. This strategy enables a fair, 
timely, and meaningful stakeholder involvement in NRC regulated 
activities without disclosing classified, safeguards, proprietary, and 
sensitive unclassified information, and results in early communications 
with stakeholders on issues of substantial interest.

Recent Changes to the Publicly-Available Security-Related Information

    Prior to the terrorist events of September 11, 2001, almost all 
information regarding the inspection and assessment of security 
activities at NRC licensees was publicly available. Only information 
specifically requiring protection, such as that described in the 
background information under ``Security Inspection and Licensee 
Performance Assessment Openness Initiative'' located at http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doc-comment.html#3, was withheld from the 
public. Therefore, most security-related licensee performance 
information was documented in NRC inspection reports, reviews of 
licensee performance, and enforcement determinations. Most of these 
documents (that were designated as non-sensitive or non-safeguards 
information) were made available for public inspection at the NRC's PDR 
accessible locally in Rockville, Maryland or through the Internet via 
the NRC's electronic reading room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm.html. Furthermore, specific commercial power reactor licensee 
performance information, such as descriptions of violations, inspection 
findings, NRC annual assessments of licensee performance, and 
performance indicators for individual power facilities was publicly 
accessible at http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/ql-reactors.html#over.
    At the preceding NRC Web site, non-safeguards information, 
summaries of all security and non-security inspection findings, and 
performance assessments for nuclear power plants used to be available 
for public review. This allowed a member of the public to ascertain 
specific licensee performance information and compare that performance 
to other similar facilities. The inspection process also made available 
NRC inspection schedules and its meetings with licensees involving NRC-
regulated activities. Although some security-related information was 
publicly available, the preponderance of all information that the NRC 
made available to the public dealt with the design and operation of 
NRC-regulated facilities, and not with the physical security of these 
facilities or radioactive materials.
    In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, the NRC assessed and 
revised controls on withholding from public disclosure security-related 
NRC inspection and licensee performance information that might be 
useful to persons planning hostile acts against licensees. As a result, 
the amount of publicly-available security-related information was 
reduced. Currently, the cover letters to security inspection reports 
are publicly available providing general information without revealing 
any specifics regarding any particular inspection finding. This 
information includes, but is not limited to: the dates of the 
inspection, whether there was a finding, and whether the finding 
involved a cross cutting aspect (human performance, problem 
identification and resolution, and safety conscious working 
environment). The security-related inspection information that is 
currently available for public review can be viewed at http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/ql-reactors.html#over.

Staff Options To Enhance Openness and Transparency of Security 
Inspection Information

    To improve stakeholder satisfaction with the way NRC communicates 
security inspection information, the staff is considering a number of 
approaches that would increase the public awareness and openness of the 
NRC's security inspection findings and licensee performance assessment, 
such as adding additional detail to: (1) The annual public report to 
Congress on security oversight of operating power reactors and fuel 
cycle facilities by providing a brief description and significance of 
security inspection findings; (2) the public cover letters for security 
inspection reports by providing more details, including significance of 
security inspection findings; and, (3) the NRC public Web site by 
making more information available, such as some security inspection 
procedures and inspection manual chapters. Further, similar to that 
done for NRC safety assessments of licensee performance, the staff is 
considering whether to conduct public meetings in the vicinity of 
commercial power reactors, fuel facilities, and any NRC-regulated 
facility that had a significant \1\ security-related performance 
problem during the performance review period. These meetings would be 
held to present NRC's assessment of that particular licensee's security 
performance (without divulging sensitive information) and respond to 
public questions regarding licensee performance and regulatory 
oversight. In other words, the NRC is assessing whether to conduct 
public meetings on a periodicity commensurate with licensee 
performance.
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    \1\ As used in this document, the term ``significant'' means a 
deficiency or a combination of deficiencies that results in a 
programmatic increase in NRC regulatory oversight of a facility.
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    Regarding material licensees \2\, Agreement States and the 
Commission cooperated in the development of enhanced security measures 
and the adoption of a policy in which these licensees would protect 
certain sensitive information. Agreement States and the Commission have 
also agreed to withhold the names of the licensees that are 
implementing these enhanced security requirements--publishing a 
licensee name could potentially make that entity a target for hostile 
action. Furthermore, some security inspection results, licensee 
performance assessments, inspection procedures, and inspection manual 
chapters will not be available to the public because of special 
considerations associated with the particular facility; however, the 
staff endeavors to apply a consistent level of openness to these 
inspection results as well.
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    \2\ Material licensees are, for examples, large panoramic 
irradiators, manufacturer and distributor licensees, licensees that 
transfer large quantities of radioactive material, and materials 
licensees that possess risk-significant quantities of radioactive 
material (i.e., hospitals, universities, radiographers, and well 
loggers).
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Availability of Inspection-Related Information on NRC Web Site

    The NRC places a large amount of inspection and licensee 
performance information on its external Web site to inform stakeholders 
and to enable public participation in the regulatory process. Program 
descriptions detailing how the NRC staff implements its inspection 
programs are described at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/insp-manual/manual-chapter/index.html. For power reactors, 
inspection-related information is posted

[[Page 43962]]

at http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/pim_summary.html, with 
cover letters for security inspection reports found at http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/listofrpts_body_security.html. The 
information on these web links is updated every quarter, however, the 
actual safety report or security cover letter is publicly available in 
ADAMS shortly after the reports are approved and signed. For NRC 
inspection and licensee performance assessment of fuel cycle facilities 
see http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm.html. Lastly, the NRC continues to 
enable public access to various reports produced by the NRC staff, 
public meeting and workshop summaries, and media-type information in 
ADAMS and may release other information to the public in response to 
formal or informal requests.

Summary

    Considering the various reviews, legislation, and other changes 
since September 11, 2001, the NRC staff believes that enhancement of 
its current procedures and policies regarding publicly-available 
information summarizing security inspection, enforcement results, and 
licensee performance assessment could serve in the public interest. 
Therefore, the NRC seeks public comments on ways to improve regulatory 
openness and transparency of its security oversight activities. 
Improving openness and transparency will enhance public satisfaction 
by: (1) Enhancing public awareness of the NRC's independent role in 
protecting public health and safety, the environment, and the common 
defense and security; (2) providing accurate and timely information to 
the public about regulatory activities at NRC licensees; (3) providing 
fair, timely, and meaningful stakeholder involvement in NRC regulated 
activities without disclosing classified, safeguards, proprietary, or 
sensitive information; and (4) initiating early communication with 
stakeholders on issues of substantial interest. To support this 
endeavor and to better understand public satisfaction in how the NRC 
communicates security-related information, comments are requested on, 
but need not be limited to, the topics below:
    (1) In addition to the information currently in publicly-available 
cover letters for the majority of NRC security inspections, what 
additional information would be effective in informing the public about 
licensee security performance? For example, what specific details would 
increase the public's level of satisfaction in NRC regulatory oversight 
of licensed facilities?
    (2)(a) At what stage in the inspection process is interaction with 
the public most effective and beneficial? For example, immediately upon 
closure of an inspection when a finding is identified, but may be 
withheld from public disclosure or some time after licensee correction 
of the finding, when it may be possible to release additional security-
related inspection information?
    (b) At what stage in the NRC's licensee performance assessment 
process is interaction with the public most effective and beneficial? 
For example, upon NRC determination that licensee performance changed 
from one Action Matrix column\3\ to another or during NRC's mid-cycle 
or end-of-cycle licensee performance reviews.
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    \3\ See NRC Inspection Manual Chapter 0320, ``Operating Reactor 
Security Assessment Program,'' page E2-1, located at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/insp-manual/.
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    (3) What method of public interaction is most preferred? For 
example, is the conduct of a public meeting, a redacted inspection 
report, additional information in NRC's annual report to Congress 
regarding security inspections, or additional information posted on the 
NRC Web site the most beneficial (efficient, effective, or informative) 
method of informing the public?
    (4) How useful are the above methods for communicating NRC 
security-related inspection and licensee performance information to all 
stakeholders?
    (5) What are the reasons why various stakeholders desire security-
related information? For example, is this information necessary to 
build confidence in NRC regulatory oversight or understand current 
licensee performance?
    (6) What level of public participation in any substantial and 
future revision of the security oversight process (e.g., changes made 
to performance indicators, significance determination process, etc.) 
would be beneficial? What constraints and considerations on such 
participation would be necessary to protect the details of sensitive 
security information?
    The public may view background information, express additional 
thought, comment, and describe other means and methods to enhance 
openness and transparency at ``Security Inspection and Licensee 
Performance Assessment Openness Initiative'' located at http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doc-comment.html#3.

    Dated this 22nd day of July 2008, at Rockville, Maryland.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Roy P. Zimmerman,
Director, Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response.
 [FR Doc. E8-17324 Filed 7-28-08; 8:45 am]
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