[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 23 (Thursday, February 3, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 6087-6088]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-1781]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 73
[NRC-2011-0017]
RIN 3150-AI49
Draft Weapons Safety Assessment on the Use of Enhanced Weapons;
Notice of Availability and Request for Comment
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice of availability and request for public comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (Commission or NRC) is
seeking input from the public, licensees, certificate holders, and
other stakeholders on a draft guidance document entitled ``Weapons
Safety Assessment'' (WSA). This guidance would be used by licensees and
certificate holders applying to the NRC to obtain enhanced weapons
under the NRC's proposed rule titled ``Enhanced Weapons, Firearms
Background Checks, and Security Event Notifications,'' published in the
Proposed Rule section of today's Federal Register (NRC-2011-0018). A
completed WSA would be part of an application to the NRC for the use
for enhanced weapons.
The Commission is authorized under Section 161A of the Atomic
Energy Act of 1954, as amended (AEA), to approve licensees' and
certificate holders' possession of enhanced weapons as part of a
protective strategy for defending NRC-regulated facilities and
radioactive material against malevolent acts. Volumes 1 through 3 of
the draft WSA are being issued for public review and comment.
DATES: Submit comments on Volumes 1 through 3 of the draft WSA by May
4, 2011. Comments received after this date will be considered if it is
practical to do so, but the NRC is able to ensure consideration only
for comments received on or before this date.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any one of the following methods.
Please include Docket ID: NRC-2011-0017 in the subject line of your
comments. Comments submitted in writing or in electronic form will be
posted on the NRC Web site and on the Federal rulemaking Web site at
http://www.regulations.gov. Because your comments will not be edited to
remove any identifying or contact information, the NRC cautions you
against including any information in your submission that you do not
want to be publicly disclosed.
The NRC requests that any party soliciting or aggregating comments
received from other persons for submission to the NRC inform those
persons that the NRC will not edit their comments to remove any
identifying or contact information, and therefore, they should not
include any information in their comments that they do not want
publicly disclosed.
To ensure efficient and complete comment resolution, you should
reference the section and page numbers of the WSA volume to which the
comment applies. You should not include any site-specific security
information in your comments.
Federal rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and
search for documents filed under Docket ID: NRC-2011-0017. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher, telephone: 301-492-
3668; e-mail: [email protected].
Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Chief, Rules, Announcements, and
Directives Branch (RADB), Division of Administrative Services, Office
of Administration, Mail Stop: TWB-05-B01M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, or by fax to RADB at 301-492-
3446.
You can access publicly available documents related to this notice
using the following methods.
NRC's Public Document Room (PDR): The public may examine and have
copied, for a fee, publicly available documents at the NRC's PDR, Room
O-1 F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville,
Maryland.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS):
Publicly available documents created or received at the NRC are
available electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this page, the public can gain
entry into ADAMS, which provides text and image files of NRC's public
documents. If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems
in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC's PDR
reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to
[email protected]. Volumes 1 through 3 of the draft WSA are publicly
available under ADAMS Package No. ML103190273.
Federal rulemaking Web site: Public comments and supporting
materials related to this notice can be found at http://www.regulations.gov by searching for documents filed under Docket ID:
NRC-2011-0017.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Philip Brochman, Office of Nuclear
Security and Incident Response, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-6557; e-mail:
[email protected]; or Susan Bagley, Office of Nuclear Security and
Incident Response, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-2240; e-mail: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
On August 8, 2005, President Bush signed into law the Energy Policy
Act of 2005 (EPAct), Public Law 109-58, 119 Stat. 594 (2005). Section
653 of the EPAct amended the AEA by adding Section 161A, ``Use of
Firearms by Security Personnel'' (42 U.S.C. 2201a). Section 161A of the
AEA provides the NRC with new authority that will enhance security at
designated facilities of NRC licensees and certificate holders. Section
161A also provides the NRC with new authority that will enhance
security with respect to the possession or use of certain radioactive
material or other property owned or possessed by an NRC licensee or
certificate holder, or the transportation of such material or other
property that has been determined by the Commission to be of
significance
[[Page 6088]]
to the common defense and security or the public health and safety.
Under Section 161A of the AEA, the Commission is authorized to
approve licensees' and certificate holders' possession of enhanced
weapons as part of a protective strategy for defending NRC-regulated
facilities and radioactive material from malevolent acts. Previously,
most NRC licensees and certificate holders were barred under Federal
law from possessing such weapons. The NRC is publishing in the Proposed
Rules section of today's Federal Register a proposed rule titled
``Enhanced Weapons, Firearms Background Checks, and Security Event
Notifications (Docket ID: NRC-2011-0018).'' The NRC is proposing to add
requirements to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR),
in Section 73.18, for licensees and certificate holders to apply to the
NRC to obtain enhanced weapons (see 10 CFR 73.2 of the proposed rule
for a definition of enhanced weapons). Under 10 CFR 73.18(f), licensees
and certificate holders applying to the NRC to possess and use enhanced
weapons would be required to include a completed WSA as part of their
application.
The draft WSA provides a methodology to evaluate and review the
safety impacts arising from the proposed use of enhanced weapons on
licensee and certificate holder facilities and personnel, and on
adjoining public areas. The NRC developed the draft WSA under contract
with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Protective Design Center (USACE-
PDC), in Omaha, Nebraska. The draft WSA is identified as document
number ``USACE PDC NRC TR 06-10.1 through 10.5.'' When submitted to the
NRC as part of an application to obtain enhanced weapons, a completed
WSA would be controlled as Safeguards Information or classified
National Security Information, as appropriate, because of the sensitive
nature of the information contained in the WSA.
The evaluation of the appropriateness of specific types of enhanced
weapons at NRC-regulated facilities is a new effort for the NRC. As
part of the development process, the NRC staff provided a draft of the
WSA to three NRC licensees (two power reactor licensees and a Category
I strategic special nuclear material licensee) as part of voluntary
pilot program to identify any major challenges to using the WSA
template. The results of the pilot program have been incorporated into
the draft WSA being submitted for public comment.
The NRC is seeking comments on Volumes 1 through 3 of the draft WSA
from the public, licensees, certificate holders, and other
stakeholders. The NRC staff also intends to hold a public meeting on
the draft WSA in conjunction with other discussions on the proposed
rule and the supporting draft guidance documents. The public meeting is
intended to answer questions on the draft WSA and facilitate
commenters' submission of written comments. The NRC does not intend to
receive oral comments on the draft WSA.
The NRC will publish a separate notice on the date and location of
this public meeting in the Federal Register.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 12th day of January 2011.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Richard P. Correia,
Director, Division of Security Policy, Office of Nuclear Security and
Incident Response.
[FR Doc. 2011-1781 Filed 2-2-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P