[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]


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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.

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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other stakeholders on a draft guidance document entitled ``Weapons 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]
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