[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 93 (Monday, May 14, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22297-22299]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-10156]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2018-0092]


Standard Format and Content of Physical Security Plans, Training 
and Qualifications Plans and Safeguards Contingency Plans for Nuclear 
Power Plants

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft regulatory guide; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for 
public comment a Draft Regulatory Guide (DG), entitled DG-5048, 
``Standard Format and Content of Physical Security Plans, Training and 
Qualifications Plans and Safeguards Contingency Plans for Nuclear Power 
Plants.'' This draft revision of Regulatory Guide (RG) 5.54 (Revision 
2) renames the guide and consolidates, enhances, and clarifies previous 
staff guidance for the development of licensee site-specific physical 
security plans found in NUREG-0908, ``Acceptance Criteria for the 
Evaluation of Nuclear Power Reactor Security Plans,'' training and 
qualification plans, and safeguards contingency plans. This revision to 
RG 5.54 includes editorial changes and clarifications provided by the 
staff in Security Frequently Asked Questions after the issuance of 
Revision 1.

DATES: Submit comments by July 13, 2018. 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. Although a time limit is given, comments and suggestions in 
connection with items for inclusion in guides currently being developed 
or improvements in all published guides are encouraged at any time.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2018-0092. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Jennifer Borges; telephone: 301-287-
9127; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section 
of this document.
     Mail comments to: May Ma, Office of Administration, Mail 
Stop: TWFN-7-A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001.
    For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting 
comments,

[[Page 22298]]

see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dennis Gordon, Office of Nuclear 
Security and Incident Response, telephone: 301-287-3633, email: 
[email protected] and Mekonen Bayssie, Office of Nuclear Regulatory 
Research, telephone: 301-415-1699, email: [email protected]. Both 
are staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2018-0092 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain 
publicly-available information related to this action by any of the 
following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2018-0092.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and 
then select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, 
please contact the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 
1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by email to [email protected]. DG-
5048 is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML17124A490.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2018-0092 in your comment submission.
    The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact 
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your 
comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as enter the comment submissions into 
ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove 
identifying or contact information.
    If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons 
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to 
include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be 
publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should 
state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to 
remove such information before making the comment submissions available 
to the public or entering the comment into ADAMS.

II. Additional Information

    The NRC is issuing for public comment a DG in the NRC's 
``Regulatory Guide'' series. This series was developed to describe and 
make available to the public information regarding methods that are 
acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the 
NRC's regulations, techniques that the staff uses in evaluating 
specific issues or postulated events, and data that the staff needs in 
its review of applications for permits and licenses.
    The draft regulatory guide, entitled, ``Standard Format and Content 
of Physical Security Plans, Training and Qualifications Plans and 
Safeguards Contingency Plans for Nuclear Power Plants,'' is temporarily 
identified by its task number, DG-5048. DG-5048 is proposed Revision 2 
of RG 5.54, ``Standard Format and Content of Physical Security Plans, 
Training and Qualifications Plans and Safeguards Contingency Plans for 
Nuclear Power Plants'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML17124A490). This revision 
of the guide (Revision 2) retitles the guide and consolidates, 
enhances, and clarifies previous staff guidance for the development of 
licensee site-specific physical security plans found in NUREG-0908, 
``Acceptance Criteria for the Evaluation of Nuclear Power Reactor 
Security Plans'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML18128A239), training and 
qualification plans, and safeguards contingency plans. This revision to 
the regulatory guide includes clarifications provided by the staff in 
the Security Frequently Asked Questions after Revision 1 was published, 
and contains a wide variety of editorial changes to the overall 
Revision 1 content. In addition, this revision of the guide provides 
licensees with guidance for developing security plans and safeguards 
contingency plans for title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 
CFR), part 72 licensees for independent spent fuel storage facilities.

I. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    DG-5048 describes a method that the staff of the NRC considers 
acceptable for use by nuclear power plant licensees in meeting the 
requirements for the standard format and content for licensee physical 
security, training and qualification, and safeguards contingency plans 
and provides general guidance for the identification, description, and 
level of detail that licensees should provide, including site-specific 
conditions, in a comprehensive security plan. Issuance of this DG, if 
finalized, would not constitute backfitting as defined in 10 CFR 50.109 
(the Backfit Rule) and would not otherwise be inconsistent with the 
issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52. As discussed in the 
``Implementation'' section of this DG, the NRC has no current intention 
to impose this guide, if finalized, on holders of current operating 
licenses or combined licenses.
    This DG, if finalized, may be applied to applications for operating 
licenses and combined licenses docketed by the NRC as of the date of 
issuance of the final regulatory guide, as well as future applications 
submitted after the issuance of the regulatory guide. Such action would 
not constitute backfitting as defined in the Backfit Rule or be 
otherwise inconsistent with the applicable issue finality provisions in 
10 CFR part 52, inasmuch as such applicants or potential applicants are 
not within the scope of entities protected by the Backfit Rule or the 
relevant issue finality provisions in part 52.
    Neither section 50.109 nor the issue finality provisions under 10 
CFR part 52 were intended to apply to NRC actions that change the 
expectations of current and future applicants. However, the issue 
finality provisions of part 52 may apply when an applicant references a 
part 52 license or other NRC regulatory approval. Nevertheless, the 
scope of issue finality provided extends only to the matters resolved 
in the license or regulatory approval. Early site permits, design 
certification rules, and standard design approvals typically do not 
address or resolve compliance with operational programs such as the 
security requirements in 10 CFR part 73. Therefore, applicants 
referencing an early site permit, design certification rule, or 
standard design approval may be asked to follow the guidance in this 
draft regulatory guide, if finalized, or to provide an equivalent 
alternative process that demonstrates compliance with the underlying 
NRC regulatory requirements.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day of May, 2018.


[[Page 22299]]


    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Thomas H. Boyce,
Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic Issues Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2018-10156 Filed 5-11-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P