[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 230 (Monday, November 30, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76625-76626]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-26273]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2020-0246]


Physical Protection Programs at Nuclear Power Reactors Safeguards 
Information

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 
Revision 1 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 5.76, ``Physical Protection 
Programs at Nuclear Power Reactors (SGI),'' as a final RG. The NRC has 
revised RG 5.76 to provide licensees guidance on the implementation of 
the ``Reasonable Assurance of Protection Time'' concept. This RG 
(Revision 1) clarifies issues that have been identified through 
interactions with stakeholders and inspection activities since the 
original publication of the guide.

DATES: Revision 1 to RG 5.76 is available on November 30, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Revision 1 to RG 5.76 contains Safeguards Information (SGI). 
Therefore, this RG is being withheld from public disclosure, but is 
available to those affected licensees, stakeholders who have 
established a need to know, and cleared stakeholders who have access 
authorization. For access to RG 5.76, contact the individuals listed in 
the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.
    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2020-0246 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information regarding this document. You may 
obtain publicly available information related to this document using 
any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2020-0246. Address 
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov 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.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, 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].
     Attention: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies 
of public documents is currently closed. You may submit your request to 
the PDR via email at [email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 
between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (EST), Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gary Purdy, Office of Nuclear Security 
and Incident Response, telephone: 301-287-3629, email: 
[email protected]; or 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. Discussion

    The NRC is issuing a revision to an existing guide 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 
agency's regulations, techniques that the NRC staff uses in evaluating 
specific issues or postulated events, and data that the NRC staff needs 
in its review of applications for permits and licenses.
    Regulatory Guide 5.76 provides approaches determined to be 
acceptable to the NRC for meeting the requirements described in section 
73.55, ``Requirements for physical protection of licensed activities in 
nuclear power reactors against radiological sabotage,'' of title 10 of 
the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR). Specifically, this revision 
explains that a licensee may meet the general performance objective in 
10 CFR 73.55(b)(1) to provide reasonable 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'' by having a physical protection program that 
is capable of independently defending against the design basis threat 
(DBT) of radiological sabotage for a timeframe of at least 8 hours. 
This timeframe, referred to as ``Reasonable Assurance of Protection 
Time'' (RAPT), recognizes the existing layers of protection available 
to sites along with how the safety and security of the site would 
evolve over time following initiation of an attack. RG 5.76, Rev. 1 has 
specific information for both operating power reactors and new reactors 
licensed under 10 CFR part 50 and 10 CFR part 52.
    This revision of RG 5.76 (Revision 1) incorporates lessons learned 
from operating experience. Specifically, this revision clarifies issues 
that have been identified through interactions with stakeholders and 
inspection activities since the original publication of the guide.

II. Additional Information

    Regulatory Guide 5.76 contains SGI. Accordingly, this RG is being 
withheld from public disclosure. It will be made

[[Page 76626]]

available to those affected licensees and stakeholders who have an 
established need-to-know for access to the RG. The NRC did not announce 
the availability of the draft RG for public comment because the guide 
contains SGI and Official Use Only-Security Related information. 
Nonetheless, the NRC is issuing this notice to inform the public of the 
issuance of this revision to the RG.
    On September 17, 2020, the NRC issued a memorandum (ADAMS Accession 
No. ML20258A250) transmitting the draft regulatory guide for comment to 
stakeholders who have an established need-to-know for access to the 
document. The stakeholders' comment period closed on October 23, 2020. 
The NRC received 13 comments from stakeholders. The comments and the 
associated agency responses are available to the public in ADAMS under 
Accession No. ML20325A209.

III. Congressional Review Act

    This RG is a rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act (5 
U.S.C. 801-808). However, the Office of Management and Budget has not 
found it to be a major rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act.

IV. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality

    Revision 1 of RG 5.76 provides applicants or licensees with 
guidance to meet the requirements set forth in 10 CFR 73.55. Licensees 
are not required to comply with the positions set forth in this 
regulatory guide. Therefore, issuance of this RG does not constitute 
backfitting as defined in 10 CFR 50.109, ``Backfitting,'' and as 
described in Management Directive (MD) 8.4, ``Management of 
Backfitting, Forward Fitting, Issue Finality, and Information 
Requests;'' constitute forward fitting as that term is defined and 
described in MD 8.4; or affect issue finality of any approval issued 
under 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses, Certificates, and Approvals for 
Nuclear Power Plants.'' As explained in Section D., ``Implementation,'' 
of the regulatory guide, the NRC staff does not intend to use the 
guidance in this regulatory guide to support NRC staff actions in a 
manner that would constitute backfitting or forward fitting. If, in the 
future, the NRC seeks to impose a position in this regulatory guide in 
a manner that constitutes backfitting or forward fitting or affects the 
issue finality for a 10 CFR part 52 approval, then the NRC will address 
the backfitting provision in 10 CFR 50.109, the forward fitting 
provision of MD 8.4, or the applicable issue finality provision in 10 
CFR part 52 respectively.

    Dated: November 23, 2020.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Meraj Rahimi,
Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic Issues Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2020-26273 Filed 11-27-20; 8:45 am]
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