[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 113 (Monday, June 13, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35798-35799]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-12611]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. NRC-2022-0119]


Personnel Access Authorization Requirements for Non-Immigrant 
Foreign Nationals Working at Nuclear Power Plants

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft regulatory issue summary; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is seeking public 
comment on a draft regulatory issue summary (RIS) that reminds 
licensees of the NRC requirement that prior to granting or reinstating 
unescorted access (UA) or certifying unescorted access authorization 
(UAA) to non-immigrant foreign nationals for the purpose of performing 
work, licensees shall validate that the foreign national's claimed non-
immigration status is correct. This is important to ensure that 
individuals to whom a licensee intends to grant UA to nuclear power 
plant protected or vital areas or any individual for whom a licensee or 
applicant intends to certify UAA, are trustworthy and reliable such 
that they do not constitute an unreasonable risk to public health and 
safety or the common defense and security, including the potential to 
commit radiological sabotage.

DATES: Submit comments by August 12, 2022. Comments received after this 
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the Commission 
is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before 
this date.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods; 
however, the NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal rulemaking website:
     Federal rulemaking website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2022-0119. Address 
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; 
telephone: 301-415-0624; email: [email protected]. For technical 
questions, contact the individual listed in the For Further Information 
Contact section of this document.
     Mail comments to: Office of Administration, Mail Stop: 
TWFN-7-A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, ATTN: Program Management, Announcements and Editing Staff.
    For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting 
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Resner, Office of Nuclear 
Security and Incident Response, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone: 301-287-3680, email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2022-0119 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 https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2022-0119.
     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]. The Regulatory Issue Summary 2022-XX, 
``Personnel Access Authorization Requirements for Non-Immigrant Foreign 
Nationals Working at Nuclear Power Plants,'' is available in ADAMS 
under Accession No. ML22157A366.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents, by appointment, at the NRC's PDR, Room P1 B35, One White 
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. To make 
an appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to 
[email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between 
8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET), Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays.

[[Page 35799]]

B. Submitting Comments

    The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please 
include Docket ID NRC-2022-0119 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 
https://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. Background

    The NRC, in collaboration with the Department of Homeland Security, 
has identified several instances where a licensee has failed to 
appropriately verify that the claimed non-immigration status of foreign 
nationals seeking UA and/or UAA is correct. Consequently, foreign 
nationals have been granted UA and UAA at United States nuclear power 
plants for the purpose of work using visa categories that do not permit 
foreign nationals to work in the United States.
    The NRC issues RISs to communicate with stakeholders on a broad 
range of matters. This may include communication and clarification of 
NRC technical or policy positions on regulatory matters that have not 
been communicated to or are not broadly understood by the nuclear 
industry.
    As noted in 83 FR 20858 (May 8, 2018), this document is being 
published in the Proposed Rules section of the Federal Register to 
comply with publication requirements under 1 CFR chapter I.

III. Proposed Action

    The NRC is requesting public comments on the draft RIS. All 
comments that are to receive consideration in the final RIS must be 
submitted electronically or in writing as indicated in the ADDRESSES 
section of this document. The NRC staff will make a final determination 
regarding issuance of the RIS after it considers any public comments 
received in response to this request.

    Dated: June 7, 2022.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Lisa M. Regner,
Chief, Generic Communications and Operating Experience Branch, Division 
of Reactor Oversight, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2022-12611 Filed 6-10-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P