[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]
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