81 FR 10686 - Clarification of Compensatory Measure Requirements for Physical Protection Program Deficiencies

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 40 (March 1, 2016)

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is seeking public comment on a draft regulatory issue summary (RIS) entitled, RIS 2016- XX, ``Clarification on the Implementation of Compensatory Measures for Protective Strategy Deficiencies or Degraded or Inoperable Security Systems, Equipment, or Components.'' The NRC intends to issue this RIS to remind licensees of the requirement to implement compensatory measures, supported by a site-specific analysis, to ensure that licensees maintain, at all times, the capability to detect, assess, interdict, and neutralize threats as identified in NRC regulations. Compensatory measures must be implemented for degraded or inoperable security systems, equipment, or components, and for protective strategy deficiencies identified during performance evaluation exercises and drills.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 40 (Tuesday, March 1, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10686-10687]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-04347]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2016-0043]


Clarification of Compensatory Measure Requirements for Physical 
Protection Program Deficiencies

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) entitled, RIS 2016-
XX, ``Clarification on the Implementation of Compensatory Measures for 
Protective Strategy Deficiencies or Degraded or Inoperable Security 
Systems, Equipment, or Components.'' The NRC intends to issue this RIS 
to remind licensees of the requirement to implement compensatory 
measures, supported by a site-specific analysis, to ensure that 
licensees maintain, at all times, the capability to detect, assess, 
interdict, and neutralize threats as identified in NRC regulations. 
Compensatory measures must be implemented for degraded or inoperable 
security systems, equipment, or components, and for protective strategy 
deficiencies identified during performance evaluation exercises and 
drills.

DATES: Submit comments by March 31, 2016. 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 before this 
date.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods 
(unless this document describes a different method for submitting 
comments on a specific subject):
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2016-0043. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this document.
     Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Office of Administration, 
Mail Stop: OWFN-12-H08, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555-0001.
    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: Daniel Cardenas, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-287-
0756; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2016-0043 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 Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2016-0043.
     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]. The 
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced in this document 
(if that document is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time 
that a document is referenced. This RIS is available under ADAMS 
Accession No. ML15040A596.
     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-2016-0043 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

[[Page 10687]]

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 Commission directed the NRC staff in Staff Requirements 
Memorandum (SRM) ``COMGEA/COMWCO-14-0001--Proposed Initiative to 
Conduct a Lessons Learned Review of the NRC's Force-on-Force Inspection 
Program'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML14043A063) to conduct a lessons-
learned review of the NRC's force-on-force inspection program. Through 
this review, the NRC staff identified that, in certain cases, licensees 
have implemented immediate compensatory measures where such measures 
are not required by NRC regulations and guidance. The NRC staff 
identified proposed enhancements to the force-on-force inspection 
program and communicated these to the Commission in SECY-14-0088, 
``Proposed Options to Address Lessons-Learned Review of the U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Force-on-Force Inspection Program in 
Response to Staff Requirements Memorandum--COMGEA/COMWCO-14-001'' 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML14139A231).
    One of the proposed enhancements was to issue a generic 
communication to licensees clarifying when compensatory measures must 
be immediately implemented. In SRM-SECY-14-0088, ``Proposed Options to 
Address Lessons Learned Review of the NRC's Force-on-Force Inspection 
Program in Response to Staff Requirements--COMGEA/COMWCO-14-0001'' 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML14353A433), the Commission directed the staff to 
issue a proposed generic communication to clarify the NRC's 
expectations regarding the implementation of compensatory measures. 
Therefore, the NRC is issuing a draft RIS to communicate with 
stakeholders on this matter.
    The intent of this RIS is to remind addressees of the requirement 
for implementation of compensatory measures, supported by a site-
specific analysis, to ensure that their physical protection program 
maintains, at all times, the capability to detect, assess, interdict, 
and neutralize threats, as identified in Section 73.1, ``Purpose and 
Scope,'' of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR). 
Compensatory measures must be implemented for degraded or inoperable 
security systems, equipment, or components, and for protective strategy 
deficiencies identified during performance evaluation exercises and 
drills. Licensees should use a site-specific analysis, based on all 
available information, to determine the specific timeframes and 
measures to compensate for protective strategy deficiencies, or 
degraded or inoperable security equipment, systems, or components.

III. Proposed Action

    The NRC is requesting public comments on the draft RIS 2016-XX. 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 at Rockville, Maryland, this 24th day of February 2016.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
J. Todd Keene,
Acting Chief, Generic Communications Branch, Division of Policy and 
Rulemaking, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2016-04347 Filed 2-29-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P