83 FR 47648 - Protection Against Malevolent Use of Vehicles at Nuclear Power Plants

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 183 (September 20, 2018)

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is withdrawing Regulatory Guide (RG) 5.68, ``Protection against Malevolent use of Vehicles at Nuclear Power Plants,'' dated August 1994. This document is being withdrawn because it is outdated and has been superseded by other NRC guidance. Therefore, it no longer provides methods that the NRC staff finds acceptable to protect against the malevolent use of vehicles as a means to gain unauthorized access to protected areas and vital areas and to ensure that these vehicles are operated only by authorized persons with a legitimate need for access.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 183 (Thursday, September 20, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Page 47648]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-20476]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2018-0206]


Protection Against Malevolent Use of Vehicles at Nuclear Power 
Plants

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory guide; withdrawal.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is withdrawing 
Regulatory Guide (RG) 5.68, ``Protection against Malevolent use of 
Vehicles at Nuclear Power Plants,'' dated August 1994. This document is 
being withdrawn because it is outdated and has been superseded by other 
NRC guidance. Therefore, it no longer provides methods that the NRC 
staff finds acceptable to protect against the malevolent use of 
vehicles as a means to gain unauthorized access to protected areas and 
vital areas and to ensure that these vehicles are operated only by 
authorized persons with a legitimate need for access.

DATES: The effective date of the withdrawal of RG 5.68 is September 20, 
2018.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2018-0206 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 http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2018-0206. Address 
questions about NRC dockets 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 http://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 ADAMS accession number for each 
document referenced (if it available in ADAMS) is provided the first 
time that a document is referenced. The basis for withdrawal of RG 5.68 
is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML18187A345.
     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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bernard Stapleton, telephone: 301-287-
3532, email: [email protected], or Mekonen Bayssie, telephone: 
301-415-1699, email: [email protected]; U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Both are staff of the U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    The NRC is withdrawing RG 5.68, ``Protection against Malevolent use 
of Vehicles at Nuclear Power Plants,'' because the guidance contained 
in the document is outdated, has been superseded by new guidance, and 
therefore is no longer acceptable to meet NRC regulatory requirements. 
In particular, on March 27, 2009, the NRC issued a revised rule that 
enhanced the security requirements pertaining to nuclear power plants 
to incorporate requirements that were issued through Commission orders 
as a result of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks (74 FR 13925). 
In addition, the rulemaking added several new requirements consistent 
with insights gained from implementation of the orders, review of site 
security plans, implementation of the enhanced baseline inspection 
program, and NRC evaluation of force-on-force exercises. Since RG 5.68 
was published in August 1994, it does not account for the updated 
requirements of 10 CFR part 73. As a result, the guidance in RG 5.68 is 
outdated. In addition, the NRC is withdrawing RG 5.68 because it has 
been superseded by updated guidance that can be found in other 
regulatory documents. These documents provide licensees with acceptable 
approaches to address various issues, including vehicle access 
controls, use of explosives, target set identification and the 
appropriate use of vehicles.

II. Further Information

    The withdrawal of RG 5.68 does not alter any prior or existing NRC 
licensing approval or the acceptability of licensee commitments made in 
accordance with the withdrawn guidance. Although RG 5.68 is withdrawn, 
current licensees referencing this RG may continue to do so, and 
withdrawal does not affect any existing licenses or agreements. 
However, by withdrawing RG 5.68, the NRC will no longer approve use of 
the guidance in future requests or applications for NRC licensing 
actions.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 17th day of September, 2018.

    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. 2018-20476 Filed 9-19-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P