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Home       > Electronic Reading       Room       > Document       Collections       > General       Communications       > Information       Notices       > 1999       > IN 99-16

UNITED STATESNUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSIONOFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATIONWASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001

May 28, 1999
NRC INFORMATION NOTICE 99-16:FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION'S NUCLEAR SITE SECURITY PROGRAM   - Addressees: 
- Purpose: 
- Description   of Circumstances: 
- Discussion: 
Addressees:
All U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) fuel cycle, power reactor, and non-power reactor licensees.
Purpose:
NRC is issuing this information notice to advise addressees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Nuclear Site Security Program. This program is one of a number of ongoing counter-terrorism initiatives being undertaken by the FBI. It is expected that recipients will consider this information and anticipate liaison activities with FBI Field Offices in support of the program. Information contained in this notice is not an NRC requirement and no specific action or written response is required. However, NRC supports the FBI's Nuclear Site Security Program and anticipates that addressees will work with the FBI for the purposes of contingency planning as noted in 10 CFR 50.34(d) and in Appendix C of Part 73.
Description of Circumstances:
On December 21, 1998, FBI Headquarters provided FBI field offices with guidance for the development of site-specific "Nuclear Site Contingency Plans." This guidance was provided as part of the FBI's Nuclear Site Security Program, which requires increased liaison with approximately 96 nuclear sites in the United States that are under the responsibility of the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, or are licensed by NRC. Of the 56 FBI field offices, 44 have some sort of nuclear facility, including NRC-licensed commercial nuclear facilities, within their jurisdictions. This program focuses on: 1) development of FBI nuclear site contingency plans; 2) sharing these plans with site security personnel, as well as local law enforcement and other first responders, to ensure integrated and coordinated responses to criminal or terrorist attacks or malevolent incidents directed at nuclear facilities; and 3) testing response procedures through joint training, exercises, liaison, and facility familiarization. The Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Coordinator within each FBI field office has been designated as the point of contact for this initiative. FBI Headquarters staff has emphasized that: 1) the Nuclear Site Security Program is for planning purposes and is neither an audit nor review of the adequacy of licensee security; and 2) the FBI field offices would welcome the opportunity to observe or participate in, as appropriate, licensee exercises, particularly security exercises and drills.
Discussion:
FBI field offices are required to develop Nuclear Site Contingency Plans tailored to individual facilities within their jurisdiction. These plans are intended to facilitate emergency response and investigation of incidents at these facilities and serve as bases for response exercises and training. Field offices were advised also that during the preparation of Nuclear Site Contingency Plans, the WMD coordinator should be mindful of existing response and contingency plans to be used during an incident at a nuclear facility. Field offices were reminded that as part of the development of FBI plans, close liaison should be established with security personnel at NRC-licensed facilities, as well as with State and local law enforcement personnel, and all local assets that could be called for assistance. In addition, each FBI field office was directed to coordinate and integrate its plan with the appropriate nuclear site security personnel and identify and interact with those State and local responders who will be part of the contingency response, including its crisis and consequence aspects. Consequently, these activities will require that the FBI response planning be coordinated with existing plans in which an NRC Lead Federal Agency response provides assistance to the licensee and State and local officials regarding the radiological aspects of the event. Additional details concerning coordination of the Federal response involving both the NRC and the FBI will be provided in future notices.

Some NRC-licensed facilities have already been contacted as part of this FBI planning effort and other licensees can expect to be contacted in the future. FBI agents hold Top Secret clearances and classified National Security Information, security-related information, and Safeguards Information (SGI) may be shared with them. However, they should be briefed on requirements for handling and storage of SGI before SGI is provided to them. NRC considers the FBI and local law enforcement agencies to have the appropriate "need to know" and they are authorized to receive site security SGI or plans as noted in 10 CFR 73.21 (c)(i) and (c)(v).

This information notice requires no specific actions nor written response to NRC. If you have any questions about the information in this notice, please contact the technical contacts listed below.
/s/'d by Elizabeth Q. Ten Eyck, Director Division of Fuel       Cycle Safety Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguardsfor     /s/'d by James Lyons Ledyard B. Marsh, Branch Chief Events       Assessment, Generic Communications and Non-Power Reactors Branch       Division of Regulatory Improvement ProgramsOffice of Nuclear       Reactor RegulationTechnical contacts: John Davidson, NMSS(301) 415-8130E-Mail: jjd@nrc.gov Robert Skelton, NRR(301) 415-3309E-Mail: rfs@nrc.gov   Attachments:1. List of Recently Issued NMSS Information Notices 2. List of       Recently Issued NRR Information Notices(NUDOCS Accession Number 9905260020)