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[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 152 (Thursday, August 7, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42609-42610]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-20876]

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Public Service Electric and Gas Company, Philadelphia Electric 
Company, Delmarva Power and Light Company, Atlantic City Electric 
Company, Salem Nuclear Generating Station, Units 1 and 2 and Public 
Service Electric and Gas Company, Atlantic City Electric Company, Hope 
Creek Generating Station; Exemption

[Docket Nos. 50-272 and 50-311; Docket No. 50-354]

I.

    The Public Service Electric and Gas Company, et al. (PSE&G, the 
licensee), is the holder of Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-70, 
DPR-75 and NPF-57, which authorize operation of the Salem Nuclear 
Generating Station, Units 1 and 2, and Hope Creek Generating Station 
(Salem/Hope Creek). The licenses provide, among other things, that the 
licensee is subject to all rules, regulations, and orders of the 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) now and hereafter in 
effect.
    The facilities consist of two pressurized water reactors, Salem 
Units 1 and 2, and a boiling water reactor, Hope Creek, located at the 
licensee's site in Salem County, New Jersey.

II.

    It is stated in 10 CFR 73.55, ``Requirements for physical 
protection of licensed activities in nuclear power reactors against 
radiological sabotage,'' paragraph (a), ``General performance objective 
and requirements,'' that ``The licensee shall establish and maintain an 
onsite physical protection system and security organization which will 
have as its objective to provide high assurance that activities 
involving special nuclear material are not inimical to the common 
defense and security and do not constitute an unreasonable risk to the 
public health and safety.''
    It is specified in 10 CFR 73.55(d), ``Access Requirements,'' 
paragraph (1), that ``The licensee shall control all points of 
personnel and vehicle access into a protected area.'' It is specified 
in 10 CFR 73.55(d)(5) that ``A numbered picture badge identification 
system shall be used for all individuals who are authorized access to 
protected areas without escort. . . .'' It also states that an 
individual not employed by the licensee (i.e., contractors) may be 
authorized access to protected areas without escort provided the 
individual ``receives a picture badge upon entrance into the protected 
area which must be returned upon exit from the protected area. . .''
    The licensee proposed to implement an alternative unescorted access 
control system which would eliminate the need to issue and retrieve 
badges at each entrance/exit location and would allow all individuals 
with unescorted access to keep their badge with them when departing the 
site.
    An exemption from 10 CFR 73.55(d)(5) is required to allow 
contractors who have unescorted access to take their badges offsite 
instead of returning them when exiting the site. By letter dated 
January 17, 1997, the licensee requested an exemption from certain 
requirements of 10 CFR 73.55(d)(5) for this purpose.

III

    Pursuant to 10 CFR 73.5, ``Specific exemptions,'' the Commission 
may, upon application of any interested person or upon its own 
initiative, grant such exemptions in this part as it determines are 
authorized by law and will not endanger life or property or the common 
defense and security, and are otherwise in the public interest. 
Pursuant to 10 CFR 73.55, the Commission may authorize a licensee to 
provide measures for protection against radiological sabotage provided 
the licensee demonstrates that the measures have ``the same high 
assurance objective'' and meet ``the general performance requirements'' 
of the regulation, and ``the overall level of system performance 
provides protection against radiological sabotage equivalent'' to that 
which would be provided by the regulation.
    At the Salem/Hope Creek site, unescorted access into protected 
areas is controlled through the use of a photograph on a combination 
badge and keycard. (Hereafter, these are referred to as a ``badge''). 
The security officers at the entrance station use the photograph on the 
badge to visually identify the individual requesting access. The badges 
for both licensee employees and contractor personnel who have been 
granted unescorted access are issued upon entrance at the entrance/exit 
location and are returned upon exit. The badges are stored and are 
retrievable at the entrance/exit location. In accordance with 10 CFR 
73.55(d)(5), contractor individuals are not allowed to take badges 
offsite. In accordance with the plant's physical security plan, neither 
licensee employee nor contractors are allowed to take badges offsite.
    Under the proposed system, each individual who is authorized for 
unescorted access into protected areas would have the physical 
characteristics of their hand (hand geometry) registered with their 
badge number in the access control system. When an individual enters 
the badge into the card reader and places the hand on the measuring 
surface, the system would record the individual's hand image. The 
unique characteristics of the extracted hand image would be compared 
with the previously stored template in the access control system to 
verify authorization for entry. Individuals, including licensee 
employees and contractors, would be allowed to keep their badges with 
them when they depart the site and thus eliminate the process to issue, 
retrieve and store badges at the entrance stations to the plant. Badges 
do not carry any information other than a unique identification number.
    All other access processes, including search function capability, 
would remain the same. This system would not be used for persons 
requiring escorted access, i.e., visitors.
    Based on a Sandia report entitled, ``A Performance Evaluation of 
Biometric Identification Devices'' (SAND91--0276

[[Page 42610]]

UC--906 Unlimited Release, Printed June 1991), and on the licensee's 
experience with the current photo-identification system, the licensee 
stated that the hand geometry system performance is comparable to, or 
superior to, that of the current system. The biometric system has been 
in use for a number of years at several sensitive Department of Energy 
facilities. The licensee will implement a process for testing the 
proposed system to ensure continued overall level of performance 
equivalent to that specified in the regulation. The Physical Security 
Plan for Salem/Hope Creek will be revised to include implementation and 
testing of the hand geometry access control system and to allow 
licensee employees and contractors to take their badges offsite.
    The licensee will control all points of personnel access into a 
protected area under the observation of security personnel through the 
use of a badge and verification of hand geometry. A numbered picture 
badge identification system will continue to be used for all 
individuals who are authorized unescorted access to protected areas. 
Badges will continue to be displayed by all individuals while inside 
the protected area.
    Since both the badges and hand geometry would be necessary for 
access into the protected areas, the proposed system would provide for 
a positive verification process and the potential loss of a badge by an 
individual, as a result of taking the badge offsite, would not enable 
an unauthorized entry into protected areas.
    For the foregoing reasons, pursuant to 10 CFR 73.55, the NRC staff 
has determined that the proposed alternative measures for protection 
against radiological sabotage meet ``the same high assurance 
objective,'' and ``the general performance requirements'' of the 
regulation and that ``the overall level of system performance provides 
protection against radiological sabotage equivalent'' to that which 
would be provided by the regulation.

IV

    Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR 
73.5, an exemption is authorized by law, will not endanger life or 
property or common defense and security, and is otherwise in the public 
interest. Therefore, the Commission hereby grants an exemption from 
those requirements of 10 CFR 73.55(d)(5) relating to the returning of 
picture badges upon exit from the protected area such that individuals 
not employed by the licensee, i.e., contractors, who are authorized 
unescorted access into the protected area, may take their picture 
badges offsite. This exemption is granted on the condition that the 
licensee implements a process for testing the proposed system and 
revises the security plan for each site as discussed in Section III 
above.
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the Commission has determined that the 
granting of this exemption will have no significant effect on the 
quality of the human environment (62 FR 40551).
    This exemption is effective upon issuance.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 31st day of July 1997.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Samuel J. Collins,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 97-20876 Filed 8-6-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
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