27570 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 100 / Wednesday, May 24, 1995 / Notices

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Phillip F. McKee,

Director, Project Directorate I–3 Division of

Reactor Projects—I/II, Office of Nuclear

Reactor Regulation.

[FR Doc. 95–12665 Filed 5–23–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–M

[Docket Nos. 50–445 and 50–446]

Texas Utilities Electric Company;

(Comanche Peak Steam Electric

Station, Units 1 and 2); Exemption

I

Texas Utilities Electric Company (the

licensee) is the holder of Facility

Operating License Nos. NPF–87 and

NPF–89 for the Comanche Peak Steam

Electric Station, Unit Nos 1 and 2

(CPSES) respectively. The operating

licenses provide, among other things,

that the licensee is subject to all rules,

regulations, and orders of the

Commission now or hereafter in effect.

The facilities consists of two

pressurized water reactors at the

licensee’s site in Somervell County,

Texas.

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), 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 badges 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 16, 1995 (TXX–

95012), as supplemented by letters

dated March 1 (TXX–95064), and April

3, 1995 (TXX–95089), 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 CPSES 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

badges.) 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 employees 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 their 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

UC–906 Unlimited Release, printed June

1991), and on the licensee’s experience

with the current photo-identification

system, the licensee stated that the false

acceptance rate for the hand geometry

system is comparable 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 CPSES 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
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 100 / Wednesday, May 24, 1995 / Notices 27571

1 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1) (1988).

2The Commission has modified the language in

these sections.

3Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 33023

(October 6, 1993), 58 FR 52891 (adoption of Rule

15c6–1) and 34952 (November 9, 1994), 59 FR

59137 (change of effective date of Rule 15c6–1 from

June 1, 1995 to June 7, 1995).

4 15 U.S.C. 78q–1 (1988).

5Pursuant to Amex’s book-entry settlement of

transactions rule, trades by a member in depository

eligible securities generally must be settled by bookentry through a securities depository.

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, this exemption is authorized by

law, will not endanger life or property

or the common defense and security,

and is otherwise in the public interest.

Therefore, as long as the license uses the

hand geometry access control system,

the Commission hereby grants Texas

Utilities Electric Company 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.

Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the

Commission has determined that the

granting of this exemption will have no

significant impact on the environment

(60 FR 21835). This exemption is

effective upon issuance.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 16th day

of May 1995.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Elinor G. Adensam,

Acting Director, Division of Reactor Projects

III/IV, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

[FR Doc. 95–12666 Filed 5–23–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–M

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE

COMMISSION

[Release No. 34–35734; File No. SR–Amex–

95–17]

Self-Regulatory Organizations;

American Stock Exchange, Inc.; Notice

of Filing of Proposed Rule Change

Regarding Depository Eligibility

Requirements

May 18, 1995.

Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

(‘‘Act’’), 1 notice is hereby given that on

May 16, 1995, the American Stock

Exchange, Inc. (‘‘Amex’’) filed with the

Securities and Exchange Commission

(‘‘Commission’’) the proposed rule

change as described in Items I, II, and

III below, which items have been

prepared primarily by Amex. The

Commission is publishing this notice to

solicit comments from interested

persons.

I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement of the Terms of Substance of

the Proposed Rule Change

Amex proposes to adopt a rule which

will set forth depository eligibility

requirements for issuers that apply to

list their securities on Amex.

II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement of the Purpose of, and

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule

Change

In its filing with the Commission,

Amex included statements concerning

the purpose of and basis for the

proposed rule change and discussed any

comments it received on the proposed

rule change. The text of these statements

may be examined at the places specified

in Item IV below. The self-regulatory

organization has prepared summaries,

set forth in sections (A), (B), and (C)

below, of the most significant aspects of

such statements.2

(A) Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement of the Purpose of, and

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule

Change

Under the proposed rule change,

Amex will adopt a uniform depository

eligibility rule for issuers that desire to

list their securities on Amex. The

uniform rule has been developed by the

Legal and Regulatory Subgroup of the

U.S. working Committee of the Group of

Thirty in coordination with each of the

national securities exchanges and the

National Association of Securities

Dealers (‘‘NASD’’). It is anticipated that

each national securities exchange and

the NASD will file rule changes

proposing adoption of depository

eligibility standards substantially

similar to Amex’s proposed rule and

will seek to make such changes effective

contemporaneously with the effective

date of the transition from a five-day

(‘‘T+5’’) to a three-day (‘‘T+3’’)

settlement cycle. The transition is set to

occur June 7, 1995.3

The proposed model depository

eligibility rule is intended to encourage

issuers and underwriters to take the

simple steps necessary to make the

issuers’ securities depository eligible

although it is carefully structured so

that it will not preclude from listing

idiosyncratic securities which cannot be

made to meet all depositories’

requirements. The proposed rule will

require that before any issue of

securities of a domestic issuer

(excluding American Depository

Receipts for securities of a foreign

issuer) is listed on Amex, Amex must

have received a representation from the

issuer that a CUSIP number identifying

the securities has been included in the

file of eligible issues maintained by a

securities depository registered as a

clearing agency under Section 17A of

the Act.4 This requirement will not

apply to a security if the terms of such

security cannot be reasonably modified

to meet the criteria for depository

eligibility at all securities depositories.

The need of syndicate managers to

monitor ‘‘flipping’’ also has been

recognized. As a result, the proposed

rule change sets forth additional

requirements that must be met before a

security will be deemed to be

‘‘depository eligible,’’ as such term is

used in Part IV, Section 3, Rule 776 of

the Amex rules (‘‘book-entry settlement

of transactions rule’’).5 The proposed

rule specifies different requirements for

depository eligiblilty depending upon

whether a new issue is distributed by an

underwriting syndicate before or after

the date a securities depository system

is available for monitoring repurchases

of the distributed shares by syndicate

members (‘‘flipping tracing system’’).

Currently, a flipping tracking system

is being developed that will include a

securities depository service that (i) can

be activated upon the request of the

managing underwriter for a period of

time that the managing underwriter

specifies, (ii) in certain circumstances,

will require the delivering participant to

provide to the depository information

sufficient to identify the seller of such

shares as a precondition to the

processing of book-entry delivery

instructions for distributed shares, and

(iii) will report to the managing

underwriter the identity of any other

syndicate member or selling group

member whose customer(s) sold

distributed shares (but will not report to

the managing underwriter the identity

of such customer[s]) and, in certain

circumstances, will report to such

syndicate member or selling group

member the identity of such

customer(s). Prior to the availability of