[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 250 (Friday, December 29, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67365-67366]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-31478]



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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-395]


South Carolina Electric & Gas Company and South Carolina Public 
Service Authority (Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Station Unit 1); Exemption

I

    South Carolina Electric & Gas Company, et al. (the licensee) is the 
holder of Facility Operating License No. NPF-12, which authorizes 
operation of the Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Station, (VCSNS) Unit 1. The 
license provides, among other things, that the licensee is subject to 
all rules, regulations, and orders of the Commission now or hereinafter 
in effect. The facility consists of one pressurized water reactor 
located in Fairfield County, South Carolina.

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 June 
28, 1995, 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 

[[Page 67366]]
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 VCSNS site, unescorted access into protected areas is 
controlled through the use of a photograph on a combination badge and 
keycard (hereafter, referred to as 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 
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 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 National Laboratories 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-accept rate for the hand geometry system 
is at least equal to the current system. 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 VCSNS, Unit 1, 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. 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(a), 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.
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the Commission has determined that the 
granting of this exemption will not result in any significant adverse 
environmental impact (60 FR 43819).
    This exemption is effective upon issuance.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 21st day of December 1995.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Steven A. Varga,
Director, Division of Reactor Projects--I/II, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 95-31478 Filed 12-28-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P