Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2010/01/04/E9-31147/in-the-matter-of-certain-licensees-requesting-unescorted-access-to-radioactive-material-order
Timestamp: 2017-08-17 03:15:54
Document Index: 689397121

Matched Legal Cases: ['arts 20', 'art 1572', 'art 555', 'art 73', 'art 1572', 'art 1572', 'art 555', 'art 73', 'art 1572']

Federal Register :: In the Matter of: Certain Licensees Requesting Unescorted Access to Radioactive Material; Order Imposing Trustworthiness and Reliability Requirements for Unescorted Access to Certain Radioactive Material (Effective Immediately)
In the Matter of: Certain Licensees Requesting Unescorted Access to Radioactive Material; Order Imposing Trustworthiness and Reliability Requirements for Unescorted Access to Certain Radioactive Material (Effective Immediately)
A Notice by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on 01/04/2010
160-166 (7 pages)
NRC-2009-0577
EA-09-293
Attachment 1: List of Applicable Materials Licensees
Attachment 3: Requirements for Service Provider Licensees Providing Written Verification Attesting to or Certifying the Trustworthiness and Reliability of Service Providers for Unescorted Access to Certain Radioactive Material at Customer Facilities, Including Requirements for Fingerprinting and Criminal History Checks
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/E9-31147 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/E9-31147
The Licensees identified in Attachment 1 [1] to this Order hold licenses issued in accordance with the Atomic Energy Act (AEA) of 1954, as amended, by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) or an Agreement State, authorizing them to perform services on devices containing certain radioactive material for customers licensed by the NRC or an Agreement State to possess and use certain quantities of the radioactive materials listed in Attachment 2 to this Order. Commission regulations at 10 CFR 20.1801 or equivalent Agreement State regulations require Licensees to secure, from unauthorized removal or access, licensed materials that are stored in controlled or unrestricted areas. Commission regulations at 10 CFR 20.1802 or equivalent Agreement State regulations require Licensees to control and maintain constant surveillance of licensed material that is in a controlled or unrestricted area and that is not in storage.
Subsequent to the terrorist events of September 11, 2001, the NRC issued immediately effective security Orders to NRC and Agreement State Licensees under the Commission's authority to protect the common defense and security of the nation. The Orders required certain manufacturing and distribution (M&D) Licensees to implement Additional Security Measures (ASMs) for the radioactive materials listed in Attachment 2 to this Order (the radionuclides of concern), to supplement the existing regulatory requirements. The ASMs included requirements for determining the trustworthiness and reliability of individuals that require unescorted access to the radionuclides of concern. Section 652 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which became law on August 8, 2005, amended Section 149 of the AEA to require fingerprinting and a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Start Printed Page 161identification and criminal history records check for “any individual who is permitted unescorted access to radioactive materials or other property subject to regulation by the Commission that the Commission determines to be of such significance to the public health and safety or the common defense and security as to warrant fingerprinting and background checks.” Section 149 of the AEA also requires that “all fingerprints obtained by a Licensee or applicant * * * shall be submitted to the Attorney General of the United States through the Commission for identification and a criminal history records check.” As a result, the trustworthiness and reliability requirements of the ASMs were updated and the M&D Licensees were issued additional Orders imposing the new fingerprinting requirements.
In late 2005, the NRC and the Agreement States began issuing Increased Controls (IC) Orders or other legally binding requirements to Licensees who are authorized to possess the radionuclides of concern. Paragraph IC 1.c of the IC requirements stated that “service providers shall be escorted unless determined to be trustworthy and reliable by an NRC-required background investigation as an employee of a Manufacturing and Distribution Licensee.” Starting in December 2007, the NRC and the Agreement States began issuing additional Orders or other legally binding requirements to the IC Licensees, imposing the new fingerprinting requirements. In the December 2007 Fingerprinting Order, Paragraph IC 1.c of the IC requirements was superseded by the requirement that “Service provider Licensee employees shall be escorted unless determined to be trustworthy and reliable by an NRC-required background investigation.” However, NRC did not require background investigations for non-M&D service provider Licensees. Consequently, only service representatives of certain M&D Licensees may be granted unescorted access to the radionuclides of concern at an IC Licensee facility, even though non-M&D service provider Licensees provide similar services and have the same degree of knowledge of the devices they service as M&D Licensees. To maintain appropriate access control to the radionuclides of concern, and to allow M&D Licensees and non-M&D service provider Licensees to have the same level of access at customers' facilities, NRC is imposing trustworthiness and reliability requirements for unescorted access to radionuclides of concern, as set forth in this Order. These requirements apply to non-M&D service provider Licensees that request and have a need for unescorted access by their representatives to the radionuclides of concern at IC Licensee facilities. These trustworthiness and reliability requirements are equivalent to the requirements for M&D Licensees who perform services requiring unescorted access to the radionuclides of concern.
In order to provide assurance that non-M&D service provider Licensees are implementing prudent measures to achieve a consistent level of protection for service providers requiring unescorted access to the radionuclides of concern at IC Licensee facilities, all Licensees identified in Attachment 1 to this Order shall implement the requirements of this Order. In addition, pursuant to 10 CFR 2.202, because of potentially significant adverse impacts associated with a deliberate malevolent act by an individual with unescorted access to the radionuclides of concern, I find that the public health, safety, and interest require this Order to be effective immediately.
Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 81, 149, 161b, 161i, 161o, 182, and 186 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the Commission's regulations in 10 CFR 2.202, 10 CFR Parts 20, 30 and 33, it is hereby ordered, effective immediately, that all licensees identified in attachment 1 to this order comply with the requirements set forth in this order.
A.1. The Licensee shall establish and maintain a fingerprinting program that meets the requirements of Attachment 3 to this Order for individuals that require unescorted access to the radionuclides of concern. The Licensee shall complete implementation of the requirements of Attachment 3 to this Order within one hundred eighty (180) days of the date of this Order, or before (1) providing written verification to another Licensee subject to the IC requirements, or (2) attesting to or certifying the trustworthiness and reliability of a service provider for unescorted access to the radionuclides of concern at a customer's facility.
A.2. Within ninety (90) days of the date of this Order, the Licensee shall designate a “Reviewing Official” for determining unescorted access to the radioactive materials as listed in Attachment 2 to this Order by other individuals. The designated Reviewing Official shall be determined to be trustworthy and reliable by the Licensee in accordance with the requirements described in Attachment 3 to this Order and must be permitted to have unescorted access to the radioactive materials listed in Attachment 2 to this Order as part of his or her job duties.
A.3. Fingerprints for unescorted access need not be taken if a designated Reviewing Official is relieved from the fingerprinting requirement by 10 CFR 73.61, or has been favorably decided by a U.S. Government program involving fingerprinting and a FBI identification and criminal history records check [2] within the last five (5) years, or for any person who has an active federal security clearance (provided in the latter two cases that they make available the appropriate documentation [3] ). The Licensee may provide, for NRC review, written confirmation from the Agency/employer which granted the federal security clearance or reviewed the FBI identification and criminal history records results based upon a fingerprint identification check. The NRC will determine whether, based on the written confirmation, the designated Reviewing Official may have unescorted access to the radioactive materials listed in Attachment 2 to this Order, and therefore, be permitted to serve as the Licensee's Reviewing Official.[4]
A.5. The NRC will determine whether this individual (or any subsequent Start Printed Page 162Reviewing Official) may have unescorted access to the radionuclides of concern, and therefore, will be permitted to serve as the Licensee's Reviewing Official. The NRC-approved Reviewing Official shall be the recipient of the results of the FBI identification and criminal history records check of the other Licensee employees requiring unescorted access to the radioactive materials listed in Attachment 2 to this Order, and shall control such information as specified in the “Protection of Information” section of Attachment 3 to this Order.
C.1. The Licensee shall, in writing, within twenty-five (25) days of the date of this Order, notify the Commission, (1) If it is unable to comply with any of the requirements described in this Order, including Attachment 3 to this Order, (2) if compliance with any of the requirements is unnecessary in its specific circumstances, or (3) if implementation of any of the requirements would cause the Licensee to be in violation of the provisions of any Commission or Agreement State regulation or its license. The notification shall provide the Licensee's justification for seeking relief from or variation of any specific requirement.
C.4. If during the implementation period of this Order, the Licensee is unable, due to circumstances beyond its control, to meet the requirements of this Order by June 14, 2010, the Licensee shall request the Commission, in writing, the need for an extension of time to implement the requirements. The request shall provide the Licensee's justification for seeking additional time to comply with the requirements of this Order.
Licensee responses to C.1, C.2., C.3., and C.4. above shall be submitted in writing to the Director, Division of Materials Safety and State Agreements, Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555. Licensee responses shall be marked as “Security-Related Information—Withhold Under 10 CFR 2.390.”
The Director, Division of Materials Safety and State Agreements, Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs, may, in writing, relax or rescind any of the above conditions upon demonstration of good cause by the Licensee.
If a participant is electronically submitting a document to the NRC in accordance with the E-Filing rule, the participant must file the document using the NRC's online, Web-based submission form. In order to serve documents through EIE, users will be required to install a Web browser plug-in from the NRC Web site. Further information on the Web-based submission form, including the installation of the Web browser plug-in, is available on the NRC's public Web Start Printed Page 163site at http://www.nrc.gov/​site-help/​e-submittals.html.
Participants who believe that they have good cause for not submitting documents electronically must file an exemption request, in accordance with 10 CFR 2.302(g), with their initial paper filing requesting authorization to continue to submit documents in paper format. Such filings must be submitted by: (1) First class mail addressed to the Office of the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff; or (2) courier, express mail, or expedited delivery service to the Office of the Secretary, Sixteenth Floor, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff. Participants filing a document in this manner are responsible for serving the document on all other participants. Filing is considered complete by first-class mail as of the time of deposit in the mail, or by courier, express mail, or expedited delivery service upon depositing the document with the provider of the service. A presiding officer, having granted an exemption request from using E-Filing, may require a participant or party to use E-Filing if the presiding officer subsequently determines that the reason for granting the exemption from use of E-Filing no longer exists.
In the absence of any request for hearing, or written approval of an extension of time in which to request a hearing, the provisions specified in Section III above shall be final twenty-five (25) days from the date of this Order without further order or proceedings. If an extension of time for requesting a hearing has been approved, the provisions specified in Section III shall be final when the extension expires if a hearing request has not been received.
Dated this 16th day of December 2009.
Director, Division of Materials Safety and State Agreements, Office of Federal and State Materials, and Environmental Management Programs.
Se75 2 54
Combinations of radioactive materials listed above 3 (4)
2 The primary values used for compliance with this Order are TBq. The curie (Ci) values are rounded to two significant figures for informational purposes only.
3 Radioactive materials are to be considered aggregated or collocated if breaching a common physical security barrier (e.g., a locked door at the entrance to a storage room) would allow access to the radioactive material or devices containing the radioactive material.
4 If several radionuclides are aggregated, the sum of the ratios of the activity of each source, i of radionuclide, n, A(i,n), to the quantity of concern for radionuclide n, Q(n), listed for that radionuclide equals or exceeds one. [(aggregated source activity for radionuclide A) ÷ (quantity of concern for radionuclide A)] + [(aggregated source activity for radionuclide B) ÷ (quantity of concern for radionuclide B)] + etc. * * * ≥1.
NRC supports the use of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) source categorization methodology as defined in IAEA Safety Start Printed Page 164Standards Series No. RS-G-1.9, “Categorization of Radioactive Sources,” (2005) (see http://www-pub.iaea.org/​MTCD/​publications/​PDF/​Pub1227_​web.pdf) and as endorsed by the agency's Code of Conduct for the Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources, January 2004 (see http://www-pub.iaea.org/​MTCD/​publications/​PDF/​Code-2004_​web.pdf). The Code defines a three-tiered source categorization scheme. Category 1 corresponds to the largest source strength (equal to or greater than 100 times the quantity of concern values listed in Table 1.) and Category 3, the smallest (equal or exceeding one-tenth the quantity of concern values listed in Table 1.). Additional security measures apply to sources that are equal to or greater than the quantity of concern values listed in Table 1, plus aggregations of smaller sources that are equal to or greater than the quantities in Table 1. Aggregation only applies to sources that are collocated.
Include any single source equal to or greater than the quantity of concern in Table.
For combinations of radionuclides, include multiple collocated sources of different radionuclides when the aggregate quantities satisfy the following unity rule: [(Amount of radionuclide A) ÷ (quantity of concern of radionuclide A)] + [(amount of radionuclide B) ÷ (quantity of concern of radionuclide B)] + etc. * * * ≥1.
1. The Licensee shall provide the customer's facility written verification attesting to or certifying the trustworthiness and reliability of an individual as a service provider only for employees the Licensee has approved in writing (see requirement A.3 below). The Licensee shall request unescorted access to certain radioactive material at customer licensee facilities only for approved service providers that require the unescorted access in order to perform a job duty.
2. The trustworthiness, reliability, and true identity of a service provider shall be determined based on a background investigation. The background investigation shall address at least the past three (3) years, and as a minimum, include fingerprinting and a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) criminal history records check as required in Section B, verification of employment history, education, and personal references. If a service provider's employment has been less than the required three (3) years period, educational references may be used in lieu of employment history.
5. Each time the Licensee revises the list of approved service providers (see requirement 3 above), the Licensee shall retain the previous list for three years after the revision.
1. The Licensee shall fingerprint each service provider to be approved for Start Printed Page 165unescorted access to certain radioactive materials following the procedures outlined in Enclosure 3 of the transmittal letter. The Licensee shall review and use the information received from the FBI identification and criminal history records check and ensure that the provisions contained in the subject Order and this attachment are satisfied.
3. Fingerprints for unescorted access need not be taken if an employed individual (e.g., a Licensee employee, contractor, manufacturer, or supplier) is relieved from the fingerprinting requirement by 10 CFR 73.61, or any person who has been favorably-decided by a U.S. Government program involving fingerprinting and an FBI identification and criminal history records check (e.g., National Agency Check, Transportation Worker Identification Credentials in accordance with 49 CFR Part 1572, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives background checks and clearances in accordance with 27 CFR Part 555, Health and Human Services security risk assessments for possession and use of select agents and toxins in accordance with 42 CFR Part 73, Hazardous Material security threat assessment for hazardous material endorsement to commercial drivers license in accordance with 49 CFR Part 1572, Customs and Border Patrol's Free and Secure Trade Program [5] ) within the last five (5) years, or any person who has an active federal security clearance (provided in the latter two cases that they make available the appropriate documentation [6] ). Written confirmation from the Agency/employer which granted the federal security clearance or reviewed the FBI criminal history records results based upon a fingerprint identification check must be provided. The Licensee must retain this documentation for a period of three (3) years from the date the individual no longer requires unescorted access to certain radioactive material associated with the Licensee's activities.
5. The Licensee shall review the information received from the FBI and consider it, in conjunction with the trustworthiness and reliability requirements of Section A of this attachment, in making a determination whether to approve and certify the individual for unescorted access to certain radioactive materials. The Licensee shall use any information obtained as part of a criminal history records check solely for the purpose of determining an individual's suitability for unescorted access to certain radioactive materials.
6. The Licensee shall document the basis for its determination whether to approve the individual for unescorted access to certain radioactive materials.
2. The Licensee may not disclose the record or personal information collected and maintained to persons other than the subject individual, his/her representative, or to those who have a need to access the information in performing assigned duties in the process of determining whether to verify the individual for unescorted access to certain radioactive material. No individual authorized to have access to the information may re-disseminate the Start Printed Page 166information to any other individual who does not have a need-to-know.
2. Examples of such programs include (1) National Agency Check, (2) Transportation Worker Identification Credentials in accordance with 49 CFR Part 1572, (3) Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives background checks and clearances in accordance with 27 CFR Part 555, (4) Health and Human Services security risk assessments for possession and use of select agents and toxins in accordance with 42 CFR Part 73, and (5) Hazardous Material security threat assessment for hazardous material endorsement to commercial drivers license in accordance with 49 CFR Part 1572, Customs and Border Patrol's Free and Secure Trade (FAST) Program. The FAST program is a cooperative effort between the Bureau of Customs and Border Patrol and the governments of Canada and Mexico to coordinate processes for the clearance of commercial shipments at the U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico borders. Participants in the FAST program, which requires successful completion of a background records check, may receive expedited entrance privileges at the northern and southern borders.
5. The FAST program is a cooperative effort between the Bureau of Customs and Border Patrol and the governments of Canada and Mexico to coordinate processes for the clearance of commercial shipments at the U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico borders. Participants in the FAST program, which requires successful completion of a background records check, may receive expedited entrance privileges at the northern and southern borders.
[FR Doc. E9-31147 Filed 12-31-09; 8:45 am]