Programmable Logic Computers in Nuclear Power Plant Control Systems, 7406 [2014-02493]

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• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 26 (Friday, February 7, 2014)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 7406]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-02493]


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Proposed Rules
                                                Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.

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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 26 / Friday, February 7, 2014 / 
Proposed Rules

[[Page 7406]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Chapter 1

[Docket No. PRM-73-17; NRC-2013-0214]


Programmable Logic Computers in Nuclear Power Plant Control 
Systems

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Petition for rulemaking; notice of acceptance and docketing.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) received a 
petition for rulemaking (PRM), PRM-73-17, filed on March 14, 2013, as 
supplemented through December 19, 2013, from Mr. Alan Morris (the 
petitioner). The petitioner requests that the NRC require ``new-design 
programmable logic computers'' to be installed in the control systems 
of nuclear power plants to block malware attacks on their industrial 
control systems of those facilities. In addition, the petitioner 
requests that nuclear power plant staff be trained ``in the programming 
and handling of the non-rewriteable memories'' for nuclear power 
plants. The NRC is not requesting public comment on this petition at 
this time.

DATES: February 7, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2013-0214 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information for this petition. You may 
access publicly-available information related to this petition by any 
of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2013-0214. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
3422; email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For technical questions, contact 
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this document.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may access publicly-available documents online in the NRC 
Library at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the 
search, select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with 
ADAMS, please contact the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) reference 
staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by email to 
pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The ADAMS accession number for each document 
referenced in this document (if that document is available in ADAMS) is 
provided the first time that a document is referenced.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, 20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert H. Beall, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-3814, email: Robert.Beall@nrc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. The Petitioner.

    Mr. Alan Morris of Morris and Ward, Consulting Engineers, filed a 
petition for rulemaking with the Commission on March 14, 2013, as 
supplemented through December 19, 2013 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML14016A458). The petitioner states that he is interested in protecting 
the critical infrastructure of the United States, and has developed and 
patented ``hacker-blocking technology'' for non-rewriteable memories to 
be used with programmable logic computers (PLCs) of industrial control 
systems.

II. The Petition

    The petitioner requests that the NRC require ``new-design 
programmable logic computers'' to be installed in the control systems 
of critical infrastructure facilities (nuclear power plants), in order 
to ``block malware attacks on the industrial control systems of those 
facilities.'' The petitioner also requests that nuclear power plant 
staff be trained to maintain and secure records of all memory 
programming, and recommends maintenance in secure storage of programmed 
memories that may be again employed, as ``the control systems of 
critical facilities are essentially steady-state.'' The petitioner 
states that the proposed action would ``[r]educe impact on quality of 
the natural and social environments by stopping disastrous events at 
critical facilities.''
    The petition notes that ``[a]n industrial control system (ICS) is 
used to control equipment in a local area such as a production plant, 
while a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system is used 
to control equipment in a wide geographical area such as an electric 
power grid.'' The petition goes on to say that ``[t]he basic element of 
an ICS is an industrial controller known as a programmable logic 
computer (PLC). Programmed into the memory of the PLC are the 
operations of the equipment in the ICS.''
    The complete text of the petition, as amended (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML14016A458), is available for review as described in the ADDRESSES 
section of this document.
    Because the petitioner has satisfied the acceptance criteria in 
Sec.  2.802(c) of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, the NRC 
has accepted, and will review the petition to determine whether it 
should be considered in the rulemaking process.
    The NRC is not requesting public comment on this petition at this 
time.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 27th day of January 2014.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette L. Vietti-Cook,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2014-02493 Filed 2-6-14; 8:45 am]
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