Training and Qualification of Security Personnel at Nuclear Power Reactor Facilities, 14959-14960 [2021-05731]

Agencies

• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 52 (Friday, March 19, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14959-14960]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-05731]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2015-0287]


Training and Qualification of Security Personnel at Nuclear Power 
Reactor Facilities

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory guide, issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 
Revision 1 of Regulatory Guide (RG) 5.75, ``Training and Qualification 
of Security Personnel at Nuclear Power Reactor Facilities.'' This RG 
updates training and qualification guidance that incorporates lessons 
learned and reflects changes that have been made in associated rules 
and guidance documents since the original publication of the guide. 
This guide describes approaches and methodologies that the NRC staff 
considers acceptable for the training and qualification of all 
personnel who are assigned duties and responsibilities required for the 
implementation of the Commission-approved security plans, licensee 
response strategies, and implementing procedures at nuclear power 
reactor facilities.

DATES: Revision 1 of RG 5.75 is available on March 19, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0287 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may access publicly available information related to this document 
using any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0287. Address 
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; 
telephone: 301-415-0624; email: [email protected]. For technical 
questions, contact the individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection 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 [email protected]. The ADAMS accession number for each 
document referenced (if it is available in ADAMS) is provided the first 
time that it is mentioned in this document.
     Attention: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies 
of public documents, is currently closed. You may submit your request 
to the PDR via email at [email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 
301-415-4737, between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (EST), Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Revision 1 to RG 5.75 and the regulatory analysis may be found in 
ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML17111A699 and ML14297A274 respectively.
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and the NRC's approval is 
not required to reproduce them.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kris Jamgochian, Office of Nuclear 
Security and Incident Response, telephone: 301-287-3542; email: 
[email protected] or Mekonen Bayssie, Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-1699; email: 
[email protected]. Both are staff members of the U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Discussion

    The NRC is issuing a revision to an existing guide in the NRC's 
``Regulatory Guide'' series. This series was developed to describe and 
make available to the public information regarding methods that are 
acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the 
agency's regulations, techniques that the NRC staff uses in evaluating 
specific issues or postulated events, and data that the NRC staff needs 
in its review of applications for permits and licenses.
    Revision 1 of RG 5.75 was issued with a temporary identification of 
Draft Regulatory Guide (DG), DG-5043. This RG clarifies guidance that 
licensees and applicants should use to select, train, equip, test, 
qualify, and re-qualify armed and unarmed security personnel, 
watchpersons, and members of the licensee staff that support the 
licensee's security organization to ensure that these individuals 
possess and maintain the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to 
carry out their assigned duties and responsibilities effectively. This 
revision clarifies the staff guidance for the training and 
qualification requirements delineated in Section VI of Appendix B to 
title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), Part 73 
``Physical Protection of Plants and Materials.'' The revised RG also 
updates training and qualification guidance that incorporates lessons 
learned and reflects changes that have been made in associated rules 
and guidance documents since the original publication of the guide.
    In particular, this revision provides more comprehensive discussion 
of the objectives for training and qualifying licensee and contractor 
security personnel, as well as training and qualifying those personnel 
who support the licensee's security program but are not direct members 
of the licensee's security staff or contractors to the security 
organization. This revision also provides additional clarification on 
aspects of the training and qualification process that the staff has 
determined would be helpful for licensees in implementing their 
performance evaluation programs. This revision contains a broad 
discussion of tactical response drills and Force on Force exercises, 
including follow-on critiques, which has been added to ensure that 
licensees have ample guidance for effective and complete drill and 
exercise management, from planning through conclusion.

II. Additional Information

    The NRC published a notice of availability of DG-5043 in the 
Federal Register on December 29, 2015 (80 FR 81376) for a 60-day public 
comment period. The public comment period ended on February 29, 2016. 
Public comments on DG-5043 and the NRC's responses to the public 
comments are available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML17111A698.

III. Congressional Review Act

    This RG is a rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act (5 
U.S.C. 801-808). However, the Office of Management and Budget has not 
found it to be a major rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act.

[[Page 14960]]

IV. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    Revision 1 of RG 5.75 describes a method that the staff of the NRC 
considers acceptable for use by nuclear power plant licensees in 
meeting the requirements for training and qualification of security 
personnel as set forth in Section VI of Appendix B to 10 CFR part 73, 
``Physical Protection of Plants and Materials.'' Issuance of this RG, 
if finalized, would not constitute backfitting as defined in 10 CFR 
50.109 (the backfit rule) and would not otherwise be inconsistent with 
the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52 ``Licenses, 
Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.'' As discussed 
in the ``Implementation'' section of this RG, the NRC has no current 
intention to impose this guide, if finalized, on holders of current 
operating licenses or combined licenses.
    This RG may be applied to applications for operating licenses and 
combined licenses docketed by the NRC as of the date of issuance of the 
final regulatory guide, as well as future applications submitted after 
the issuance of the regulatory guide. Such action would not constitute 
backfitting as defined in the backfit rule or be otherwise inconsistent 
with the applicable issue finality provision in 10 CFR part 52, 
inasmuch as such applicants or potential applicants are not entities 
within the scope of the backfit rule or the relevant issue finality 
provisions in Part 52. Neither Section 50.109 nor the issue finality 
provisions under 10 CFR part 52 with certain exceptions, was intended 
to apply to every NRC action that substantially changes the 
expectations of current and future applicants. The exceptions to the 
general principle are whenever an applicant references a Part 52 
license (e.g., an early site permit) and/or NRC regulatory approval 
(e.g., a design certification rule, a standard design approval) with 
specified issue finality provisions. However, the scope of issue 
finality provided extends only to the matters resolved in the license 
or regulatory approval. Early site permits, design certification rules, 
and standard design approvals typically do not address or resolve 
compliance with operational programs such as the security personnel 
requirements in 10 CFR part 73. Therefore, no applicant referencing an 
early site permit, design certification rule, or standard design 
approval would be entities within the scope of the relevant issue 
finality provisions with respect to the security matters addressed in 
this draft regulatory guide.

    Dated: March 16, 2021.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Meraj Rahimi,
Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic Issues Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2021-05731 Filed 3-18-21; 8:45 am]
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