Nuclear Regulatory Commission January 24, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On November 7, 2005 (70 FR 67380), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) published for public comment a proposed rule consolidating the supplemental requirements established by the April 29, 2003, design basis threat (DBT) orders with the existing DBT requirements in 10 CFR 73.1(a). Specific details of the attributes of the DBT to be protected against, which include both safeguards information (SGI) and classified information, are consolidated in adversary characteristics documents (ACDs) and Regulatory Guides (RGs). The proposed rule would revise the DBT requirements both for radiological sabotage and for theft or diversion of Strategic Special Nuclear Material (SSNM). ACDs and RGs provide guidance to licensees concerning the DBT for radiological sabotage, theft and diversion. They contain the specific details of the attributes of the threat which licensees need to know in order to evaluate what is necessary to comply with the proposed rule. On December 21, 2005, the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) requested a 30 day extension to the public comment period. Their request was based on the fact that though the proposed rule was published on November 7, 2005, the RGs and the ACDs were not available at that time. NEI requested copies of these documents. The NRC staff agreed to provide these documents to the properly cleared individuals with a need to know, and NEI received the draft RGs and ACDs for power reactors on December 19, 2005. In view of the delay in providing the documents to the cleared personnel and in the interests of obtaining public comment from the broadest range of stakeholders, the comment period on the proposed rule is being extended for an additional 30 days from the original January 23, 2006, deadline to February 22, 2006.