ML041560368
| ML041560368 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | BWX Technologies, Erwin |
| Issue date: | 06/15/2004 |
| From: | Pierson R NRC/NMSS/FCSS |
| To: | Brach E, Brenner E, Dan Collins, Dyer J, Galloway M, Giitter J, Greeves J, Joseph Holonich, Janosko G, Leach M, Lohaus P, Chris Miller, Paperiello C, Rathbun D, Reamer C, Rothschild T, Silber J, Treby S, Zimmerman R, Eitreim A Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel, NRC/NMSS/DHLWRS, NRC/NMSS/DWMEP, NRC/NMSS/FCSS, NRC/NMSS/IMNS, NRC/NMSS/PMDA, Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response, Office of Congressional Affairs, NRC/OCIO, NRC/OGC, Office of Public Affairs, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, NRC/RGN-II, NRC/STP |
| References | |
| Download: ML041560368 (11) | |
Text
OFFICIAL USE ONLY OFFICIAL USE ONLY June 15, 2004 MEMORANDUM TO: Those on the Attached List FROM:
Robert C. Pierson, Director
/RA/
Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards
SUBJECT:
WITHHOLDING FUTURE NUCLEAR FUEL SERVICES AND BWX TECHNOLOGIES INFORMATION FROM THE PUBLIC On May 10, 2004, the Department of Energy Naval Reactors (NR) informed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that documentation pertaining to NRC licensees Nuclear Fuel Services (NFS) and BWX Technologies (BWXT), which previously has been made publicly available, is considered, at a minimum, Official Use Only (OUO) on the basis that it constitutes sensitive unclassified information. NR requested that the NRC remove this information from public access. The request is in response to a search by NR for sensitive, unclassified information on the NRC website concerning these facilities, which have contracts to do work for NR. As a result of their search, NR has determined that public access to the collection of documents related to these facilities could constitute a threat to national security and, therefore, information related to NR programs must be removed from the public server.
The NRC accepted NRs determination of information sensitivity and intends to honor its request. Therefore, the staff is directed to designate all future correspondence to and from NFS and BWXT, related to the NR programs, as OUO and withhold it from public disclosure under Exemption (high) 2 of the Freedom of Information Act. This includes meeting notices, as there will no longer be open meetings related to NR activities at these facilities. Please contact the Project Manager for the facility (listed in Attachment 1) with questions about whether the information is related to NR programs. Additional information for consistent marking and handling of these documents will be provided at a later date. NFS and BWXT have been notified of this direction by NR and will mark and handle their submittals appropriately.
CONTACT:
Julie Olivier, NMSS/FCSS (301) 415-8098 OFFICIAL USE ONLY May be exempt from public release under the Freedom of information Act (5U.S.C. 552)
Exemption number 2 Nuclear Regulatory Commission review required before public release.
Robert Pierson, NMSS/FCSS Name and organization of person making determination.
Date of Determination 06/04/2004
J. Holonich, et al.
2 OFFICIAL USE ONLY OFFICIAL USE ONLY Currently, staff from the Office of the Chief Information Officer is taking steps to remove information about these activities from the public server and from the NRC website. They will begin by removing information from the Publicly Available Records System, followed by removal from the Public Legacy Library. They will coordinate with the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS) Project Managers for NFS and BWXT concerning any questionable material. The NMSS Project Managers will contact other offices to assist in the determination of the material that needs to be removed from the NRC website. For the non-NR information about these facilities (e.g., NFS Blended Low Enriched Uranium (BLEU) project), NMSS will coordinate with NR to ensure that certain information remains public (e.g., hearing file on NFS BLEU). NMSS will continue to work with other offices to develop a Communication Plan and an Action Plan and will provide more information as it is developed.
Please review the attached Questions and Answers to familiarize yourself with the appropriate answers in case you are contacted by a member of the public about these facilities. If you have any questions, please contact Julie Olivier, of my staff, at 301-415-8098 or by email at jao@nrc.gov.
Docket Nos.70-027, 70-143 License Nos. SNM-42, SNM-124 Attachments:
- 1. List of Contacts
- 2. Key Message and Questions and Answers cc: M. Virgilio, DEDO W. Kane, DEDO J. Strosnider, NMSS M. Federline, NMSS
J. Holonich, et al.
2 OFFICIAL USE ONLY OFFICIAL USE ONLY Currently, staff from the Office of the Chief Information Officer is taking steps to remove information about these activities from the public server and from the NRC website. They will begin by removing information from the Publicly Available Records System, followed by removal from the Public Legacy Library. They will coordinate with the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS) Project Managers for NFS and BWXT concerning any questionable material. The NMSS Project Managers will contact other offices to assist in the determination of the material that needs to be removed from the NRC website. For the non-NR information about these facilities (e.g., NFS Blended Low Enriched Uranium (BLEU) project), NMSS will coordinate with NR to ensure that certain information remains public (e.g., hearing file on NFS BLEU). NMSS will continue to work with other offices to develop a Communication Plan and an Action Plan and will provide more information as it is developed.
Please review the attached Questions and Answers to familiarize yourself with the appropriate answers in case you are contacted by a member of the public about these facilities. If you have any questions, please contact Julie Olivier, of my staff, at 301-415-8098 or by email at jao@nrc.gov.
Docket Nos.70-027, 70-143 License Nos. SNM-42, SNM-124 Attachments:
- 1. List of Contacts
- 2. Key Message and Questions and Answers cc: M. Virgilio, DEDO W. Kane, DEDO J. Strosnider, NMSS M. Federline, NMSS DISTRIBUTION:
FCFB r/f D.McIntyre,OPA T.Combs, OCA T. Smith, OCIO F. Goldberg, OCIO G.Wertz,SRI D.Rich,SRI D.Ayres,RII W.Gleaves V. Ordaz, NSIR ML041560368
- see previous concurrence OFC FCFB FCFB FCFB FCFB FCSS NAME J. Olivier*:vxc J. Muszkiewicz*
J. Lubinski*
G. Janosko*
R. Pierson DATE 5/28/04 5/28/04 6/1/04 6/2/04 6/15/04 OFC NSIR OGC COM NMSS NAME G. Tracy*
C. Holzle*
W. Outlaw*
J. Strosnider DATE 6/4/04 6/1/04 6/4/04
/ /04 OFFICIAL AGENCY RECORD
OFFICIAL USE ONLY OFFICIAL USE ONLY TABLE 1 - LIST OF CONTACTS Julie Olivier - NFS Project Manager (301) 415-8098 jao@nrc.gov Billy Gleaves - BWXT Project Manager (301) 415-5848 bcg@nrc.gov David Ayres - Region II Contact (404) 562-4711 daa1@nrc.gov Catherine Holzle - Office of General Counsel Contact (301) 415-1560 cmh@nrc.gov David McIntyre - Office of Public Affairs Contact (301) 415-8206 dtm@nrc.gov Tom Combs - Office of Congressional Affairs Contact (301) 415-1698 trc@nrc.gov Dan Rich - NFS Senior Resident Inspector (423) 735-0544 dwr1@nrc.gov Geoffrey Wertz - BWXT Senior Resident Inspector (434) 847-7343 gaw@nrc.gov NFS contact - John Nagy (423) 743-1784 BWXT contact - Steve Schilthelm (434) 522-6243
OFFICIAL USE ONLY OFFICIAL USE ONLY Key Message and Questions and Answers Key Message -
Staff is encouraged to refer all inquiries to the Office of Public Affairs.
Pulling these documents will take time, and therefore, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) does not want to indicate to the public that all BWX Technologies (BWXT)/Nuclear Fuel Services (NFS) information related to Naval Reactors (NR) is being redacted, because then the public may begin to download sensitive information that has not yet been removed. The message from the NRC should be, without reference to NR, that a determination has been made as to which information needs to be removed and appropriate action has been taken.
1.
Why cant I access information about your licensee(s) NFS and/or BWXT?
Given the threat environment that exists in the United States since the September 11 terrorist attacks, it has been determined that certain information, previously available to the public, is considered sensitive unclassified information (SUI) and NRC will no longer make it publicly available.
2.
Why did it take the NRC so long to make this determination?
The NRC began evaluating public information shortly after the September 11 attacks, and is engaged in ongoing efforts to assess information in its possession to ensure the maximum amount of public access consistent with security interests. These efforts are expected to continue into the foreseeable future. This may result in further identification of information that needs to be removed from public access that was, heretofore, publicly available.
3.
Is all information about these sites being removed from public access?
A determination has been made that security interests require certain information to be withheld from public disclosure. Accordingly, it has been removed from public access. We are not at liberty to discuss the details of the determination.
4.
Why is NFS and BWXT information sensitive?
A determination has been made that, due to security interests, certain information regarding these facilities may not be shared with the public because of its sensitivity. We are not authorized to discuss the details of the determination.
5.
Does the NRC intend to re-release the information?
At this time, there are no plans to re-release any information.
2 OFFICIAL USE ONLY 2
OFFICIAL USE ONLY 6.
Can I obtain the redacted information through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process?
A determination has been made that this information has security implications, and the NRC is withholding it from public disclosure under Exemption 2 of the FOIA. However, with respect to any FOIA requests the NRC receives for the information, the NRC is obliged to review the redacted information for compliance with legal requirements under the applicable FOIA law.
7.
What should I do with the NFS/BWXT information that I have? Do I need to return it to the NRC?
The NRC is not requiring the return of information, however, it is suggested that you do not distribute either the document or the information contained in the document. Destruction of the information by the party in possession is preferred, through any manner of disposal that makes it impossible to read.
8.
Who can I contact for more information?
William (Bill) Outlaw, NRC Director of Communications at (301) 415-1897 or by email at wno@nrc.gov.
9.
Who can I contact at NFS or BWXT?
John Nagy, NFS (423) 743-1784 Steve Schilthelm, BWXT (434) 522-6243
Addressees - Memorandum Dated:
SUBJECT:
MULTIPLE ADDRESS LIST Mail Stop Joseph J. Holonich, Deputy Director T-8 A33 Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Joseph G. Giitter, Chief T-8 A33 Special Projects Branch Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Gary S. Janosko, Chief T-9 C24 Fuel Manufacturing Branch Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Melanie Galloway, Chief T-8 A33 Technical Support Group Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Trip B. Rothschild, Assistant General Counsel O-15 D21 Legal Counsel, Legislation, and Special Projects Office of the General Counsel Stuart A. Treby, Assistant General Counsel O-15 D21 Rulemaking and Fuel Cycle Office of the General Counsel Jacqueline E.Silber, Deputy Chief Information Officer T-6 F15 Office of the Chief Information Officer Roy P. Zimmerman, Director T-4 D22A Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response E. William Brach, Director O-13 D13 Division of Spent Fuel Project Office Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Melvin N. Leach, Director T-8 A23 Program Management, Development and Analysis Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Douglas M. Collins, Director Region - II Division of Nuclear Materials Safety Region II
2 Carl Paperiello, Director T-10 F12 Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research John T. Greeves, Director Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection T-7 J8 Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards C. William Reamer, Director T-7 J8 Division of High-Level Waste and Repository Safety Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Charles L. Miller, Director T-8 F5 Division of Industrial and Medical Nuclear Safety Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Elliot B. Brenner, Director O-2 A13 Office of Public Affairs Dennis K. Rathbun, Director O-17 A3 Office of Congressional Affairs Paul H. Lohaus, Director O-3 C10 Office of State and Tribal Programs James E. Dyer, Director O-5 E7 Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Anthony C. Eitreim, Chief Counsel T-3 F23 Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel