ML20204F962
| ML20204F962 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 07/18/1986 |
| From: | Zech L NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| To: | Fascell D HOUSE OF REP., FOREIGN AFFAIRS |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8608070018 | |
| Download: ML20204F962 (2) | |
Text
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, [ o,, UNITEJ STATES f g ! n NUCt. EAR REIULATZRY COMMISSION wAsMiNGTON, D. C. 20666
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July 18, 1986 CHAIRMAN i
l The Honorable Dante B. Fascell, Chairman Comittee on Foreign Relations United States House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Mr. Chairman:
I am writing to provide you with the Nuclear Regulatory Comission's views on H.R. 4151, the "0mnibus Diplomatic Security and Anti-Terrorism Act",
that recently passed the Senate.
The Comission strongly supports an amendment offered by Senator Denton during floor debate that was adopted by the Senate,'but was not considered by the House of Representatives. That amendment would add a Section 149 to the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, which would authorize commercial nuclear power plant licensees to have access to Department of Justice criminal history data. The Commission. believes this is a highly cost effective and desirable means of improving safeguards at nuclear power reactors. In fact, the provision passed by the Senate is virtually identical to that contained in a legislative package that the Commission sent to Congress on March 12, 1985, after receiving the support of the Department of Justice.
Hearings were held on the NRC-Denton proposal by the Senate Subcomittee on Security and Terrorism, Comittee on the Judiciary, and by the House Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment, Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. At those hearings no witnesses opposed the proposed legislation.
l This proposed legislation is important to the Comission because in the safeguarding of vital equipment or components at nuclear reactors, one of the most difficult threats to protect against is the deliberate, malicious act that could be comitted by site employees who have been given l
unescorted access to the most sensitive areas of the facility. Permitting
- nuclear utilities access to FBI criminal history data for the purpose of l
determining whether an individual should be granted unescorted access l should help assure that criminally-motivated individuals are not granted such access. Accordingly, the Comission believes that enactment of the Denton amendment would enhance our current programs to thwart sabotage by insiders.
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l 8608070018 860718 PDR COMMS NRCC CORRESPONDENCE PDR
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. The Hon:rable Da B. Fascell 9 We understand that after the Senate passed the Denton amendment, staff members, of various interested comittees from both the House and Senate, met and exchanged views and possible language changes to the bill.
Several suggested changes are of particular interest to the Comission.
First, the Comission prefers the Senate-passed bill language which provides that a person designated by the Comission shall serve as the conduit for requests to and records from the Attorney General. Second, the Comission is concerned about a requirement that it promulgate regulations to ensure that access determinations cannot be made solely on the basis of "information or matter that the Comission determines is unreliable or irrelevant to determining whether an individual shall be permitted ... access." The Comission's concern is that this provision may require it to implement a costly inspection and enforcement program for the regulation that would, in effect, second-guess applicants and licensees on the weight that should have been given various conviction data in making specific access decisions. Commissioner Asselstine does not share the
,- Comission's second concern.
We fully agree that the criminal history records to be provided under this .
bill should be used only for access decisions and should not be misused as a pretext to accomplish employment discrimination because7 race, sex, or political beliefs or to accomplish some other unlawful purpose. However, we believe that the existing requirement in the bill for the Comission to issue regulations to " assure that such information is used solely for the purpose [of making access decisions]" fully accomplishes this end.
We believe that the bill would be improved if these two coments were accomodated.
Sincerely, tv. .
Lando W. Ze , Jr Chairman IDENTICAL LETTER SENT T0:
Rep. Broomfield Rep. Fascell Rep. Don Edwards /cc: Rep. Sensenbrenner
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Rep. Udall Rep. Young Sen. Lugar/cc: Sen. Pell Sen. Thurmond/cc: Sen. Biden Sen. Denton Sen. Leahy
.