ML20211K260
| ML20211K260 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 10/31/1985 |
| From: | NRC - SAFETY/SAFEGUARDS REVIEW GROUP |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20211K170 | List: |
| References | |
| FOIA-86-432 NUDOCS 8606270358 | |
| Download: ML20211K260 (19) | |
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i REVIEW OF SAFEGUARDS i
REGULATIONS & GUIDANCE i
(Transportation of Category :I Special Nuclear Material)
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i SAFEGUARDS INTEROFFICE REVIEW GROUP October, 1985 1
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6-TABLE OF CONTENTS P. age Foreword.................................................................
v Review of Safeguards Regulations and Guidance............................
1 Summary of Findings......................................................
1 Background...............................................................
1 Scope and Approach................................
2 Regulatory Overview......................................................
3 Findings Related to Transportation of Category I Special Nuclear Material...............................................................
5 Regulatory Guidance......................................................
5 Outdated Regulatory Guides..........................................
5 Minor Di screpancies in Regulatory Guides............................
5 Imprecise Language in Regulatory Guide 5.60.........................
6 Licensing Guidance.......................................................
6 Language in Licensing Guidance Could Be More Precise................
6 Inspection Guidance......................................................
7 Draft Inspection Procedure Keyed to Regulations Not Yet Effective...
7 Inspection Requirements for Which Regulatory Authority Is Unclear...
8 Minor Discrepancies in Draft Inspection Procedures..................
8 Regulations..............................................................
9 Publication of 10 CFR 73.72 Causes Confusion........................
9-Miscellaneous............................................................
9 Use of the Term Category I..........................................
9 References............................................................... R-1 Bibliography............................................................. B-1 111 x
. o FOREWORD The Safeguards Interoffice Review Group was formed in October, 1984 at the direction of the NRC Executive Director for Operations, to review safeguards regulations and guidance.
This was done to identify possible inconsistencies that could lead to misunderstanding and lack of coordination within the staff in administering safeguards requirements.
The Group currently has the following membership:
Robert A. Erickson, NMSS, Chairman Paul Baker, NMSS Loren L. Bush, IE Francis X. Cameron, ELD Stanley L. Dolins, NMSS Jane L. Gibson, NRR Gordon E. Gundersen, NMSS Charles R. Hillman, NMSS Philip Ting, RES In preparing this report, the Group was assisted and advised by others, i
including:
Richard Rosano, IE; Ellen Kraus, NMSS; William C. Hawkins, NMSS; and Stanley P. Turel, RES.
The following served as Group contacts:
Walter Schwink (ED0); Richard P. Keimig (RI); Kenneth P. Barr (RII); James R. Creed (RIII); Ramon E. Hall (RIV); and James L. Montgomery (RV).
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REVIEW 0F SAFEGUARDS REGULATIONS AND GUIDANCE (Transportation of Category I Special Nuclear Material)
Summary of Findings In reviewing safeguards regulations and guidance pertaining to Category I special nuclear material transportation, the Group found that a number of NRC's i
Regulatory Guides were obsolete.
Potential discrepancies were noted in licens-ing and inspection guidance, particularly where regulatory authority was not cited or was otherwise unclear.
Finally, some confusion was noted concerning amendments to NRC rules which were published in the Federal Register, for information only, but subsequently codified as effective in the Code of Federal Regulations.
In fact, these amendments will not take effect until the 21st country ratifies the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material.
Background
Proceedings on the application for renewal of the non power reactor license for the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) highlighted a lack of coordination and consistency in the NRC staff, concerning implementation of the relevant regulations (17 NRC 927 and 18 NRC 802, see Ref. 1).
To preclude such problems in the future, NRC's Executive Director for Operations (EDO) directed NMSS to "... promptly review all NRC Safeguards regulations and pertinent associated guidance with other NRC offices (NRR, IE, and Regions, as necessary) to assure that no further misunderstanding or lack of coordination and consistency, as were manifested in the UCLA proceeding, exist or recur either in hearing-related or non-hearing-related activities." (See Ref. 2.)
NMSS organized the Safeguards Interoffice Review Group to address the concerns raised by the EDO.
NRC's Regional offices and the ED0's office each designated persons to serve as points of contact for the Group.
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Scope and Approach The EDO directive to review safeguards regulations and guidance was broad in scope.
In order to make the review manageable, while being fully responsive to the directive, the Group agreed to approach its work as follows:
1.
The Group will concentrate on identifying inconsistencies in safeguards regulations and guidance, with the understanding that resolution of those inconsistencies is a task for the staff at large.
2.
The Group will review regulations and guidance affecting various classes of licensees as follows:
Non power Reactors - Categories II and III (report issued January 31, 1985, see Ref. 3)
Non power Reactors - Category I (report issued April 15, 1985, see Ref. 4)
Spent Fuel Transportation (report issued May 3, 1985, see Ref. 5)
Categories II and III - Special Nuclear Material Transportation (report issued July 31, 1985, see Ref. 6)
Category I - Special Nuclear Material Transportation Fuel Facilities - Categories II and III (Physical Security)
Fuel Facilities - Category I (Physical Security)
Fuel Facilities - Categories I and II (Material Control and Accountability)
Fuel Facilities - Category III (Material Control and Accountability)
Power Reactors Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installations Fuel Fabrication / Conversion Facilities and Power Reactors under IAEA Safeguards New Fuel Stored at Reactors (These groupings of regulations and guidance are subject to change, as appropriate, to facilitate their review.)
3.
The Group will attempt to identify and screen all relevant documents used by the NRC staff in performance of safeguards licensing and inspection / enforcement functions.
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In the course of its reviews covering various classes of licensed activi-ties, the Group will also be alert for generic problems.
These may be discussed in the Group's final report, which, accordingly, could include comments on such matters as improving NRC staff coordination; clarifying the scope of the NRC regulations (in terms of the types of facilities or activities covered); clearly identifying superseded regulations and guidance; and ensuring that regulations, guidance, licensing criteria, and inspection procedures are coherent and readily available to all responsible staff.
Regulatory Overview Safeguards for special nuclear materi&l transportation are regulated by the NRC under authority of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974.
Applicable NRC safeguards regulations are codified principally in 10 CFR Parts 50, 70, 73, and 74.
Special nuclear material transportation licensees establish safeguards programs in accordance with these regulations and supporting guidance documents.
The terms " Category I," "Cate-gory II," and " Category III," respectively, denote special nuclear material of "high" (formula quantity), moderate, and low strategic significance.1 Principal safeguards requirements pertaining to transportation of Category I special nuclear material are contained in 10 CFR 70.20a(d), 73.20, 73.25, and 73.26.
Notification requirements are contained in 73.27 and 73.72.
Reports are covered in 73.71.
Finally, training and contingency planning require-ments are detailed in Appendices B and C, respectively, of 10 CFR Part 73.
1 As defined in 10 CFR 73.2:
Formula quantity means: strategic special nuclear material in any combination in a quantity of 5,000 grams or more computed by the formula, grams = (grams contained U-235) + 2.5 (grams U-233 + grams plutonium).
Strategic special nuclear material means uranium-235 (contained in uranium enriched to 20 percent or more in the U-235 isotope), uranium-233, or plutonium.
Special nuclear material of moderate strategic significance means:
(1) Less than a formula quantity of strategic special nuclear material but more than 1000 grams of uranium-235 (contained in uranium enriched to 20 percent or more in the U-235 isotepe) or more than 500 grams of l
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uranium-233 or plutonium or in a combined quantity of more than 1000 grams when computed by the equation, grams = (grams contained U-235) + 2 (grams U-233 + grams plutonium), or (2) 10,000 grams or more of uranium-235 (contained in uranium enriched to 10 percent or more but less than 20 percent in the U-235 isotope).
Special nuclear material of low strategic significance means:
(1) Less than an amount of strategic special nuclear material of moderate strategic significance...but more than 15 grams of uranium-235 (contained in uranium enriched to 20 percent or more in the U-235 isotope) or 15 grams of uranium-233 or 15 grams of plutonium or the combination of 15 grams when computed by the equation, grams = grams contained U-235 + grams plutonium + grams U-233, or (2) Less than 10,000 grams but more than 1000 grams of uranium-235 (contained in uranium enriched to 10 percent or more but less than 20 percent in the U-235 isotope), or (3) 10,000 grams or more of uranium-235 contained in uranium enriched above natural but less than 10 percent in the U-235 isotope.
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TRANSPORTATION OF CATEGORY I SPECIAL NUCLEAR MATERIAL REGULATORY GUIDANCE Out-dated Regulatory Guides Regulatory Guide 5.31, " Specially Designed Vehicle with Armed Guards for Road Shipment of Special Nuclear Material," (see Ref. 7) and Regulatory Guide 5.32,
" Communication with Transport Vehicles," (see Ref. 8) were both published in 1975 and have not been updated to reflect the latest regulations.
For example, in its Introduction, Regulatory Guide 5.31 refers to "two armed guards accom-panying the shipment," whereas NRC's current regulation (10 CFR 73.26) specifies seven armed escorts.
Likewise, Regulatory Guide 5.32 refers to various sections of 10 CFR Part 73 which no longer exist, such as 73.30, 73.31, 73.33 and 73.36.
Both these guidance documents need to be completely revised to make them con-sistent with current NRC regulations.
Minor Discrepancies in Regulatory Guides NRC's Regulatory Guide 5.63, " Physical Protection For Transient Shipments,"
dated July, 1982 (see Ref. 9), contains several minor discrepancies worth noting.
Section 3.3 of the Guide, in discussing 10 CFR Part 73 requirements for access detection, states " Paragraph 73.70(g) requires appropriate records to be kept of seal inspections during the time the transient shipment is in i
port."
However, the cited reference specifically requires recording of seal descriptions and identification, "and other information to confirm means used to comply with 73.25," but not necessarily inspections.
A similar discrepancy was found in Section 4.1 of the Guide, pertaining to access authorizations, which incorrectly states, "Section 73.70 requires that written records be kept j
to document each occasion on which temporary access is permitted." Such docu-mentation applies only to vital area access, according to 10 CFR 73.70(d).
Security record requirements are more completely and accurately described in Section 1.6 of the Guide (see Ref. 9) (although it incorrectly cites 73.70(g) as the regulatory source of these requirements).
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.v In Section 7.2, the Guide employs terminology different from that used in the regulations.
In that Section, entitled, " Communications between Guard Force Commander and Security Control Center," the term " security control center" is used throughout rather than " movement control center" which is the name used in the cited regulation, 73.25(d)(2)(ii).
Imprecise Language in Regulatory Guide 5.60 The last page of Regulatory Guide 5.60, " Standard Format and Content of a Licensee Physical Protection Plan For Strategic Special Nuclear Material in Transit," (see Ref.10) employs imprecise yardsticks in discussing the li-censee's responsibility to inform NRC about arrangements for specific shipments.
It refers to arrangements that differ "significantly" from those described in the physical protection plan.
It also mentions ensuring that systems and pro-cedures for physical protection of the proposed shipment will be "substantially the same" as'those described in the physical protection plan.
In the absence of further clarification, these qualifying expressions imply latitude for inter-preting requirements which may go beyond the intent of the regulations.
LICENSING GUIDANCE Staff guidance for reviewing Category I transportation plans is contained in a compendium of standard review plans prepared by an NRC staff branch.
For Category I transportation, these cover reviews of physical security plans; armed escort training and qualification plans; and contingency plans.
These standard review plans do not contain review criteria, as such, but point the reviewer to the applicable regulations and regulatory guides by means of cross-references.
As they provide no interpretive guidance, as such, they introduce no new inconsistencies between NRC rules and guidance.
Language in Licensing Guidance Could Be More Precise The Group noted that some descriptions of licensing review areas in.the licens-ing guidance could be made more precise by using the same language as the 6
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For example, in the document covering Category I physical protec-tion system plans (see Ref. 11), Page ll, " Area of Review," second item, states that " Licensee who exports SSNM shall protect it to the first port outside the U.S." (emphasis added).
However, 73.26(c)(2), which is the cited regulation, states "A licensee who exports a formula quantity of strategic special nuclear material shall comply with...up to the first point where the shipment is taken off the transport outside the United States" (emphasis added).
The licensing standard review plans were also found to contain a number of minor typographical and cross reference citation errors which should be cor-rected in the course of any routine future editing and revision of these documents.
INSPECTION GUIDANCE NRC's Office of Inspection & Enforcement (IE) is presently revising and up-dating inspection procedures for Category I special nuclear material transpor-tation.
However, IE did provide drafts of these inspection procedures to the Safeguards Interoffice Review Group and will be considering tne group's comments as it refines those drafts.
Draft Inspection Procedure Keyed to Regulations Not Yet Effective Draft Inspection Procedure 81364, entitled, " Planning, Scheduling, and Advance Notifications For Formula Quantities of Special Nuclear Material In-Transit,"
(see Ref. 12) is keyed to a revised version of 10 CFR 73.72 published for infor-mation only as a " final rule" on March 28, 1985 (50 FR 12221 (see Ref. 13)).
The regulation is not intended to become effective until 30 days after the 21st country ratifies the Convention on Physical Protection of Nuclear Material.
Following the 21st ratification, the NRC will r: publish its amended regulations with their effective date expressed as a calendar date.
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Inspection Requirements for Which Regulatory Authority Is Unclear Each of the Draft Inspection Procedures which were reviewed, pertaining to transportation of Category I SNM, contained one or more " inspection require-ments" for which regulatory authority could not be readily identified.
This reflects the policy of NRC's Office of Inspection and Enforcement that in addition to compliance, some inspection objectives and requirements be oriented toward adequacy.
The requirements for adequacy determinations are intended to assist the inspector in identifying conditions that may adversely affect public health and safety, the environment, or the safeguards of nuclear material and facilities, and to serve as a basis for evaluating licensee performance and recommending changes in licenses and standards.
Minor Discrepancies in Draft Inspection Procedures The Review Group noted several discrepancies between language in Draft Inspec-tion Procedures and the applicable regulation.
Section 02.03, e. of Draft Inspection Procedure 81368 (see Ref.14) calls for the inspector to " verify that all individuals who have custody of the shipment wear their numbered pic-ture badges at all times while on duty."
No regulatory citation is provided with this statement.
However, this inspection requirement appears to demand more than 10 CFR 73.26(g)(1), which refers to " identification badges carried by the individuals who will assume custody of the shipment," but does not mention -
their wearing badges at all times while on duty.
Similarly, Section 02.05, d. of Draft Inspection Procedure 81368 (see Ref. 14) requires the inspector to " verify that two remaining armed personnel take up positions at a remote monitoring location equipped with radios." However, the cited regulation--73.26(f)(2) is not so specific about the type of communica-tions which must be available at the remote monitoring location, beyond stating it "may be a radio equipped vehicle."
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REGULATIONS Publication of 10 CFR 73.72 Causes Confusion As discussed in conjunction with inspection guidance, on March 28, 1985, NRC issued " final" amendments to several regulations, including 10 CFR 73.72, to bring them into accord with the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material. However, the Convention (and NRC's implementing amendments) will not enter into force until 30 days after the 21st country ratifies it.
Nevertheless, NRC's amendments will appear in the 1986 edition of the Code of Federal Regulations, although they may not yet be in effect, because the Conven-tion has not been ratified by the required number of countries.
MISCELLANE0US Use of the Term " Category I" The term " Category I" appears in this report and is commonly used by the NRC staff in referring to formula quantities of strategic special nuclear material.
This terminology is employed by the IAEA, and referenced accordingly in 10 CFR Part 110, covering export and import of special nuclear material.
Never-theless, it seems inconsistent to use the term " Category I" when it is not defined in our domestic safeguards regulations.
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REFERENCES (Transportation of Category I Special Nuclear Material)
Cited in Text Descriptor or Designator 1.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 1.
LBP-83-25A, Atomic Safety and Licensing Board 17 NRC 927 (1983) decisions in the matter of Docket and LBP-8367 No. 50-142-01 (proposed renewal of 18 NRC 802 facility license).
The Regents of (1983)
University of California (UCLA Research Reactor) 1983.
2.
Memo for J. Davis, U.S. Nuclear 2.
EDO Memorandum, dated Regulatory Commission, Director, July 3, 1984 Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, et al., from William J. Dircks, Executive Director for Operations, OIA Investigation, "ASLB--Allegations concerning three NRC Employees" (dated June 12, 1984), July 3, 1984.
3.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 3.
Safeguards Interoffice Safeguards Interoffice Review Group, Review Group Report-
" Review of Safeguards Regulations and (Categories II and III)
Guidance (Categories II and III Non-Power Reactors)," January 31, 1985.
4.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 4.
Safeguards Interoffice Safeguards Interoffice Review Group, Review Group Report-
" Review of Safeguards Regulations and (Category I)
Guidance (Category I Non power Reactors),"
April 15, 1985.
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REFERENCES, Cont.
l (Transportation of Category I Special Nuclear Material)
Cited in Text Descriptor or Designator 5.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 5.
Safeguards Interoffice Safeguards Interoffice Review Group, Review Group Report-
" Review of Safeguards Regulations (Spent Fuel Trans-and Guidance (Spent Fuel Transpor-portation) tation)," May 3, 1985.
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U.S. Nuclear Regulato'y Commission, 6.
Safeguards Interoffice r
Safeguards Interoffice Review Group, Review Group Report-
" Review of Safeguards Regulations and (Categories II and III Guidance (Transportation of Categories SNM)
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II and III special Nuclear Material),"
July 31, 1985.
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U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 7.
Regulatory Guide 5.31 Regulatory Guide 5.31, " Specially Designed Vehicl3 with Armed Guards for Road Shipment of Special Nuclear Material," 1975.
8.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 8.
Regulatory Guide 5.32 Regulatory Guide 5.32, " Communication with Transport Vehicles," 1975.
9.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 9.
Regulatory Guide 5.63, " Physical Protection for Transient Shipments,"
1982.
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REFERENCES, Cont.
(Transportation of Category I Special Nuclear Material)
Cited in Text Descriptor or Designator 10.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 10.
Regulatory Guide 5.60 Regulatory Guide 5.60, " Standard Format and Content of a Licensee Physical Protection Plan for Strategic Special Nuclear Material in Transit,"
1980.
11.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 11.
Category I Transporta-
" Category I Transportation Security tion Security Plans Plans--Transportation Physical Protection System Plan," drawn up by the Material Transfer SG Licensing Branch, Division of Safeguards, NMSS, 1983.
12.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 12.
Draft Inspection Office of Inspection and Enforcement, Procedure 81364
" Draft Inspection Procedure 81364, Planning, Scheduling, and Advance Notifications for Formula Quantities of Special Nuclear Material In-Transit,"
1985.
13.
U.S. Nuclear Pegulatory Commission, 13.
50 FR 12221 10 CFR Parts 40, 70, 73, and 110,
" Implementation of the Convention on Physical Protection of Nuclear Material,"
Federal Register, Vol. 50, No.60, March 28, 1985, 12221-12229.
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l BIBLIOGRAPHY (Transportation of Category I Special Nuclear Material)
Code of Federal Regulations 1.
Code of Federal Regulations, Title 10, Chapter 1 10 CFR Part 50 - Domestic Licensing--Utilization Facilities 10 CFR Part 70 - Domestic Licensing--Special Nuclear Material 70.20a(d)
- Person possessing formula quantities of SSNM under general license 10 CFR Part 73 - Physical Protection of Plants and Material 73.2 Definitions s
73.20 General performance objectives and requirements 73.25 Performance capabilities for physical protection of strategic special nuclear material in transit 73.25(d)(2)(ii)-
Equipment and procedures for two-way communications between escort commander and the movement control center 73.26 Transportation physical protection systems, subsystems, components, and proced:-rs.<
73.26(c)(2)
Compliance of livy..et exports a formula quantity of strategic special nuclear material 73.26(f)(2)
Transfer and storage of strategic special nuclear material for domestic shipments--transfer protection 73.26(g)(1)
Access control subsystems and procedures--numbered picture badge 10 procedure B-1
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(Transportation of Category I Special Nuclear Material) 73.27 Notification requirements 73.70 Records 73.70(d)
Log 73.70(g)
Specific records to be kept of special nuclear material shipments subject to requirements of this part 73.71 Reports of events significantly threatening / lessening safe-guards effectiveness 73.72 Requirement for advance notice of shipment of special nuclear material 10 CFR Part 73, Appendix B - Guard Training and Notification 10 CFR Part 73, Appendix C - Contingency Planning 10 CFR Part 74 - Material Control and Accounting of Special Nuclear Material 10 CFR Part 110 - Export and Import of Nuclear Equipment and Material Obsolete 73.30 General requirements 73.31 Shipment by road 73.33 Shipment by rail 73.36 Miscellaneous requirements i
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V BIBLIOGRAPHY, Cont.
(Transportation of Category I Special Nuclear Material)
Regult. tory Guides 2.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Regulatory Guide 5.56, " Standard Format and Content of Safeguards Contingency Plans for Transportation,"
1978.
Draft Inspection Procedures 3.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Office of Inspection and Enforcement,
" Draft Inspection Procedure 81366, General Performance for Formula Quantities of Special Nuclear Material In-Transit," 1985.
4.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Office of Inspection and Enforcement,
" Draft Inspection Procedure 81362, Plans and Procedures for Formula Quantities of Special Nuclear Material In-Transit," 1985.
5.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Office of Inspection and Enforcement,
" Draft Inspection Procedure 81370, Specific Requirements for Formula Quantities of Special Nuclear Material in-Transit," 1985.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY, Cont.
(Transportation of Category I Special Nuclear Material) 6.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Office of Inspection and Enforcement,
" Draft Inspection Procedure 81372, Records, Reports, and Notifications-concerning Shipments of Formula Quantities of Special Nuclear Material,"
1985.
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