ML20237H647
| ML20237H647 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 05000142 |
| Issue date: | 03/21/1985 |
| From: | Aftergood S COMMITTEE TO BRIDGE THE GAP |
| To: | NRC OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATION (ADM) |
| References | |
| FOIA-85-196 NUDOCS 8709030347 | |
| Download: ML20237H647 (4) | |
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COMMITTEE TO BRIDGE THE GAP y' y 1637 BUTLER AVENUE v203 LOS ANGELES, CAUFORNIA 90025 (213) 4784829 March 21,1985 Director Office of tdninistration 4
Division of Rules and Records U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comnission ppp%
Washington, D.C. 20555 BY EXPRESS
- OF INFORMAIN)N M REQUEST I
FOIA Request gg needL 03/2r/86
Dear Sir:
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, as amended, I hereby request the following records and documents regarding the UCLA reactor facility, Docket 50-142, and the Special Nuclear Material formerly possessed pursuant to Facility License R-71:
(1) 'Ihe security plan as submitted to NRC in 1980.
(2) All subsaIuent ameniments thereto.
(3) All prior security plans for the UCIA reactor facility, and all amendments thereto, from 1959 on.
(4) All security inspection reports for the UCLA reactor facility, including notices of violation, and responses thereto, frcrn 1959 on.
(5) All correspondence between UCLA and the AEE/NRC, and between the AEr/NRC and UCLA,1959 to the pn.sent, dealing with the security plans or amendments, occurrences at the facility of a security interest, or any other matter associated with the security of the UCIA reactor and/or its Special Nuclear buterial.
(6) All transcripts, correspondence, pleadings, Bcard Memoranda and Orders, written testimcny, affidavits, and other draments generated in or associated with the UCLA reactor relicensire proceeding which were not released to the Public Document Room because they allegedly contained l
information related to the security of the UCLA reactor and its SNM.
l (7) Any other documents or records not included in items (1) thmugh (6) related to Docket 50-142 from 1959 to the present that were not released to l
the Public Document Room because they allegedly contained safeguards or security information.
(8) Memoranda, correspondence, or other document:, or records generated by lial Bernard or Colleen P. Woodhead since June 1984 discussing response to any request by UCLA for return or restriction of release of documents associated with the UCLA reactor or its Special Nuclear Material formerly classified as containing Safeguards Information. 'Ihis shall include, but not l
be limited to, any request by Hal Bernard or Colleen P. Woodhead to other NRC Staff personnel or offices for return of UCIA former safeguards documents such as security plan and anerdrents.
8709030347 B50321 l
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(9) Memoranda, correspondence, or other documents or records generated 4
by other NRC perscnnel than Hal Bernard or Colleen P. Woodhead on the subject identified in' (8) abcree. ' Itis shall include responses by NRC personnel to any such memoranda, correspondence, or other documents or records.
(10) Memoranda, correspondence, or other documents or records not included in (8) or (9) above discussing the pcst-June 1984 status of the UCLA security plan, amendments thereto, and other UCIA documents in possession of NRC that were formerly categorized as not releasable to the public because they contained Safeguards Information. These documents or I
records to include, but not be limited to, items that address the issue of f
releasability of former sa? guards information once the Special Nuclear Material that was being safeguarded has been r. aoved from the site in question and the NRC-approved security plan and associated safeguards
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information protection requirements no longer apply.
(11) Documents or records not included in response to items (8), (9) or l
(10) but discussing matters surrounding these issues.
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This request includes all agency records as defined in 10 CFR 9.3a(b) and the NRC Manual, Appendix 0211, Parts 1.A.2 and A.3 (approved October 8, 1980) whether they exist currently in the NRC official, " working,"
investigative or other files, or at any other locaticn.
I The last four categories of records requested above should represent, among other items, all documents and records in the agency's possession as of receipt of this request that discuss response to UCINs request of January 16, 1985, for return or restriction of its former (most recent) security plan and amendments thereto, as well as all other documents and records discussing the status or releasability of UCLA documents formerly I
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categorized as containing Safeguards Information now that the Special Nuclear Material has been removed and the facility is considered by UCIA and the NRC Staff to no longer be required to have an NRC-approved security plan nor comply with Part 73 requirements.
The first seven categories of documents should represent all documents and records possessed by the NRC as of the date of receipt of this FOIA request related to Docket 50-142 and License R-71 which have not previously been included in the public docket because they were alleged at the time to contain information properly categorized as safeguards information or otherwise discussing security matters. Because of UCINs decision to permanently close down and dismantle its reactor facility, and because all reactor fuel has been reported by UCLA to have been removed from the site, these documents are no longer properly categorized as containing safeguards information and should be released, as required by 10 CPR 73.21(i).
10 CFR 73.21(i) (Removal from Safeguards Information Category) requires that:
i Documents originally containing Safeguards Information shall be removed
'j from the Safeguards Information category whenever the information no longer meets the criteria contained in this section.
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Section 73.21 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations provides the criteria by which the NRC may properly restrict distribution of i
unclassified safeguards information. Those criteria are that the l
information related to physical protection of licensees can and should be 1
restricted from public release if the licensee (1) possesses a formula quantity of strategic special nuclear material, (2) is authorized to operate a nuclear power reactor, or (3) transports, or delivers to a carrier for transport, a formula quantity of strategic special-nuclear material or more i
than 100 grams of irradiated reactor fuel.
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'Ite documents in question are no longer properly protectable from release because none of the three criteria specified in the regulation are l
l-met.
(1) UCLA no Icnger possesses any fuel.
(2) UCLA was a research, not I
power reactor, and in any event, is no longer authorized to operate the l
research reactor, its license having been amended to a possession only status. (3) All irradiated fuel has already been transported off-site.
10 CFR 73.21 provides the criteria by which security information can be j
properly prohibited from public release.
Section (i) of that regulation 1
requires that documents originally containing Safeguards Information must be removed from the category of information requiring protection "whenever" the i
information no longer meets the criteria contained in 10 CPR 73.21.
The
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information in question, dealing with past (in some cases, 25 years f
past) security for Special Nuclear Material no longer on site and former l
plans which UCLA itself says NRC regulations no longer require, no longer I
meets any of the 73.21 criteria and therefore must be removed from the protected category and made releasable.
j Whereas the documents in question may once have been protec able from l
disclosure under 73.21 (and, before the promulgation of that regulation,10 CFR 2.790) because they assertedly contained Safeguards Information, that is no Icnger the case. (Please note that even 2.790(d), under which sme of the material was previously categorized, no longer applies, because it only deals with documents containing information, not otherwise categorized as Safeguards Information, related to the physical protecticn of Special Nuclear Material, which UCLA no longer possesses.) With the decision to close the facility and the off-shipment of the SNM-i.e., the nuclear material the mC is mandated to protect-the original basis, and the only relevant legal NRC authority for restraining release of the material (now almost entirely historical) has vanished.
CBG requests that fees be waived, because the "information can be ccnsidered as primarily benefitting the general public," 5 U.S.C. 552 (a)(4)(a). CBG is a ncn-profit, nonpartisan public interest organization cc xrred with safeguards matters related to nonpower reactors and with appropriate conduct of NRC aid licensee employees in proceedings before the NRC, as well as being party to the on going UCLA reactor proceeding (no termination order has yet issued) and petitioner for leave to intervene in the UCLA dismantlement proceeding.
Pursuant to the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and the practice and procedure of the NRC M carrying out its obligations under FOIA CBG requests that no documents related to this request M possession 2
of the NRC as of the date of receipt of this request be destroyed or Eansferred from the custody of the IEC until final resolution of ~this
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request, including ayn appeal that may result therefrom, and that the FOIA office promptly so jr(erm NRC staf_f personnel who mya be currently in possession of docurr<nts related to this request. By copy of this letter, we are informing Collten P. Woodhearl Hal Bernard, Joseph Gray, Harold Denton, Cecil Thomas, and the DiIc tor of OIA that the above documents are subject of an active EDIA request and that destruction or transfer of any of them from NRC custody is therefore prohibited until the EDIA request is finally resolved. Please make your own notification to all relevant offices and individuals as socn as possible.
some of the documents identified in this request are, we believe, i
subject of a previous 101A request submitted by CBG last year for all documents associated with an investigation by the Office of Inspector Auditor into allegations of misconduct made by the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board with respect to certain NRC employees. In particular, the security plan and some of the inspection reports for UCIA were specifically identified by the ASLB in its February 24, 1984 Memorandum ard Order making the charges of miscuduct and are, we believe, I?ely to be part of the OIA investigatory file subject to our earlier request. Any destruction or transfer of custcdy of these documents pending final resolution of that earlier IDIA request would likewise violate agency obligations under FOIA (see, e.g., the Applegate case). We renew our inquiry as to the long-delayed response to that previous EDIA submission.
Should any of the documents identified in this FOIA request, or associated with it but identified previously in the earlier EDIA request relatal to the OIA investigation, have been destroyed or transferred from NRC custody, we request full description of the circumstances surrounding the removal, transfer, or destruction of the requested records, including the identity of all individuals involved, and the relevant dates.
The above documents are currently subject of settlement negotiations among the parties to the UCLA proceeding, the results of which may affect matters related to this request.
Please promptly take the necessary steps to assure that the documents in question are neither destroyed nor removed from NRC custody while Espanse to these FOIA requests are being processed _(or,in the unlikely
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event that any portions of these dccuments are not provided despite their no longer containing protectable Safeguards Information, until all appeals have been exhausted. )
Sincerely, b
l Steven Aftergood Executive Director g
cc:
H. Denton*
C. ThcInas*
H. Bernard
- C. Woodhead*
J. Gray
- Director, OIA*
W. Cormier (UCIA) 4
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