ML20244B607
| ML20244B607 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 01/19/1989 |
| From: | Zech L NRC |
| To: | Gejdenson S HOUSE OF REP., INTERIOR & INSULAR AFFAIRS |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20244B588 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8906130187 | |
| Download: ML20244B607 (5) | |
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[ec,4*g' VStello UN:TED STATES JTaylor i
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h, s EDO 4129 January 19, 1989 TMurley cwamuAu EJordan HTympson JSe ezek FM&aglia DCr~utchfield FGillespie DNossburg The Honorable Sam Gejdenson, Chairman Grimes.
Subecmmittee on General Oversight Nn and Investigations Committee on Interior and Insular' Affairs United States House of Representatives Washington, D. C.
20515
Dear Mr. Chairman:
I am responding to your letter of December 13, 1988, concerning nuclear safety issues your Subcommittee has raiseo during the 100th Congress.
The Commission appreciates your comments about our responsiveness to your requests.
I can assure you that we will continue to meet our responsibilities to keep the Congress informed and that we take our responsibilities very seriously.
Of the four issues that remain of concern t6 you and other members of the Subcommittee, two (fitness for duty and terrorism) are being actively pursued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) through either formal rulemaking or the preliminary development of regulatory requirements.
On January 9, 1989, the Commission informed you of our recent actions to implement the recommenda-tions of the NRC Office of Investigations Organization Review Group and our reasons for retaining the existing reportine relationship for the Office of Investigations (OI) through the Office of the Executive Director for Operations (EDO).
With respect to the bcckfit rule, the Commission believes that both the lengthy administrative record compiled during the course of our rulemaking and the General Accounting Office's report entitled
" Nuclear Regulation Process for Backfitting Changes in Nuclear Plants Has Improved," dated December 24, 1985, confirm the existence of the discipline and management problems within NRC that the rule was designed to address.
Moreover, the' Commission does not agree that the backfit rule prevents the NRC from imposing needed safety improvements.
I have enclosed our detailed comments on each of these issues for your information.
Underlying these issues is the Subcommittee's broader concern about the appropriate relationship between NRC and the industry we regulate.
We have discussed this subject with the Subcommittee and exchanged correspondence with you on it on several occasions.
I know that the Commission and the Subcommittee share the same Originated: EDO:Blahe hNO MEETING 156 L-
concern for the protection of the public health and spfety.
^'
I believe that both of us recognize that there must be perceptions between the regulators and the regulated'jhared pn safety matters if the concept of protecting the public from potential radiological hazards is to be implemented effectively where it is important -- at the plant site.
The Commission continues to most believe that the fundamental responsibility for nuclear safety lies with our licensees and that NRC's role is to monitor these licensees' performance so that we can be reasonably assured that
~~~
the health and safety of the public is indeed protected.
When we find that this expectation hus not been met, we have taken and will continue to take effective regulatory action to protect the public health and correct deficiencies in licensee performance.
We also believe that the regulated industry, if it is to meet its responsibilities to the public it serves, should be encouraged to take initiatives that enhance safety and are consistent with or go beyond regulatory requirements and objectives.
I can assure you, however, that the NRC has not and will not delegate to the industry the regulatory authority and responsibility assigned to us by the Congress.
I hope this response will be helpful to you'and the members of the Subcommittee on General Oversight and Investigations in assessing the issues of concern to you.
Sincerely, 4.
Lando W. Ze
, Jr.
Enclosure:
As stated cc: Rep. Denny Smith 1
QUESTIOM 4 On November 10, 1988, the NRC issued a final rule designed to increase security at nuclear fuel facilities.
It is essential that security be upgraded at the four nuclear fuel facilities covered by this rule, and the Commission should b' e applauded for taking this action. There is however, a glaring omission.
The rule fails to address commercial nuclear power plants. As a result, the NRC has oncy again been unwilling to recognize that r.uclear power plants could potentially be targets for terrorists.
ANSWER.
The Commission's final rule issued on November 10, 1988, was designed to provide increased physical protection against nuclear theft at fuel facilities possessing formula quantities of strategic special nuclear material (SSNM).
These changes are intended to ensure that SSNM in licensed facilities continues to be provided protection equivalent to that provided at comparable Department of Energy facilities at which security was recently upgraded.
At licensed nuclear power plants, the principal safeguards concern is to protect against radiological sabotage rather than nuclear theft. The possible
'3 use of a land vehicle by potential adversaries as a means of transportatfor. is not considered a significant factor in planning for security at nuclear power plants. In particular, the perimeter fence and the alarm and assessment systems for the protected area at a nuclear power plant are not intended to prevent access by a determined intruder but rather to facilitate prompt
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' QUESTION 4. (continued) detection of unauthorized entry and appropriate, timely, and effective response by the security force and law enforcement agencies. Moreover, vital equipment in nuclear power plants is further protected within designated vital areas by additional barriers, locks, and alarms, providing an in-dopth cefense.
For these reasons, it is not considered neceisary or appropriate to amend NRC's safeguards regulations for nuclear power plants to address possible use of a lano vehicle by potential adversaries as a means of transportation.
~
Nevertheless, recognizing terrorist use of explosive-laden vehicles as bombs, particularly in the Middle East, the Comission, as a matter of pruoence, considers it appropriate to develop contingency plans for dealing with a possible vehicle bomb threat to power reactors, should one arise. Accordingly, the NRC is developing an agency contingency plan and a requirement for site specific reactor contingency planning for vehicle bomb threats. As r.oted in our testimony before the subcommittee on March 9,1988, this approach is consistent with the Comission's intention to take a deliberative and systematic approach in the absence of a credible threat in the United States.
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