ML22157A366
| ML22157A366 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 05/27/2022 |
| From: | Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response |
| To: | |
| Benney B | |
| References | |
| Download: ML22157A366 (6) | |
Text
RIS 2022-XX Page 1 of 6
UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION WASHINGTON, D.C.
20555-0001
May 27, 2022
DRAFT NRC REGULATORY ISSUE
SUMMARY
2022-XX PERSONNEL ACCESS AUTHORIZATION REQUIREMENTS FOR NON-IMMIGRANT FOREIGN NATIONALS WORKING A T NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS
ADDRESSEES
All holders of and applicants for a power reactor operating lic ense under Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 50, Domestic Licensing of Production and Utiliza tion Facilities.
All holders of and applicants for a power reactor early site pe rmit or combined license under 10 CFR Part 52, Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nu clear Power Plants.
INTENT
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing this re gulatory issue summary (RIS) to remind licensees of the requirement in 10 CFR 73.56(d)(3), Verification of true identity, that prior to granting or reinstating unescorted access (UA) or cert ifying unescorted access authorization (UAA) to non-immigrant foreign nationals for the purpose of performing work, licensees shall validate that the foreign nationals claimed no n-immigration status is correct and that verifying employment eligibility is an important component of the required validation. This is important to ensure that individuals to whom a licensee intends to grant UA to nuclear power plant protected or vital areas or any individual for whom a lic ensee or applicant intends to certify UAA, are trustworthy and reliable such that they do not constit ute an unreasonable risk to public health and safety or the common defense and security, including the potential to commit radiological sabotage.
This RIS does not transmit any new requirements and does not re quire any specific action or written response on the part of addressees.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In October 2017, the NRCs Office o f Investigations, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, identified several instances where foreign nationals were granted UA or UAA at U.S. nuclear power plants for the purpose of work using visa categories that do not permit foreign nationals to w ork in the U.S.
The issue of verifying the employment eligibility of a foreign national was first addressed by the NRC in RIS 2002-13, Confirmation of Employment Eligibility (A gencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML021720225, August 27, 2002; not
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publicly available). This RIS concluded that confirming a fore ign nationals employment eligibility was an important element of the background investig ation undertaken to verify the true identity of an applicant seeking UA or UAA at a U.S. nuclear po wer plant.
To facilitate licensee verification of a foreign nationals emp loyment eligibility, on September 26, 2007, the NRC entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to allow NRC licensees to use the agencys Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) electronic database. Use of the SAVE database is one acceptable means of verifying a foreign nationals employment e ligibility as part of validating the foreign nationals true identify. There is no charge to licens ees to use this service.
SUMMARY
OF ISSUE
The regulatory requirements in 10 CFR 73.56(d)(3) were first pr omulgated in March 20091.
Specifically, 10 CFR 73.56(d)(3) requires:
Licensees, applicants, and contractors or vendors shall verify the true identity of an individual who is applying for unescorted access or unescort ed access authorization in order to ensure that the applicant is the pers on that he or she has claimed to be. At a minimum, licensees, applicants, and co ntractors or vendors shall validate that the social security number that the individual has provided is his or hers, and, in the case of foreign nationals, validate the claimed non-immigration status that the individual has provided is corr ect. In addition, licensees and applicants shall also determine whether the resul ts of the fingerprinting required under § 73.57 confirm the individual's claimed identity, if such results are available.
Moreover, 10 CFR 73.56(a)(4) also requires:
The licensee or applicant may accept, in part or whole, an acce ss authorization program implemented by a contra ctor or vendor to satisfy approp riate elements of the licensee's access authorization program in accordance wi th the requirements of this section. Only a licensee shall grant an i ndividual unescorted access. Licensees and applicants shall certify individuals' un escorted access authorization and are responsible to maintain, deny, terminate, or withdraw unescorted access authorization.
In the Statement of Considerations to the October 26, 2006, Po wer Reactor Security Requirements proposed rule, the Commission made clear that the term validation was being used in 10 CFR 73.56(d)(3) to indicate that licensees, applica nts and [Contractors or Vendors]
would be required to take steps to access information in additi on to that provided by the individual from other reliable sources to ensure that the perso nal identifying information the individual has provided to the licensee is authentic (71 FR 62 747). The Commission further stated that validation could be accomplished by accessing infor mation from a variety of reliable sources, including but not lim ited to Federal Government databases.
1 The NRC amended 10 CFR Parts 50, 52, 72, and 73, including Appendices B and C to Part 73, through a final rule (Power Reactor Security Requirements) published in the Federal Register on March 27, 2009 (74 FR 13925).
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These requirements were preceded by NRC Order EA-02-261, Order for Compensatory Measures Related to Access Authorization [January 7, 2003]. T his order established, among other things, the requirement to verify the true identity of a foreign national seeking UA or UAA.
Specifically, Section B.1.3.c of the attachment to NRC Order EA 261 contained a requirement that: Licensees should confirm eligibility for emp loyment through INS [Immigration and Naturalization Service] and thereby verify and ensure, to t he extent possible, the accuracy of a social security number or alien registration number.
The NRC rescinded NRC Order EA-02-261 by letter dated November 28, 2011 (ML112840300).
The rescission letter stated that the power reactor security ru lemaking (10 CFR 73.56) incorporated all requirements set forth in the power reactor se curity order EA-02-261, Order for Compensatory Measures Related to Access Authorization, dated J anuary 7, 2003. Thus, the rescission of NRC Order EA-02-261 did not remove or modify the requirement to verify a foreign nationals eligibility of employment.
Industry guidance from the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) in NE I-03-01, Nuclear Power Plant Access Authorization Program Revision 3, Supplement 1 dated Ma y 2009, as endorsed by NRC2, states the following:
B.1.3.c Licensees should confirm eligibility for employment t hrough U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Service (CIS) and thereby verify an d ensure to the extent possible, the accuracy of a social security number [sic] alien registration number
On November 3, 2017, NEI issued Personnel Access Data System (P ADS) System Administrator Bulletin 2017-09 (Verification of Non-immigration Status). This bulletin reminded NRC licensees that for foreign workers they should verify the c laimed non-immigration status that the individual has provided is correct as a part of the ba ckground investigation. However, in part, it contained ambiguous language inconsistent with the Com missions requirement to validate the authenticity of the information provided by the in dividual.
Since the inception of the non-immigration verification perform ance requirement, two methodologies have been in place to satisfy the performance requirement; (1) The use of the Department of Homeland Security US Citizensh ip and Immigration Services (DHS-USCIS) Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program, and (2) The licensees [visual] inspection of p assport and visa information identifying the status of the individual upon arriv al at the licensee facility.
This NEI bulletin was not endorsed by the NRC.
A visual verification of documents provided by a foreign nation al would not enable the licensee to verify employment eligibility. Relying solely on visual verification of documents does not meet the regulatory requirement in 10 CFR 73.56(d)(3) and would weak en the safety and security provided by the requirement to validate the foreign nationals claimed non-immigration status as part of establishing the foreign nationals true identity.
2 The NRC endorsed NEI-03-01 in Regulatory Guide 5.66, Access Authorization Program for Nuclear Power Plants, Revision 2.
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CONCLUSION
Licensees must have an access authorization program that provid es high assurance3 that individuals granted UA or certified UAA are trustworthy and rel iable. Licensees may use any method that reliably verifies that a foreign national is eligib le for employment at a nuclear power plant in the U.S. If, consistent with 10 CFR 73.56(a)(4), a li censee accepts a contractor or vendors access authorization program to satisfy appropriate el ements of the licensees access authorization program, the licensee must ensure that the contra ctor or vendor reliably and effectively verifies a foreign nationals employment eligibilit y as part of validating that the foreign nationals claimed non-immigration status is correct. The lice nsee remains at all times responsible for certifying and granting, maintaining, denying, terminating, or withdrawing an individuals UA. This RIS reminds licensees of that requiremen t.
BACKFITTING AND ISSUE FINALITY DISCUSSION
This RIS does not require any action or written response on the part of any licensee or applicant. Accordingly, issuance of this RIS does not represen t backfitting as defined in 10 CFR 50.109(a)(1) and is not inconsistent with any applicable issue finality provision in 10 CFR Part
- 52. Therefore, the NRC did not prepare a backfit analysis for this RIS, or further address the issue finality criteria in Part 52.
FEDERAL REGISTER NOTIFICATION
The NRC published a notice of opportunity for public comment on this RIS in the Federal Register (85 FR 1770) on March 31, 2021. The agency received comments f rom 15 commenters. The evaluation of these comments and the result ing changes to the RIS are discussed in a publicly available memorandum which is in ADAMS under Accession No. ML22147A097.
CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW ACT
This RIS is not a rule as defined in the Congressional Review A ct (5 U.S.C. §§ 801-808).
PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT STATEMENT
This RIS does not contain new or amended information collection requirements that are subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). Existing requirements were approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), approval number 3150-0002.
Public Protection Notification
The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not require d to respond to, a request for information or an information collection requirement unless the requesting document displays a currently valid OMB control number.
3 In Staff Requirements Memorandum (SRM) SRM-SECY-16-0073, Options and Recommendations for the Force-on-Force Inspection Program in Response to SRM-SECY-14-0088, the Commission stated that the concept of high assurance of adequate protection found in our security regulations is equivalent to reasonable assurance when it comes to determining what level of regulation is appropriate (ADAMS Accession No. ML16279A345).
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CONTACT
This RIS requires no specific action or written response. If yo u have any questions about this RIS, please contact the technical staff listed below or th e appropriate NRC regional office.
Christopher G. Miller, Director Mirela Gavrilas, Director Division of Reactor Oversight Office of Nuclear Security Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation and Incident Response
Technical
Contact:
Mark E. Resner, NSIR (301) 287-3680 E-mail: Mark.Resner@nrc.gov
Note: NRC generic communications may be found on the NRC public Web site, https://www.nrc.gov, under NRC Library/Document Collections.
ML22157A366 via email*
OFFICE NSIR/DPCP NSIR/DPCP NSIR/DSO NRR/PMDA NAME ABowers MSampson SLee LHill DATE 5/12/2022 5/11/2022 5/11/2022 5/11/2022 OFFICE OE/EB OCIO NSIR/FO NRR/DORL NAME MLombard DCullison M.Gavrilas BPham DATE 5/17/2022 5/16/2022 5/27/2022 5/16/2022 OFFICE NRR/DRO/IOEB/BC OGC-NLO OI NRR/DRO/IOEB/PM NAME LRegner NStAmour THiggs BBenney DATE 5/11/2022 5/27/2022 5/18/2022 5/11/2022 OFFICE NRR/IOLB/LA NRR/DRO/D NAME IBetts LRegner for CMiller DATE 5/27/22 5/27/22