ML080940158

Control of Sensitive Unclassified Nonsafeguards Information Related to Nuclear Power Reactors

ML080940158
Person / Time
Site:	Hatch
Issue date:	11/07/2005
From:	Michael Case NRC/NRR/ADRO/DIRS
To:
References
RIS-05-026
Download: ML080940158 (6)

See also: RIS 2005-26

Text

ML051430228

UNITED STATES

NUCLE AR RE GULATOR Y COM MISS ION OFFICE OF NUC LEAR REAC TOR REGU LATION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001

November 7, 2005 NRC REGUL AT ORY ISSUE SUMMA

RY 2005-26

CONTROL OF SENSITIVE UNCLASSIFIED NONSAFEGUA

RDS INFORMATION RELATED TO NU

CLEAR POWER REA

CTORS ADDRESSEES

All hold ers of operating li

censes for nucle

ar power re

actors and hol

ders of and appl

icants for

certificates for reactor d

esigns.INTENT The U.S. Nuclear Regulator

y Commission (NRC) is issuing this regulatory issue summ

ary (RIS)to inform the addres

sees of the appropriate hand

ling of inform

ation that warrants controls

because of conti

nuing concerns

about terrorist a

ttacks against the cri

tical infrastructu

re of the Unite d State s. The N RC in tends to bal ance i ts resp onsib ilit y to p reserv e publ ic acc ess to informat ion a nd sup port me aningful parti cipat ion i n NRC's regu latory proce sses a gainst its responsibil

ity to w ithhold i nformation that might unn

ecessarily

compromise the

security of

nucle ar facil ities. Lic ensee s for ope rating nucle ar pow er pla nts an d reac tor faci lity desi gners may need t

o assess their doc

ument contro l procedu res to en sure th ey protec t sensit ive information. Al

though no speci

fic action or w

ritten response

is required, th

e NRC enco

urages the addr essees f or this RI

S, vendor s and cont

ractor s, and ot hers who ma

y possess sensitive

information to dest

roy, mark, or other

wise control the information to avoid inadvertently

providin g assistance to

those who

might use the in

formation for malevol

ent acts.BA CKGROU ND INF ORMA TION NRC traditi

onally has given th

e public access to a si

gnificant amount of in

formation about the

facilities a

nd materials

the agency regul

ates. Openness

has been and

remains a co

rnerstone of NRC's regula

tory phil osophy. The

Atomic Energy

Act, subsequent l

egislation, a

nd variou s NRC regulatio

ns have giv

en the publ

ic the right to

participate i

n the lice

nsing and ov

ersight process for nucle

ar power re

actors and othe

r NRC lic ensees. To parti

cipate in

a meaningful

way, the public mus

t have acce

ss to information

about the desi

gn and operatio

n of regulated

facilit ies and use

of nucle ar mat erials. However, NRC an

d other G overnme nt agen cies have alway s withhel d some information

from public dis

closure for reason

s of security, p

ersonal priv acy, or comme rcial or trad e secre t prote ction. In l ight of i ncreas ed terr orist activ ity worldw ide, NRC re

examined i

ts document dis

closure pol

icies.

RIS 2005-26

Pag e 2 of 5 Since the e

vents of Septembe

r 11, 2001, NR

C has issue

d adviso ries and taken s

pecific action

s regarding the securi

ty of its li

censed facili

ties. NRC

has also as

sessed and re

vised i ts policie

s and pr actice s for con trol o f informat

ion s o that informat ion th at cou ld rea sonab ly b e exp ected to be useful to terrori

sts in plan

ning or exec

uting an attack again

st nuclear po

wer plan ts or other

NRC-licen sed faciliti

es wil l be wi thheld from publi

c disclosu

re. The most recent

and detail

ed guidance on the control of inf

ormation related to operat

ing nuclear power plants is provided in

the Commission

paper SECY

-04-0191, "Withholding Sensi

tive Uncl assified Information

Concerning Nu

clear Pow er Reactors From

Public Di sclosure," dated

October 19, 2004 , and the associated sta

ff requirements memorandum dated

November 9, 2004. Also

see SECY-05-009 1, "Task F

orce R eport o n Publ ic Di sclos ure of S ecuri ty-Re lated Informati

on,"dated May 18, 20 05, an d the a ssoci ated s taff requir

ements memoran dum dat ed Jun e 30, 2 005. The NRC staff

is preparing similar guidance f

or materials licensees and expects to mak

e it availab le to the pu

blic in early 200 6.SUMMARY OF ISSUE

Considerin

g the various

review s, legislati

on, and other c

hanges since S

eptember 11, 200

1, the NRC staff believ

es that clari

fying NRC's

current procedures

and poli cies regarding the

control of information wi

ll be ben eficial to stakeho

lders. NRC

will continue to

make availab

le to the publi c most o f the in formatio n that the age ncy r eceiv es from o r send s to i ts li censee s. In addit ion, t he pub lic w ill have acces s to a large a mount o f informat

ion i nclud ed in vari ous re ports produced by

the NRC sta

ff. Much of NRC's

information als

o will be readil

y avai lable to th

e public v ia the NRC

Web site (www.n

rc.gov) and the

NRC's el ectronic docume

nt management

system (ADAM

S) (www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html

). In additi

on, other informatio

n may be released to the public in response to form

al or informal request

s. The exceptions for cert

ain infor mation to be withhe

ld from public disc

losure f or reas ons othe r than se curity (e.g., privacy, proprietary, a

nd pre-decisi

onal information) have not

changed as a res

ult of recent ev

ents. The

appropriate ha

ndling of Safeguards Informatio

n (SGI) is dis

cussed in R

IS-2003-08, "Prote

ction of Safegua

rds Infor mation From U nautho rize d Dis closu re," da ted Ap ril 3 0, 200 3, and more speci fic SGI d esigna tion gu idanc e docu ments. NRC wi thheld from publi

c disclosu

re some information

related to prote

cting operating nu

clear power pl ants although i

t does not meet th

e existi ng criteria for desi

gnation as SGI. Thi

s type of infor mation was recog

nized bef ore Sept ember 11, 2001, and, when su

bmitt ed to NRC by a

licensee, w

as withhe ld from public

disclosure

according to the

provisio ns of 10 CFR 2.390(d)(1). This re

gulation states: (d) The follow

ing information i

s considered

commercial or

financial i

nformation with

in the meaning of §9.17(a)(4) o

f this chapter and

is subject to

disclosure

only in accordance

with the pr ovis ions of §9.19 of this chapt er.(1) Corresponden

ce and reports

to or from the NRC

which co ntain information

or records concerni

ng a license

e's or appl

icant's phy

sical protec

tion, classi

fied matter

protection, or mate

rial control

and accounti

ng program for special

nuclear materia

l not otherw ise d esigna ted as Safegua rds Infor mation or cl assifi ed as Natio nal S ecuri ty Information or Restri

cted Data.

RIS 2005-26

Pag e 3 of 5 NRC expe cts that lice

nsees wi ll contin ue to request NRC

withhol d some information

citing 10 CFR 2.390(d)(1) and that the volume of

material requested to be withheld fr

om public disclosure

under this pro

vision will increase as

the NRC staff and l

icensees i

mplement the

guidan ce in this RIS. N RC ch anged i ts proc edures shortl y after Septe mber 11 , 2001 , to withhol d from public di

sclosure v

arious categorie

s of documents li

kely to inc

lude indi vidual record s that warra nt wi thhol ding u nder 1 0 CFR 2.390. The N RC sta ff will asses s the n eed to withhol d such documen

t categories if li

censees routin

ely ide ntify specific

documents contai

ning sensitive information. The NRC staf

f will interact with licensees on a case-by-case basis

regarding the use of

the provisions of 10 CFR 2.390(d)(1) to assu

re that informat

ion is properly

controlled, u

nder either S

ection 2.390(d

)(1) or one of the o

ther Freedom of Information

Act (FOIA) exemptions that m

ight be applicable. Licensees that identify inf

ormation to be withheld

from public dis

closure in

accordance w

ith 10 CFR

2.390(d)(1) or oth

er provisi

on in the regulation sho

uld use the

same general prac

tices as used

for proprietary

commercial or

financi al in formatio n. As show n on th e attac hed di agram, th e cov er let ter sho uld c learl y sta te that the document

includes s

ensitive information and

the affected pages shoul

d include the marking "Security-R

elated Information

- Withhold Under 10 CFR

2.390." Unl

ike the requirements for wi

thholding prop

rietary in

formation, license

es are not requi

red to provi

de an affidavit for sensiti

ve information

withhel d under 10 C

FR 2.390(d) an

d related to

(1) physica

l prot ecti on o r (2) mate rial con trol and acc ount ing.Most informatio

n receive d and generated

by NRC deals w ith design, op

erations, or oth

er matters not di rectly relat ed to t he phy sical securi ty of n uclea r facil ities or rad ioact ive materi als. This information, i

f not protected as p

roprietary o

r under another

exception, is generally

made availab le to the pu

blic. After Sep

tember 11, 2001, NRC and oth

er Government agenc

ies responded to c

oncerns that some

information easi

ly ava ilable o n public Web sites or by other

means might be use

ful to terrorists. S

ECY-04-0191

provides the primary N

RC guidance

on whether information relate

d to operating nuclear power plants should be withheld from

public disclosure

in light of the

post-September 11

concerns. The N

RC staff has posted th

e guidance

and related

material w

ithin the p

ublic readi

ng room (http://ww

w.nrc.gov/readi

ng-rm.html) on the

NRC Web site, and stakehol

ders can ask questi

ons or make suggestions

about the guida

nce and th e exa mples. As discussed

in SECY-04-0191, other Gov

ernment agencies

have issu ed regulations

or guidan ce for pr otecti ng inform ation that c ould be rea sonab ly e xpec ted to be use ful to t errori sts in planni ng or executi

ng an attack on criti

cal infrastructure.

• Protected criti

cal infrastructure

information (PCII) i

s information rel

ated to the sec

urity of criti cal i nfrastru cture t hat is vol untari ly p rovi ded to the De partmen t of Home land Securi ty (DHS). *Criti cal e nergy infrastr ucture informa tion (CEII) i s defin ed in Feder al En ergy R egulat ory Commission (FE

RC) regulation

s as information

related to ene

rgy-related in

frastructure (e.g., hy droel ectric dams a nd el ectric transmi ssion syste ms).*Sensitiv e security

information (SSI) i

s defined in

Transportation Sa

fety Administrati

on (TSA) and Departmen

t of Transportation (DOT) regul

ations as i

nformation about the

security of trans

portation asse

ts, includi

ng pipeline

s.

RIS 2005-26

Pag e 4 of 5 Licensees may

need to asse

ss and revi

se their proce

dures for handli

ng sensitiv

e unclassi

fied nonsafeguards information

in their n

ormal activ

ities and

interactions

with parti

es other than

NRC. Duri

ng discussion

s of existin

g practices w

ith vario us license

es, the NRC

staff discovered

that license

es vary in how they treat and

protect information

that was pre

viously unprotected bu

t now is con sider ed sen sitiv e. Som e lic ensee s hav e ins titute d more restri ctiv e cont rols. Some have determi

ned that their

routine busi

ness practices

provide an appropria

te level of protection

for the s ensit ive informat ion. As described

in 10 CF R 2.390, informatio

n deemed sensi

tive beca use it relate

s to physi

cal protection or mate

rial control

and accounti

ng is protected i

n much the same

way as commercial

or fina ncial inf ormat ion. As with pr

oprieta ry infor mation , license es are expe

cted to have sufficient internal

controls to keep

the information c

onfidential.

Possible methods to prev

ent the inadverten

t release of sens

itive un classified no

nsafeguards information i

nclude marking

documents as de

scribed in

10 CFR 2.39

0, restricting acce

ss to electroni

c recordkeeping

system s, and co ntrollin g the re produc tion, dis tribut ion, and de

struc tion of potent ially sensit

ive records. NRC

uses the marking "Sec

urity-Rela

ted Information - Withhold Unde

r 10 CFR 2.39

0" and encoura

ges the use of this

marking by lic

ensees and o

thers possessi

ng informat ion d eemed s ensit ive using t he gui dance in SE CY-04-0191. Lice nsees shoul d ensu re that similar

controls are i

n place w hen sensiti

ve information

is provi ded to outsid

e parties suc

h as contractors or other

Government agencies. T

he NRC staff posted inf

ormation on NRC's

Web site (http://www.n

rc.gov/reading-rm.html) an

d include d a feedback form for questions o

r suggesti ons on how to effecti

vely contro l sen sitiv e infor mation. BA CKFIT DISCU SSION This R IS requi res no actio n or w ritten respo nse. A ny ac tion o n the p art of ad dresse es to assess and rev

ise their do

cument control p

rocedures in

accordance w

ith the guidan

ce contai ned i n this RIS i s stric tly v olunt ary a nd, the refore, i s not a backfit under 10 CFR 50.10 9. Consequently , the NRC sta

ff did not perform a backfit anal

ysis.FEDERAL REGISTER

NOTIF ICA TION A notice of opp

ortunity for pub

lic comment on

this RIS w

as not publi

shed in the

Federal Register becau se it is in formatio nal a nd per tains to a s taff posi tion t hat do es not repres ent a departure from current regul

atory requirements

and practice. NRC inte

nds to work w

ith the Nuclear Ene

rgy Institute, in

dustry represe

ntatives, membe

rs of the publi

c, and other

stakeholders in

modifying rela

ted guidance d

ocuments.SMAL L BUSINESS

REGULA TORY ENFOR

CEMENT FA IRNESS A CT OF 1996

The NRC has determined that this act

ion is not a rule and thus is not subject to the Small

Busin ess Re gulato ry En forcemen t Fair ness A ct of 199 6.

RIS 2005-26

Pag e 5 of 5 PAPERWORK REDUCTION A

CT STA TEMENT This RIS does

not contain i

nformation colle

ctions and, th

erefore, is not sub

ject to the

require ments o f the Pa perw ork Red uctio n Act o f 1995 (44 U.S.C. 350 1 et se q.).CONTACT Please di rect any questi

ons about thi

s matter to the tech

nical conta

cts listed b

elow or to the approp riate Office of N

uclea r Reac tor Regu latio n (NRR) proje ct mana ger./RA/ By Patrick

L. Hiland For

/Michael J. Case, Di

rector Divi sion of Inspe ction and R egiona l Sup port Office of Nuclear Reacto

r Regulation

Technical Co

ntacts: W illiam Reckley, NRR

Margie Kotzalas, NRR

301-415-1323

301-415-2737

E-mail: wdr@nrc.gov

E-mail: mxk5@nrc.gov

Attachment: M

arking diagram for documents

withhel d under 10 C

FR 2.390 Note: NRC

generic communica

tions may b

e found on the N

RC publi c Web site, http://www.nrc.gov, under E

lectronic Re

ading Room/Docu

ment Collecti

ons.

Security-Re

lated Information

Withhold Under 10 CFR

2.390 Subject XXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXX

Attachment

RIS-2005-26

Pag e 1 of 1 SUGGESTED MA

RKINGS Withhold From Pub

lic Disclosure In

Ac cordance With 1

0 CFR 2.390

Over

all page marking on

the top of all pa

ges Ensure Subjec t Line is non-se nsitive Appropriate Controls

Access: Need-to-know i

n order to perform official

licensee

functions.

Storage: Openly w ithin li censee facili

ties wi th electronic

or other acces

s controls, for exa

mple, key cards , guards, alarms.

Mail: U.S. P ostal Serv ice fir st cla ss mai l, si ngle o paque e nvel ope w ith no markings to indi

cate 10 CFR

2.390 contents.

Electronic Tran

smission: Over encryp

ted phone, facsimi

le, computer, if av

ailable;otherwise over non-encrypted circuits where recipient will

be present to re

ceive the transmission.