RIS 2005-26, Control of Sensitive Unclassified Nonsafeguards Information Related to Nuclear Power Reactors

Control of Sensitive Unclassified Nonsafeguards Information Related to Nuclear Power Reactors

ML080940150
Person / Time
Issue date:	11/07/2005
From:	Michael Case NRC/NRR/ADRO/DPR
To:
W.Reckley,NRR,301-415-1323
References
RIS-05-026
Preceding documents:	ML11206A552 (25 July 2011) ML11206B172 (20 July 2011) ML11203B213 (20 July 2011) ML083650189 (27 January 2009) ML083570657 (27 January 2009) ML083570649 (27 January 2009) ML083570619 (27 January 2009) ML083570602 (27 January 2009) ML083510877 (27 January 2009) ML080940058 (7 November 2005) ML051430228 (7 November 2005) ML080940098 (7 November 2005) ML080940107 (7 November 2005) ML080940074 (7 November 2005) ML080940158 (7 November 2005)
Download: ML080940150 (6)

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.