[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 10, Volume 2]

[Revised as of January 1, 2006]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 10CFR73.50]



[Page 429-433]

 

                            TITLE 10--ENERGY

 

          CHAPTER I--NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (CONTINUED)

 

PART 73_PHYSICAL PROTECTION OF PLANTS AND MATERIALS--Table of Contents

 

Sec. 73.50  Requirements for physical protection of licensed activities.



    Each licensee who is not subject to Sec. 73.51, but who possesses, 

uses, or stores formula quantities of strategic special nuclear material 

that are not readily separable from other radioactive material and which 

have total external radiation dose rates in excess of 100 rems per hour 

at a distance of 3 feet from any accessible surfaces without intervening 

shielding other than at a nuclear reactor facility licensed pursuant to 

part 50 of this chapter, shall comply with the following:

    (a) Physical security organization. (1) The licensee shall establish 

a security organization, including guards, to protect his facility 

against radiological sabotage and the special nuclear material in his 

possession against theft.



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    (2) At least one supervisor of the security organization shall be on 

site at all times.

    (3) The licensee shall establish, maintain, and follow written 

security procedures that document the structure of the security 

organization and detail the duties of guards, watchmen, and other 

individuals responsible for security. The licensee shall retain a copy 

of the current procedures as a record until the Commission terminates 

each license for which the procedures were developed and, if any portion 

of the procedures is superseded, retain the superseded material for 

three years after each change.

    (4) The licensee may not permit an individual to act as a guard, 

watchman, armed response person, or other member of the security 

organization unless the individual has been trained, equipped, and 

qualified to perform each assigned security job duty in accordance with 

appendix B, ``General Criteria for Security Personnel,'' to this part. 

Upon the request of an authorized representative of the Commission, the 

licensee shall demonstrate the ability of the physical security 

personnel to carry out their assigned duties and responsibilities. Each 

guard, watchman, armed response person, and other member of the security 

organization shall requalify in accordance with appendix B to this part 

at least every 12 months. This requalification must be documented. The 

licensee shall retain the documentation of each requalification as a 

record for three years after the requalification.

    (b) Physical barriers. (1) The licensee shall locate vital equipment 

only within a vital area, which, in turn, shall be located within a 

protected area such that access to vital equipment requires passage 

through at least two physical barriers. More than one vital area may be 

within a single protected area.

    (2) The licensee shall locate material access areas only within 

protected areas such that access to the material access area requires 

passage through at least two physical barriers. More than one material 

access area may be within a single protected area.

    (3) The physical barrier at the perimeter of the protected area 

shall be separated from any other barrier designated as a physical 

barrier within the protected area, and the intervening space monitored 

or periodically checked to detect the presence of persons or vehicles so 

that the facility security organization can respond to suspicious 

activity or to the breaching of any physical barrier.

    (4) An isolation zone shall be maintained around the physical 

barrier at the perimeter of the protected area and any part of a 

building used as part of that physical barrier. The isolation zone shall 

be monitored to detect the presence of individuals or vehicles within 

the zone so as to allow response by armed members of the license 

security organization to be initiated at the time of penetration of the 

protected area. Parking facilities, both for employees and visitors, 

shall be located outside the isolation zone.

    (5) Isolation zones and clear areas between barriers shall be 

provided with illumination sufficient for the monitoring required by 

paragraphs (b) (3) and (4) of this section, but not less than 0.2 foot 

candles.

    (c) Access requirements. The licensee shall control all points of 

personnel and vehicle access into a protected area, including shipping 

or receiving areas, and into each vital area. Identification of 

personnel and vehicles shall be made and authorization shall be checked 

at such points.

    (1) At the point of personnel and vehicle access into a protected 

area, all individuals, except employees who possess a NRC or United 

States Department of Energy access authorization, and all hand-carried 

packages shall be searched for devices such as firearms, explosives, and 

incendiary devices, or other items which could be used for radiological 

sabotage. The search shall be conducted either by a physical search or 

by the use of equipment capable of detecting such devices. Employees who 

possess an NRC or Department of Energy access authorization shall be 

searched at random intervals. Subsequent to search, drivers of delivery 

and service vehicles shall be escorted at all times while within the 

protection area.

    (2) All packages being delivered into the protected area shall be 

checked for proper identification and authorization. Packages other than 

hand-carried



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packages shall be searched at random intervals.

    (3) A picture badge identification system shall be used for all 

individuals who are authorized access to protected areas without escort.

    (4) Access to vital areas and material access areas shall be limited 

to individuals who are authorized access to vital equipment or special 

nuclear material and who require such access to perform their duties. 

Authorization for such individuals shall be provided by the issuance of 

specially coded numbered badges indicating vital areas and material 

access areas to which access is authorized. Unoccupied vital areas and 

material access areas shall be protected by an active intrusion alarm 

system.

    (5) Individuals not employed by the licensee must be escorted by a 

watchman, or other individual designated by the licensee, while in a 

protected area and must be badged to indicate that an escort is 

required. In addition, the licensee shall require that each individual 

not employed by the licensee register his or her name, date, time, 

purpose of visit, employment affiliation, citizenship, name and badge 

number of the escort, and name of the individual to be visited. The 

licensee shall retain the register of information for three years after 

the last entry is made in the register. Except for a driver of a 

delivery or service vehicle, an individual not employed by the licensee 

who requires frequent and extended access to a protected area or a vital 

area need not be escorted if the individual is provided with a picture 

badge, which the individual must receive upon entrance into the 

protected area and return each time he or she leaves the protected area, 

that indicates--

    (i) Nonemployee-no escort required,

    (ii) Areas to which access is authorized, and

    (iii) The period for which access has been authorized.

    (6) No vehicles used primarily for the conveyance of individuals 

shall be permitted within a protected area except under emergency 

conditions.

    (7) Keys, locks, combinations, and related equipment shall be 

controlled to minimize the possibility of compromise and promptly 

changed whenever there is evidence that they have been compromised. Upon 

termination of employment of any employee, keys, locks, combinations, 

and related equipment to which that employee had access shall be 

changed.

    (d) Detection aids. (1) All alarms required pursuant to this part 

shall annunciate in a continuously manned central alarm station located 

within the protected area and in at least one other continuously manned 

station, not necessarily within the protected area, such that a single 

act cannot remove the capability of calling for assistance or otherwise 

responding to an alarm. All alarms shall be self-checking and tamper 

indicating. The annunciation of an alarm at the onsite central alarm 

station shall indicate the type of alarm (e.g., intrusion alarm, 

emergency exit alarm, etc.) and location. All intrusion alarms, 

emergency exit alarms, alarm systems, and line supervisory systems shall 

at minimum meet the performance and reliability levels indicated by GSA 

Interim Federal Specification W-A-00450 B (GSA-FSS). The GSA Interim 

Federal Specification has been approved for incorporation by reference 

by the Director of the Federal Register. A copy of the material is 

available for inspection at the NRC Library, 11545 Rockville Pike, 

Rockville, Maryland 20852-2738.

    (2) All emergency exits in each protected area and each vital area 

shall be alarmed.

    (e) Communication requirements. (1) Each guard or watchman on duty 

shall be capable of maintaining continuous communication with an 

individual in a continuously manned central alarm station within the 

protected area, who shall be capable of calling for assistance from 

other guards and watchmen and from local law enforcement authorities.

    (2) The alarm stations required by paragraph (d)(1) of this section 

shall have conventional telephone service for communication with the law 

enforcement authorities as described in paragraph (e)(1) of this 

section.

    (3) To provide the capability of continuous communication, two-way 

radio



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voice communication shall be established in addition to conventional 

telephone service between local law enforcement authorities and the 

facility and shall terminate at the facility in a continuously manned 

central alarm station within the protected area.

    (4) All communications equipment, including offsite equipment, shall 

remain operable from independent power sources in the event of loss of 

primary power.

    (f) Testing and maintenance. Each licensee shall test and maintain 

intrusion alarms, emergency alarms, communications equipment, physical 

barriers, and other security related devices or equipment utilized 

pursuant to this section as follows:

    (1) All alarms, communications equipment, physical barriers, and 

other security related devices or equipment shall be maintained in 

operable and effective condition.

    (2) Each intrusion alarm shall be functionally tested for 

operability and required performance at the beginning and end of each 

interval during which it is used for security, but not less frequently 

than once every seven (7) days.

    (3) Communications equipment shall be tested for operability and 

performance not less frequently than once at the beginning of each 

security personnel work shift.

    (g) Response requirement. (1) The licensee shall establish, 

maintain, and follow an NRC-approved safeguards contingency plan for 

responding to threats, thefts, and radiological sabotage related to the 

special nuclear material and nuclear facilities subject to the 

provisions of this section. Safeguards contingency plans must be in 

accordance with the criteria in appendix C to this part, ``Licensee 

Safeguards Contingency Plans.'' The licensee shall retain the current 

safeguards contingency plan as a record until the Commission terminates 

the license and, if any portion of the plan is superseded, retain the 

superseded portion for 3 years after the effectivedate of the change.

    (2) The licensee shall establish and document liaison with law 

enforcement authorities. The licensee shall retain the documentation of 

the current liaison as a record until the Commission terminates each 

license for which the liaison was developed and, if any portion of the 

liaison documentation is superseded, retain the superseded material for 

three years after each change.

    (3) Upon detection of abnormal presence or activity of persons or 

vehicles within an isolation zone, a protected area, a material access 

area, or a vital area; or upon evidence or indication of intrusion into 

a protected area, material access area, or vital area, the licensee 

security organization shall:

    (i) Determine whether or not a threat exists,

    (ii) Assess the extent of the threat, if any, and

    (iii) Take immediate concurrent measures to neutralize the threat, 

by:

    (A) Requiring responding guards to interpose themselves between 

material access areas and vital areas and any adversary attempting entry 

for the purpose of theft of special nuclear material or radiological 

sabotage and to intercept any person exiting with special nuclear 

material, and,

    (B) Informing local law enforcement agencies of the threat and 

requesting assistance.

    (4) The licensee shall instruct every guard to prevent or impede 

attempted acts of theft or radiological sabotage by using force 

sufficient to counter the force directed at him including deadly force 

when the guard has a reasonable belief it is necessary in self-defense 

or in the defense of others.

    (h) Each licensee shall establish, maintain, and follow an NRC-

approved training and qualifications plan outlining the processes by 

which guards, watchmen, armed response persons, and other members of the 

security organization will be selected, trained,



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equipped, tested, and qualified to ensure that these individuals meet 

the requirements of paragraph (a)(4) of this section.



(Sec. 161i, Pub. L. 83-703, 68 Stat. 948, Pub. L. 93-377, 88 Stat. 475; 

secs. 201, 204(b)(1), Pub. L. 93-438, 88 Stat. 1242-1243, 1245, Pub. L. 

94-79, 89 Stat. 413 (42 U.S.C. 2201, 5841, 5844))



[38 FR 35430, Dec. 28, 1973, as amended at 42 FR 64103, Dec. 22, 1977; 

43 FR 11965, Mar. 23, 1978; 43 FR 37426, Aug. 23, 1978; 44 FR 68198, 

Nov. 28, 1979; 53 FR 19259, May 27, 1988; 57 FR 33430, July 29, 1992; 57 

FR 61787, Dec. 29, 1992; 59 FR 50689, Oct. 5, 1994; 63 FR 26962, May 15, 

1998]