NRC EXCLUDES FORCE-ON-FORCE SECURITY INSPECTIONS FROM DECOM SITES

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will exclude NRC-conducted force-on-force inspections from the normal security requirements and inspections for decommissioning plants. The unanimous vote from the Commission helps address an omission from the 10.CFR.Part 73 rule update completed by the NRC in 2009, but the decision may only add fuel to Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer’s (D-Calif.) criticism of what she deems the NRC’s softened stance on security at decommissioning sites. The NRC has been operating without force-on-force inspections at decommissioning sites for some time, so there should be no changes to the current regulations of security at the sites.

 

A majority of the commissioners cited the reduction in risk a decommissioning site experiences when it enters shutdown as reason for the exclusion. “The Commission agrees with the staff’s conclusion that NRC-conducted force-on-force inspections during decommissioning are not warranted because the current security inspection program provides adequate oversight and verification of the security posture given a reduction in both risk and the number of target sets at decommissioning power reactors,” the Commission’s Staff Related Memorandum said. “The Commission has approved the staff’s recommendation to continue the current practice of security inspections for decommissioning power reactors which do not include NRC-conducted force-on-force inspections.”