Rulemaking Activities for the Security of Fuel Cycle Facilities and Research and Test Reactors by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) last updated its regulations for the physical protection of special nuclear material over 30 years ago. After the attacks of September 11, 2001, the NRC determined that additional security measures should be put in place at fuel cycle and research and test reactors facilities, and issued approximately 50 orders to these classes of licensees. The NRC is in the process of updating these regulations to incorporate the order requirements into the regulations, as appropriate. In addition, the updated regulations need to consider the recommendations in the recently published “Nuclear Security Recommendations on Physical Protection of Nuclear Materials and Nuclear Facilities (INFCIRC/225/Revision 5)” as well as risk insights from national laboratory studies. The NRC staff is also developing a new approach for graded security requirements that factor in the attractiveness of special nuclear material to adversaries. A Regulatory Basis was published earlier this year, and the development of the proposed rule is underway. This paper provides a summary of the regulations under development, to include significant changes from the current regulations, as well as a summary of public comments received on the draft regulatory basis. In addition, it provides a schedule for the upcoming rulemaking activities.