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10 C.F.R. § 73.1   Purpose and scope.

Title 10 - Energy

Title 10: Energy
PART 73—PHYSICAL PROTECTION OF PLANTS AND MATERIALS
General Provisions

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§ 73.1   Purpose and scope.

(a) Purpose. This part prescribes requirements for the establishment and maintenance of a physical protection system which will have capabilities for the protection of special nuclear material at fixed sites and in transit and of plants in which special nuclear material is used. The following design basis threats, where referenced in ensuing sections of this part, shall be used to design safeguards systems to protect against acts of radiological sabotage and to prevent the theft of special nuclear material. Licensees subject to the provisions of §72.182, §72.212, §73.20, §73.50, and §73.60 are exempt from §73.1(a)(1)(i)(E) and §73.1(a)(1)(iii).

(1) Radiological sabotage. (i) A determined violent external assault, attack by stealth, or deceptive actions, of several persons with the following attributes, assistance and equipment:

(A) Well-trained (including military training and skills) and dedicated individuals,

(B) inside assistance which may include a knowledgeable individual who attempts to participate in a passive role (e.g., provide information), an active role (e.g., facilitate entrance and exit, disable alarms and communications, participate in violent attack), or both,

(C) suitable weapons, up to and including hand-held automatic weapons, equipped with silencers and having effective long range accuracy,

(D) hand-carried equipment, including incapacitating agents and explosives for use as tools of entry or for otherwise destroying reactor, facility, transporter, or container integrity or features of the safeguards system, and

(E) a four-wheel drive land vehicle used for transporting personnel and their hand-carried equipment to the proximity of vital areas, and

(ii) An internal threat of an insider, including an employee (in any position), and

(iii) A four-wheel drive land vehicle bomb.

(2) Theft or diversion of formula quantities of strategic special nuclear material. (i) A determined, violent, external assault, attack by stealth, or deceptive actions by a small group with the following attributes, assistance, and equipment:

(A) Well-trained (including military training and skills) and dedicated individuals;

(B) Inside assistance that may include a knowledgeable individual who attempts to participate in a passive role (e.g., provide information), an active role (e.g., facilitate entrance and exit, disable alarms and communications, participate in violent attack), or both;

(C) Suitable weapons, up to and including hand-held automatic weapons, equipped with silencers and having effective long-range accuracy;

(D) Hand-carried equipment, including incapacitating agents and explosives for use as tools of entry or for otherwise destroying reactor, facility, transporter, or container integrity or features of the safe-guards system;

(E) Land vehicles used for transporting personnel and their hand-carried equipment; and

(F) the ability to operate as two or more teams.

(ii) An individual, including an employee (in any position), and

(iii) A conspiracy between individuals in any position who may have:

(A) Access to and detailed knowledge of nuclear power plants or the facilities referred to in §73.20(a), or

(B) items that could facilitate theft of special nuclear material (e.g., small tools, substitute material, false documents, etc.), or both.

(b) Scope. (1) This part prescribes requirements for:

(i) The physical protection of production and utilization facilities licensed pursuant to part 50 of this chapter,

(ii) The physical protection of plants in which activities licensed pursuant to part 70 of this chapter are conducted, and

(iii) The physical protection of special nuclear material by any person who, pursuant to the regulations in part 61 or 70 of this chapter, possesses or uses at any site or contiguous sites subject to the control by the licensee, formula quantities of strategic special nuclear material or special nuclear material of moderate strategic significance or special nuclear material of low strategic significance.

(2) This part prescribes requirements for the physical protection of special nuclear material in transportation by any person who is licensed pursuant to the regulations in parts 70 and 110 of this chapter who imports, exports, transports, delivers to a carrier for transport in a single shipment, or takes delivery of a single shipment free on board (F.O.B.) where it is delivered to a carrier, formula quantities of strategic special nuclear material, special nuclear material of moderate strategic significance or special nuclear material of low strategic significance.

(3) This part also applies to shipments by air of special nuclear material in quantities exceeding: (i) 20 grams or 20 curies, whichever is less, of plutonium or uranium-233, or (ii) 350 grams of uranium-235 (contained in uranium enriched to 20 percent or more in the U–235 isotope).

(4) Special nuclear material subject to this part may also be protected pursuant to security procedures prescribed by the Commission or another Government agency for the protection of classified materials. The provisions and requirements of this part are in addition to, and not in substitution for, any such security procedures. Compliance with the requirements of this part does not relieve any licensee from any requirement or obligation to protect special nuclear material pursuant to security procedures prescribed by the Commission or other Government agency for the protection of classified materials.

(5) This part also applies to the shipment of irradiated reactor fuel in quantities that in a single shipment both exceed 100 grams in net weight of irradiated fuel, exclusive of cladding or other structural or packaging material, and have a total radiation dose in excess of 100 rems per hour at a distance of 3 feet from any accessible surface without intervening shielding.

(6) This part prescribes requirements for the physical protection of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste stored in either an independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) or a monitored retrievable storage (MRS) installation licensed under part 72 of this chapter, or stored at the geologic repository operations area licensed under part 60 or part 63 of this chapter.

(7) This part prescribes requirements for the protection of Safeguards Information in the hands of any person, whether or not a licensee of the Commission, who produces, receives, or acquires Safeguards Information.

(8) This part prescribes requirements for advance notice of export and import shipments of special nuclear material, including irradiated reactor fuel.

(9) As provided in part 76 of this chapter, the regulations of this part establish procedures and criteria for physical security for the issuance of a certificate of compliance or the approval of a compliance plan.

[44 FR 68186, Nov. 28, 1979, as amended at 45 FR 67645, Oct. 14, 1980; 45 FR 80271, Dec. 4, 1980; 46 FR 51724, Oct. 22, 1981; 47 FR 57482, Dec. 27, 1982; 52 FR 9653, Mar. 26, 1987; 53 FR 31683, Aug. 19, 1988; 53 FR 45451, Nov. 10, 1988; 59 FR 38899, Aug. 1, 1994; 59 FR 48960, Sept. 23, 1994; 63 FR 26962, May 15, 1998; 66 FR 55816, Nov. 2, 2001]

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