NRC APPROVES FINAL RULE TO RELIEVE CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS FROM ENERGY
ACT REQUIREMENTS ON FINGERPRINTING, CRIMINAL HISTORY CHECKS
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The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission today approved a final rule, immediately effective, to relieve certain individuals who have been approved by the Commission for access to Safeguards Information (SGI) from the fingerprinting and criminal history checks required by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The regulatory relief, authorized by the Atomic Energy Act, is necessary for the NRC to continue to share SGI with certain categories of international and domestic government representatives. The Commission plans to revise and republish a proposed SGI rule that may more fully address fingerprinting and criminal history checks; however, the revision has taken longer than expected and immediate relief from these checks for certain individuals is necessary.

SGI is a form of sensitive, unclassified information related to the security of nuclear facilities and materials. The NRC has the authority to designate and protect SGI.

Individuals covered by this final rule include federal, state and local officials involved in security planning and incident response, certain Agreement State employees, and members of Congress who request access to SGI as part of their oversight function. Interrupting access to this information, pending the Commission’s completion of the overall revision of the SGI rule, would impair the NRC’s day-to-day implementation of its regulatory programs and hamper communications should an imminent security threat or other emergency occur. The final rule will also allow the Commission to continue sharing SGI with its international partners.

The final rule will be published shortly in the Federal Register titled, "Relief from Fingerprinting and Criminal History Records Checks Required by the Atomic Energy Act, Section 149."

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Thursday, February 22, 2007