NRC OKs public access to report on 2014 inspection activity at plants

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said on Tuesday that it has made its report to Congress available to the public.

The report details the NRC's security inspection activities at nuclear power reactors and related facilities in 2014. Inspection procedures were updated in 2014 to enhance inspection ability and improve exercises relating to physical protection measures, known as force-on-force (FOF) inspections, at nuclear power plants and decommissioning-activity plants.

“The NRC files this report to inform Congress on our efforts to oversee the protection of the nation’s civilian nuclear power infrastructure,” NRC Chairman Stephen Burns said. “The NRC is committed to ensuring licensees maintain robust and rigorous physical and cybersecurity programs to protect the facilities we regulate and the materials managed within them."

The NRC conducted 233 security inspections, which included 23 FOF inspections. When a violation is discovered during an evaluation, the NRC is required to take immediate action or to set up compensatory measures to mitigate the situation. The specific details of security findings made by the NRC are deemed to be sensitive information and are not made publicly available.

The reporting requirement is part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.