NRC Nuclear Security and Safeguards

Nuclear Security and Safeguards

Key Topics

• Protecting Our Nation
• Emergency Preparedness in Response to Terrorism
• Stakeholder Workshops
• Annual Report to Congress

Related Information

• OPM Data Breach Information
• Publicly Available Cover Letters for Security-Related Inspection Report (RIS-2006-008) (06/12/06)
• Protecting Our Nation (NUREG/BR-0314)
• Backgrounder on Force-on-Force Security Exercises at Nuclear Power Plants
• Security Orders
• EDO Letter to POGO on Composite Adversary Force for Security Drills at Nuclear Power Plants (9/30/04)
• Response to Questions About Wackenhut and Public Access to Security Results (11/16/04)
• International Safeguards

The NRC ensures safeguards and security by regulating licensees' (a) accounting systems for special nuclear and source materials and (b) security programs and contingency plans. These responsibilities include

• Domestic Safeguards
• Information Security
• Radioactive Material Security
• Contact Us About Public Meetings on Nuclear Security and Safeguards

Sections 3(c) and (e) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as revised, and Section 204(b)(1) of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 give NRC the responsibility for ensuring that the peaceful uses of nuclear energy "make the maximum contribution to the common defense and security and the national welfare, and ... provide continued assurance of the Government's ability to enter into and enforce agreements with nations or groups of nations for the control of special nuclear material."
The terms safeguards and security are generally used to describe programs that promote the common defense and security and protect public health and safety by guarding against theft and sabotage. The licensee security programs and contingency plans deal with threats, thefts, and sabotage relating to special nuclear material, high-level radioactive wastes, nuclear facilities, and other radioactive materials and activities that the NRC regulates.

Additional Information

• Post 9/11 Information (correspondence, fact sheets, frequently asked questions, press releases, speeches, and testimony)
• Frequently Asked Questions About NRC's Response to the 9/11 Events
• Frequently Asked Questions About Force-on-Force Security Exercises at Nuclear Power Plants
• Frequently Asked Questions About Security Assessments at Nuclear Power Plants
• Frequently Asked Questions About NRC's Design Basis Threat Final Rule
• Public Meetings on Nuclear Security and Safeguards

Page Last Reviewed/Updated Wednesday, June 24, 2015