As reported in the last OMB Watcher, NRC discontinued public access to its entire online reading room Oct. 25 after media sources revealed the site might contain several documents useful to terrorists. This included floor plans and locations of nuclear materials. Instead of simply removing the "sensitive" documents, the agency blocked all public access to that portion of the site.
Although NRC quickly restored some documents, a press release explained that the remaining documents would be reviewed and reposted according to a schedule. The agency did not provide specific timeframes, although NRC prioritized the process to review hearing-related documents first, time-sensitive documents that need public review or comments second, and other nuclear reactor documents and non facility-specific documents third. NRC also reported that any information relating to nuclear materials "is expected to take longer."
There is no guarantee that all the information will be restored. NRC Chairman Nils J. Diaz stated that the agency "will withhold any information that could be useful, or could reasonably be expected to be useful, to a terrorist." It is unclear what standards the agency is using to determine what information could be useful to a terrorist. The agency also fails to explain the legal justification for withholding large amounts of information from the public.