# Notify the NRC within 15 minutes of specified physical-security threats > Use 10 CFR 73.1200 - Notification of physical security events to review this narrow operational decision without extending the source beyond its stated scope. - Canonical URL: https://update.dsesecurity.com/updates/notify-the-nrc-within-15-minutes-of-specified-physical-security-threats/ - Publisher: Detection Systems & Engineering (DSE Security) - Author: DSE Security Editorial Team - Published: 2026-08-27T12:09:53+00:00 - Modified: 2026-08-27T13:12:22+00:00 - Last reviewed by DSE: 2026-08-26 - Resource type: Explainer - DSE priority: Advisory - Topics: Access Control, Cybersecurity, Video Surveillance - Reading time: 3 minutes ## What you need to know Use 10 CFR 73.1200 - Notification of physical security events to review this narrow operational decision without extending the source beyond its stated scope. ## Potentially affected Teams, systems, services, or facilities within the stated scope of 10 CFR 73.1200 - Notification of physical security events ## DSE recommendation Compare the observed state with the cited official source, document applicability and exceptions, and test any approved change with rollback safeguards. ## Article Frame this document as a source-led configuration and assurance check: Notify the NRC within 15 minutes of specified physical-security threats. Only the official source and traced locations below supply facts. Confirm applicability before acting. ## Source fact: The official [10 CFR 73.1200 – Notification of physical security events](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-10/section-73.1200) from U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission via eCFR supports the following bounded statements: - A covered facility licensee must notify the NRC Headquarters Operations Center as soon as possible, but within 15 minutes, after initiating a security response to imminent or actual hostile action. The research record locates this support at 10 CFR 73.1200(a)(1), read with 10 CFR 73.1200(a) (eCFR anchor p-73.1200(a)(1)). - That NRC notification must identify the facility and briefly state the event type and whether the threat is imminent, in progress, or neutralized. The research record locates this support at 10 CFR 73.1200(a)(3)(i) and 73.1200(a)(3)(ii), read with 10 CFR 73.1200(a)(3) (eCFR anchors p-73.1200(a)(3)(i) and p-73.1200(a)(3)(ii)). The source support ends with the statements listed above. Use them to examine access control, video, intrusion detection, communications, supporting facilities, operators, and documented response paths in the applicable environment, not to imply a wider guarantee. ## What the source does not establish This covers only facility events and licensees within 10 CFR 73.1200(a). Other subsections, written follow-up duties, emergency actions, and agency instructions remain separate. A correct source interpretation can still be inapplicable to a particular design. Confirm identity, Windows DNS where used, time, networks, power, life-safety systems, vendors, and monitoring personnel, ownership, and change authority instead of treating documented behavior as a deployment guarantee. ## Applicability questions - For source statement 1 at 10 CFR 73.1200(a)(1), read with 10 CFR 73.1200(a) (eCFR anchor p-73.1200(a)(1)), which observable configuration, record, or test can confirm applicability here? - For source statement 2 at 10 CFR 73.1200(a)(3)(i) and 73.1200(a)(3)(ii), read with 10 CFR 73.1200(a)(3) (eCFR anchors p-73.1200(a)(3)(i) and p-73.1200(a)(3)(ii)), which observable configuration, record, or test can confirm applicability here? - Which owner can attest to the recorded state of access control, video, intrusion detection, communications, supporting facilities, operators, and documented response paths, including exceptions? - What baseline for identity, Windows DNS where used, time, networks, power, life-safety systems, vendors, and monitoring personnel must accompany the source-specific observation? - Which success, stop, and escalation criteria are written before testing begins? ## DSE recommendation: DSE recommends using the cited source as the evidence anchor for this decision. Make the source, asset scope, owner, and expected outcome explicit in the review record. Record the source location, examined part of access control, video, intrusion detection, communications, supporting facilities, operators, and documented response paths, observed and expected states, owner, and reason for deviation. If the review warrants change, use a bounded implementation with prerequisites, test population, monitoring, abort criteria, and a rehearsed reversal. Sequence checks for identity, Windows DNS where used, time, networks, power, life-safety systems, vendors, and monitoring personnel and sanitize protected material before retention. ## Verification and evidence Build a reproducible chain from 10 CFR 73.1200(a)(1), read with 10 CFR 73.1200(a) (eCFR anchor p-73.1200(a)(1)); 10 CFR 73.1200(a)(3)(i) and 73.1200(a)(3)(ii), read with 10 CFR 73.1200(a)(3) (eCFR anchors p-73.1200(a)(3)(i) and p-73.1200(a)(3)(ii)) to the observed environment. Useful domain evidence includes asset and firmware inventories, configuration exports, event tests, inspections, alarm response records, and maintenance findings; label every item with scope, timestamp, collector, and stable identifier. Preserve both successful and failed observations, along with approval and rollback evidence. Avoid uncontrolled production experiments. Assign an expiry or event-driven recheck so the conclusion is not treated as permanent. ## Official references - [10 CFR 73.1200 – Notification of physical security events](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-10/section-73.1200) — U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission via eCFR ## Primary reference - Name: 10 CFR 73.1200 - Notification of physical security events - Authority: www.ecfr.gov - URL: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-10/section-73.1200 - Source publication date: Not stated by the source ## Citation and use Preferred citation: “Notify the NRC within 15 minutes of specified physical-security threats,” DSE Security, https://update.dsesecurity.com/updates/notify-the-nrc-within-15-minutes-of-specified-physical-security-threats/ Publishing principles: https://update.dsesecurity.com/updates/dse-updates-editorial-methodology/ Usage and citation policy: https://update.dsesecurity.com/usage/ Copyright © 2026 Detection Systems & Engineering. All rights reserved.