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SECY 97-269

November 19, 1997

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Items of Interest
Week Ending November 14, 1997

November 6, 1997 Meeting with WOG RE: Fuel Cladding Oxidation/ 10 CFR 50.46(b)

On October 28, 1997, Westinghouse (W) notified NRC (by telecon) and its licensees (36 plants, including Fort Calhoun, a CE design) that it had discovered a non-conservatism in the oxidation model for high burnup Zr-4 clad integral fuel burnable absorber (IFBA) fuel. The model was non-conservative when compared to data for IFBA fuel with greater than about 39-40K MWD/MTU burnup. Information provided by W indicates that this is not a safety issue, but there is a question of compliance with 10 CFR 50.46 (b)(2) (> 17% local cladding oxidation). On November 6, 1997, the staff met with W and the W Owners Group (WOG) in a public meeting to verify its safety determination and discuss the compliance issue (present compliance for each plant, continued near term compliance, including compensatory actions for those plants reaching burnups at which non-compliance was projected, and long term resolution). At the meeting, the WOG identified that one plant was probably about to enter into non-compliance, but was shutting down for a scheduled refueling outage. For the remainder of the plants, W presented assessment criteria to identify plants and times at which it could no longer assure compliance.

The WOG committed to provide formally to the staff information presented at the meeting including a list of affected plants, the projected dates of potential noncompliance, and plans for resolution. The WOG also indicated that each affected plant (the next plants would be affected in about one month to 6 weeks) would take appropriate actions per 10 CFR 50.46 (a)(3)(ii) when it became affected, and indicated that compensatory actions could include peaking limitations or derating. W would continue to do more detailed assessments for plants, and make timely assessments with regard to the compliance issue. In the longer term, W will correct its model and begin implementing it, by August 1998.

The staff concluded that the W licensees are presently in compliance with 10 CFR 50.46 requirements and that the overall plan offered the licensees a means to show continued compliance with both the reporting and the analytical requirements of 10 CFR 50.46.

Palo Verde Unit 2

Steam Generator Tube Eddy Current Inspection Results

Arizona Public Service Company (APS), the licensee for Palo Verde Unit 2 (PV-2), has completed its steam generator (SG) tube eddy current (EC) inspections for the current refueling outage (end-of-cycle 7). Through its bobbin coil probe inspections, APS identified 54 pluggable wear indications in the batwing-stay cylinder area. (The batwings are diagonal straps that provide support for the SG tubes. The stay cylinder region is an untubed area located in the center of the tube bundle.) The structural limit for SG tube wear is 75% throughwall, but the licensee implements a conservative plugging limit of 20% throughwall to account for high growth rates in this region. PV-2 reported 51 pluggable batwing wear indications in the #22 SG and 3 pluggable indications in the #21 SG. The licensee attributed the difference in number of pluggable indications in each SG to the shroud modifications made in the #22 SG. These modifications increased the flow rates through the SG, resulting in increased wear rates. APS used an Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Appendix H qualified technique to size the wear indications; the largest of the batwing wear indications was sized at a depth of 70% throughwall.

In an RAI dated October 2, 1997, the staff requested the licensee to discuss APS' decision to not in situ pressure test or pull the tube with the 70% throughwall indication to ensure adequate leakage and structural integrity over the past operating cycle was maintained. In developing its response to the RAI, the licensee identified several significant issues associated with the EPRI qualification of the technique used to size wear indications. An assessment of these issues resulted in APS concluding the sizing technique used in past inspections may have been nonconservative. The licensee plans to document its position in the RAI response, including an operability determination for PV-2 as well as similarly affected SGs in the other Palo Verde units. APS also notified EPRI and the Combustion Engineering Owners Group of its findings.

BWR Fall Outage Issues

Hope Creek Jet Pump Sensing Line Cracking and Core Spray Inlet Nozzle Cracking

During RFO7, the licensee found cracking indications on the jet pump sensing line (JPSL) lower brackets for Jet Pumps 8 and 15, and a failure of the same weld on Jet Pump 9. No cracks or failures of the sensing lines were observed. The sensing lines are 0.25-inch pipes which are welded to the jet pump diffuser by two 0.5-inch square support brackets, the lower of which were found to be cracked and failed. The licensee has installed semi-circular ring clamps to restrain the JPSL against their support brackets, replacing the original welds. Similar cracks were observed at Susquehanna Unit 2 in 1994, and similar clamps were installed at that time. Subsequent inspections of the clamps have shown that the clamps are still in place.

Additionally, the licensee found an SCC crack in the weld butter of the core spray inlet nozzle. The licensee expanded its inspection to the other core spray nozzle and four other RCS nozzles, and did not find any additional cracking. The examinations were performed by qualified automated UT systems.

The staff is continuing to evaluate the licensee's evaluations.

Peach Bottom 3 Jet Pump Riser Elbow Cracking

The licensee has found cracks on the thermal sleeve to jet pump riser elbow side of weld RS-1 in the heat affected zone on three jet pump risers (jet pumps 1 and 2, 9 and 10, and 13 and 14). The cracks are 10.8, 1.7 and 12.7 inches, respectively. All other jet pump assemblies have been inspected at jet pump riser locations, and no further cracking was detected. The other welds on the risers were also inspected.

The licensee has completed a fracture mechanics evaluation of the cracking utilizing industry topical report BWRVIP-41, "BWR Jet Pump Assembly Inspection and Flaw Evaluation Guidelines," which is presently under staff review. The licensee has determined that continued operation (the unit is presently at 100% power) is justified for several months, and that if flow is reduced to 80% of rated (approximately 92% power), the licensee has stated that fatigue crack growth will be bounded for operation as long as 8 months. Further, the licensee has stated that it plans on installing a repair to jet pumps 1 and 2, and to 13 and 14, within the time frame of the analysis.

The staff is evaluating the licensee's evaluation, especially the technical significance of combining fatigue and SCC crack growth rates, and is reviewing if any additional regulatory actions may be necessary.

Hatch 1 Core Plate Support Ring and Jet Pump Riser Cracking

The licensee found a 0.3-inch long vertical crack on the outside diameter of the core plate support ring segment weld. The inspection scope was expanded to one other weld (the additional four welds in this segment are inaccessible), and no other indications were found. The licensee also found cracking in the heat affected zones of the elbow to thermal sleeve weld in two of the 10 jet pump inlet nozzles (N2B and N2D). The cracks are 1.625 inches at the 12:00 position on the sleeve side of nozzle N2B and 2.178 inches at the 12:00 position on the elbow side of nozzle N2D. The licensee expanded its inspection scope to include the accessible portions of welds at the elbow to riser, riser to transition piece, riser brace, jet pump diffuser, and jet pump adaptor locations on the associated jet pumps, and found no additional cracking.

The licensee performed an evaluation of the above cracking, and determined that an additional cycle of operation was acceptable. Further, the licensee committed to re-inspecting during the next outage to determine crack growth.

The staff is evaluating the licensee's evaluation, and is continuing discussions with the licensee on this issue.

Crystal River 3 Restart Progress

Licensing Submittals

Florida Power Corporation (FPC or the licensee) continues to maintain its target for completing the corrective actions and restarting the facility by December 1997. FPC identified 37 potential licensing submittals that would require NRC approval prior to restart in December 1997. Additionally, during its recent Safety System Functional Inspection (SSFI), the staff identified several unresolved issues and the region submitted four Task Interface Agreements (TIAs) for NRR determination whether the issues must be resolved prior to restart. The current status of these issues is as follows:

Status of Licensing Submittals That Are Required For Restart

On November 6, 1997, in a telephone conference with the staff, FPC indicated that it has made preliminary assessments using the GL 91-18, Revision 1 guidance to determine operability for several identified Unreviewed Safety Questions (USQs). Based on their preliminary assessments, FPC believes that its amendment requests for 6 USQs would not require staff approval prior to restart. The staff plans to independently review FPC's position on these six issues.

Salem Unit 1

Operational Status - Salem Unit 2 is operating at 100% power. Salem Unit 1 is shut down and defueled. The licensee's target date for restart is February 1998.

Salem Assessment Panel - The next meeting of the Salem Assessment Panel will be held at the site on November 20, 1997. Following the meeting, the Panel will meet with the licensee to review the items that have to be closed prior to restart of Salem Unit 1.

Licensing Actions - One amendment is required to support restart of Salem Unit 1 to incorporate parameters from the Margin Recovery Program. These parameters have been used in the Chapter 15 accident analyses in the 50.59 evaluations that were developed by the licensee for the replacement of the steam generators.

Quad Cities, Units 1 and 2

Inoperable Safe Shutdown Paths and Early Unit 2 Maintenance Outage

On 09/26/97, the licensee entered a 67-day LCO because all safe shutdown (SSD) paths were determined to be inoperable. In the Quad Cities SSD analysis, all cables within a fire area are postulated to fail in the event of a fire, except for those cables provided with passive fire protection. The SSD analysis relies on the opposite unit equipment to help place and maintain the affected unit in a safe shutdown condition. This assumes that the SSD equipment is not affected by the fire and that the breakers for the non-SSD loads on the same bus as the SSD equipment would be opened or shed from the bus. If the non-SSD load breakers are not shed from the bus and the cables for these loads pass through the fire zone, damage to these cables could cause loss of power to the SSD equipment on that bus for the unaffected unit.

Upon review of the Fire Protection Report (FPR) the station discovered two issues with the implementation of the SSD analysis. The first issue discovered was that even though the SSD analysis assumes shedding non-SSD loads the station procedures do not implement all of the assumed load shedding. The second discovery was that the analysis that addresses the ability to shutdown the unaffected unit after shedding of non-SSD loads could not be located. The licensee did not have assurance that the SSD paths were operable. There is no analysis in place that ensures that equipment used to safely shutdown the unaffected unit will not be affected by fire in the affected unit, therefore the licensee declared all SSD paths inoperable.

Update: As of 11/12/97, the licensee is still completing review of the SSD procedures for Unit 1. Unit 1 is presently operating in day 47 of the 67-day administrative LCO while Unit 2 is shutdown. Unit 2 has completed Maintenance Outage Q2P01; however, it will not start up until the procedures for Unit 2 have been reviewed/revised, as necessary. Instead of revising the current SSD procedures to include load shedding on the opposite unit, the licensee is now revising the SSD procedures to include the Station Blackout diesel as an alternate power source. The licensee projects completing the Unit 1 work prior to the expiration of the 67-day LCO. Unit 2 startup is projected to be in late December.

There has been a meeting set up at the site on November 20 to address these issues with the licensee. NRC staff participation will include Plant Systems, Projects, RIII, and the resident staff.

Braidwood Units 1 and 2

Waterhammer at Braidwood, Unit 2

Braidwood, Unit 2 is in startup following completion of a refueling outage. With the unit in Mode 3, the licensee was attempting to open an air operated control valve in a 6 inch feedwater tempering line to the upper steam generator nozzle on the "D" steam generator. The nozzle is also used for auxiliary feedwater. The valve did not respond, so the licensee increased the air pressure. The valve suddenly opened. The piping downstream of the valve had been voided and a resulting water hammer occurred. The event happened at about 2:00 am (CST) on 11/10/97.

Upon immediate visual inspection of the system, the licensee reported that they found: (1) a spring can pipe support was damaged; (2) a box guide pipe support was damaged and pulled out of the wall; and (3) two snubbers on the 16 inch main feedwater line were challenged.

So far the licensee has used magnetic particle and UT to inspect the steam generator nozzle. ComEd found no damage to the nozzle. ComEd is presently inspecting the welds in the tempering line. The spring can has been repaired. Most likely, the licensee will have to drill new holes to reattach the box guide. The two snubbers on the main feedwater line were tested and were found to be operable. The licensee also tested two additional snubbers downstream of the two that were challenged and they also were found to be operable. A root cause analysis is underway. The licensee is expecting to have all actions related to this event completed within the next few days.

Region III has sent an specialist inspector to the site and will send one or two on 11/13/97 to monitor and evaluate the licensee's activities.

Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards
Items of Interest
Week Ending November 14, 1997

International Atomic Energy Agency Safety Guide

On November 3-7, 1997, a Division of Industrial, Medical and Nuclear Safety

senior staff member chaired an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Advisory Group meeting in Vienna, Austria, to finalize Safety Series No. 41, "Source and Environmental Monitoring for Radiation Protection of the Public." Participants included representatives from the European Commission, Finland, Germany, Japan, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The objective of the IAEA Safety Guide is to give practical guidance to regulatory authorities and collaborating national and professional organizations on compliance with the IAEA's Basic Safety Standards in this area. The Safety Guide includes source and environmental monitoring for radiation protection of the public under normal conditions, as well as assessment of long-term exposure from widespread contamination of the environment following a radiation accident.

Material Protection, Control and Accounting Support

On November 3-6, 1997, a Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff member conducted a Material Protection, Control and Accounting (MPC&A) regulatory issues meeting with officials of GOSATOMNADZOR (GAN) of Russia at NRC Headquarters. This meeting, conducted under the Lisbon Initiative, addressed development and implementation of NRC's guidance documents, and resulted in a general description of long-term project areas between NRC and GAN. A draft agenda was developed by NRC and GAN for Priority 6 (MPC&A) to be discussed at the December 1997 Lisbon Initiative annual meeting.

A Department of Energy (DOE) representative, who works with GAN under DOE-GAN MPC&A Project 1 (Regulatory Development), also attended the meeting to coordinate NRC/DOE regulatory assistance being provided to GAN in the MPC&A area.

Meeting with International Organizations on Dry Cask Storage

On October 30, 1997, Spent Fuel Project Office (SFPO) staff members met with the International Atomic Energy Agency's Program Manager for Storage of Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste to exchange information on dry cask storage of spent fuel, particularly the recent Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspection findings related to fabrication of VSC-24 spent fuel cask components.

From November 3-6, 1997, SFPO staff members met with representatives of the Nuclear Regulatory Administration (NRA) of the Ukraine, the Zaporozhe power plant, and the E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute to discuss these same NRC inspection findings. Representatives from Duke Engineering Services and the Department of Energy also attended the meeting. The Ukrainians plan to use the VSC-24 design for interim storage of spent power plant fuel, and NRA noted that it will follow VSC-24 fabrication activities in the Ukraine closely.

Integrated Safety Analyses Workshop

On November 3-7, 1997, Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff and representatives of General Electric Nuclear Energy (GE) conducted a workshop on Integrated Safety Analyses (ISA) at GE's nuclear fuel fabrication facility in Wilmington, North Carolina. The purpose of the workshop was to assess the methodology, information, and results of an ISA, as well as to identify how the performance and maintenance of an ISA and the ISA results can best be incorporated into the regulatory process. Development and maintenance of ISAs are keystones in NRC staff plans to implement risk-informed, performance-based regulations for fuel cycle facilities, including the development of draft proposed revisions to NRC licensing requirements for fuel fabrication facilities in 10 CFR Part 70. The ISA workshop raised a number of regulatory and technical issues that will need to be resolved as the NRC and fuel cycle licensees move forward with ISA development and implementation. For example, workshop participants identified issues associated with integration of the conventional "double contingency" approach to nuclear criticality safety with the risk analysis to be performed as part of the ISA.

Although the workshop was not open to the public, due to the proprietary information involved, the NRC staff is developing a point paper to summarize the principal observations and conclusions from the workshop, along with recommendations on how to proceed. When completed, the point paper will be released to the public, and will support revisions to the draft Standard Review Plan for fuel fabrication facilities. GE plans to discuss the observations and issues identified in the workshop with other members of the fuel fabrication industry, which may lead to follow-on discussions with the NRC.

Department of Energy/Nuclear Regulatory Commission Technical Exchange

On November 5-6, 1997, Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Department of Energy (DOE) staff conducted a technical exchange to discuss and comment on their respective staff approaches to total-system performance assessments (TSPAs) for Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Also attending the technical exchange were representatives from the State of Nevada; the Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force; Clark and Nye Counties, Nevada; NRC's Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste; and members and staff from the U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board.

A goal of this technical exchange was for NRC staff to provide DOE with early feed-back on the sufficiency of the TSPA to be submitted as part of DOE's forthcoming Viability Assessment (VA). The two staffs continued their earlier discussions on the significance of matrix diffusion in flow and transport in the saturated zone, and the abstraction and modeling of the waste package. New discussions began with respect to the treatment of scenarios and disruptive events, and biosphere modeling activities. Although there are a number of strengths to DOE's overall TSPA VA approach, NRC staff identified specific areas in the forthcoming TSPA VA that may be potential weaknesses in the analysis and are likely to receive further NRC staff review.

Meeting with Holtec International and Pacific Gas and Electric

On November 6, 1997, Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff members met with Holtec International (Holtec) and Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) to discuss Holtec's proposal to submit a topical report on use of its Hi-Star and Hi-Storm dual purpose cask systems in high seismic areas. Representatives of Northern States Power, Private Fuel Storage, Booz Allen, the Ibex Group, and a member of the public also attended the meeting. Holtec believes that it has design approaches which will allow its cask systems to meet the rigorous regulatory standards for high seismic areas contained in 10 CFR Part 72. PG&E has assisted Holtec in this effort using their experience with the Humboldt Bay and Diablo Canyon power plants. Holtec anticipates submitting the report to the NRC in August 1998.

Office for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data
Items of Interest
Week Ending November 14, 1997

Ukrainian Priority 2.1 and Russian Priority 5.1

As part of Ukrainian Priority 2.1 and Russian Priority 5.1 (Analytical Simulator) of the Lisbon Initiative, two members of the Technical Training Division (TTD) staff participated in the kick off meeting for the second phase of the project, development of an RBMK simulation model for the Analytical Simulator, November 10-14, 1997 at the contractor's facility in Columbia, MD. The Analytical Simulators that will be installed in the offices of the Ukrainian Nuclear Regulatory Agency and Gosatomnadzor of Russia later this year will provide a tool for inspector training and operational assessment. The second phase of the project will include some additional training for the Russians and Ukrainians as well as development of the RBMK models and an extensive testing program. The objectives of the meeting were to begin work on the preliminary design specifications and to establish the phase two project schedule.

Draft Special Study: Operating Experience Feedback from Service Water System Failures and Degradations (1986 - 1995)

SPD issued a draft special study on the operating experience of service water systems (SWS) for the period of 1986 through 1995 for internal NRC review and comments. The major findings of the study include that there were no total SWS losses resulting in failure of equipment needed for core cooling during the period. Licensee activities in response to Generic Letter (GL) 89-13 appear to have been successful in identifying programmatic and design related issues affecting SWS performance. Licensee GL 89-13 efforts primarily identified problems of the potential failure/degradation type rather than actual failures. The frequency and severity of the SWS events reported during the period are consistent with the risk contributions of SWS in IPE and ASP analyses. Events affecting SWS performance were observable but not dominant contributors to risk. A meeting will be held on December 16 to discuss comments on the draft study.

Guidance for Reporting Reliability Information to the Equipment Performance and Information Exchange (EPIX) System

INPO has provided NRC staff their draft "Reliability Data Collection Guidance" for review and comment. The draft provides detailed guidance to utilities for reporting demand data, run times, and unplanned unavailability information to EPIX as agreed to in NRC's acceptance of the voluntary approach for providing reliability data. NRC staff will be discussing the guidance with INPO staff this month and providing comments on the technical quality of the guidance.

Pre-exercise Training for Maryland Responders

On November 6, 1997, two members of AEOD staff provided three hours of training on NRC's concept of operation and post-accident environmental assessment techniques to representatives from the State of Maryland. This was in response to a request by the State of Maryland in preparation for their upcoming ingestion pathway exercise. Region I Emergency Response Coordinator also participated in the training and provided added information to the participants.

PRELIMINARY NOTIFICATIONS

Office of Administration
Items of Interest
Week Ending November 14, 1997

Facilities Security Support

The Office of Administration provided administrative and security support for the Annual Federal Employees' Health Fair in the NRC auditorium sponsored by Congresswoman Morella. The Fair was held November 12, 1997, beginning at 7:30 pm. Special security arrangements were made to allow public parking in the TWFN garage and easy access from there to the auditorium. Special instructions were provided to NRC employees, alerting them to the temporary two-way traffic patterns in each of the TWF garages.

Protest

A protest to the NRC Contracting Officer was received from Scientech, Inc. under RFP No. RS-AED-97-269 for the procurement of real time risk software. On November 12, 1997, Scientech submitted, as part of its proposal on the subject RFP, a protest alleging that the agency failed "to treat Scientech fairly by holding discussions with one of Scientech's competitors... but refusing to hold similar discussions with Scientech." Also, Scientech alleges that certain requirements in the RFP are overly restrictive and not necessary to meet the agency's minimum needs.

Chief Information Officer
Items of Interest
Week Ending November 14, 1997

Freedom of Information and Privacy Act Requests Received during the 4-Day Period of October 7 - November 13, 1997:

Office of Human Resources
Items of Interest
Week Ending November 14, 1997

Savings Bonds Campaign Award Ceremony Attended

On November 13, 1997, Janice Clemens and Henry Rubin attended the 1997 Annual Federal Savings Bonds Campaign Awards Ceremony held at the U.S. Department of Justice Building. Also in attendance were Attorney General Janet Reno, Treasurer Mary Ellen Withrow, and Dino De Concini, Executive Director of the U.S. Savings Bonds Marketing Office.

Office of Public Affairs
Items of Interest
Week Ending November 14, 1997

Media Interest

The Advocate, in Baton Rouge, is planning a story on arrangements for the exchange of classified information between URENCO and its U.S. partners with regard to the proposed Louisiana Enrichment Services facility.

Five reporters attended a decommissioning meeting at Big Rock Point.

School Volunteers Program

Louise Lovell, IRM, has been invited to serve on the Advisory Committee for Network Operations and Programming at Thomas Edison H.S. of Technology.

Phil Justus, NMSS, discussed rocks and minerals with first graders at Sally K. Ride E.S.

Bret Leslie, NMSS, discussed geology with first graders at Galway E.S.

Office of International Programs
Items of Interest
Week Ending November 14, 1997

Visit of Andre-Claude Lacoste

Andre-Claude Lacoste, Director of the French Directorate for the Safety of Nuclear Installations, led a five-person delegation for meetings with the NRR staff, November 12-13. The meetings consisted of mutual exchange discussions on high burn-up fuel and control rod issues, inspection procedures, recent events of regulatory significance, application of PSA in the regulatory process, and engineering excellence. Also, Mr. Lacoste visited the research reactor facilities at NIST on November 10.

In addition to the meetings with the staff, Mr. Lacoste met with Chairman Jackson and Commissioners Diaz and McGaffigan to discuss broad policy issues that may effect the regulatory situation in the two countries.

Office of the Secretary
Items of Interest
Week Ending November 14, 1997

Commission Correspondence Released to the Public

Federal Register Notices Issued

Region I
Items of Interest
Week Ending November 14, 1997

Presentation on NRC Role in Regulation of Radioactive Material

On November 12, 1997, DNMS representative Ms. Betsy Ullrich, spoke to graduate students enrolled in the Temple University/College of Engineering Masters in Environmental Health and Safety program. Ms. Ullrich spoke at Temple's "Environmental Seminar", a series of one-hour meetings between the students and a speaker from a regulatory agency. The seminar provides students the opportunity to learn about the laws that form the basis for the regulatory agency's authority, the scope of the agency's jurisdiction, and the types of activities performed by employees of the agency.

Stroh Brewery Predicisional Enforcement Conference

A predecisional enforcement conference was held on November 12, 1997 with the Stroh Brewery Company to discuss the unauthorized disposal of a 100-millicurie, generally licensed, americium-241 sealed source. Stroh representatives discussed corrective actions, which include the hiring of Alaron Corporation to assess and properly dispose of a trailer full of contaminated shredded material at Royal Green Recylers, Temple, Pennsylvania. In addition, Stroh representatives discussed their plans to further search for a 100-millicurie americium-241 sealed source that remains unaccounted for. Enforcement action is pending.

Pilgrim

On November 13, 1997, NRC met with Boston Edison Company officials in Plymouth, MA., for a SALP management meeting. The SALP report, issued by Region I on November 4, recognized overall good performance but noted a need for continued management attention to address issues in several areas.

In preparation for the management meeting, the Region I Administrator, the Director of Reactor Safety, Region I staff from the Division of Reactor Projects and NRR managers took plant tours and conducted personnel interviews on November 12 and 13.

Region II
Items of Interest
Week Ending November 14, 1997

Duke Energy Corporation -- McGuire

On November 12, 1997, representatives of Duke Energy's McGuire facility were in Region II to provide an assessment of their recent performance. The licensee representatives discussed initiatives and remaining challenges in the areas of human performance equipment reliability and corrective action program.

Duke Energy Corporation -- Oconee

On November 13, 1997, Region II held a bi-monthly performance meeting with Oconee Nuclear Station Management. The licensee presented the status of their efforts to implement the Oconee Nuclear Site Recovery Plan. Included in the discussion were topics such as steps to upgrade plant equipment reliability, studies to address certain design bases, communications of expectations to all employees, and activities to improve use of self-assessments and audits.

Region II - Annual Training Managers' Conference

On November 12-13, 1997, Region II Operator Licensing and Human Performance Branch held the Annual Training Manager's Conference in Atlanta, Georgia at the Atlanta Federal Center. The one and a half day conference was attended by training managers from each of the Region II power reactor facilities. The meeting included discussions lead by the DRS Division Director, the acting Deputy Region Administrator and the NRR Branch Chief of Operator Licensing. Discussions were held on the current Initial Examination process, including examples of good and bad written and walkthrough questions.

Brunswick Nuclear Station

On November 14, 1997, a meeting was conducted with representatives of Carolina Power and Light Company's Brunswick Nuclear Plant to discuss the status of corrective actions for the site's Environmental Qualification Program. The licensee indicated that the corrective actions are on schedule with the exception of the issuing of revised Qualification Data Packages (QDPs). The licensee will require additional time to complete the QDP revisions.

Tennessee Valley Authority - Watts Bar

On November 14, 1997, Watts Bar management met with NRC regional management in the Region II office to discuss the results of the plant's first refueling outage. The licensee discussed their objectives, how they were accomplished, successes, resolution of emergent issues, and lessons learned.

Region III
Items of Interest
Week Ending November 14, 1997

Public Meeting on Big Rock Point Decommissioning

On November 13, 1997, NRC staff from the Headquarters Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation and Region III conducted a public meeting in Charlevoix, Michigan, to discuss Consumer Energy's decision to immediately dismantle the Big Rock Point Nuclear Power Plant -- a change from the utility's original plans to leave the plant in safe storage for about 26 years prior to dismantlement. The facility permanently shut down on August 29, 1997. On September 19, 1997, the utility informed the NRC of its plans to forgo the original decommissioning plan and to proceed to dismantlement and decontamination.

Management Meeting with Illinois Power Company - Clinton Plant

On November 14, 1997, a management meeting was conducted at the Clinton Nuclear Power Plant, Clinton, Illinois, between management representatives Illinois Power Company and members of the NRC staff. The utility discussed its plan for excellence. The utility stated that the Clinton plant won't be restarted until after March 1998.

Management Meeting with Commonwealth Edison Company - Zion

On November 14, 1997, a management meeting was conducted in the Region III Office, Lisle, Illinois, between management representatives from Commonwealth Edison Company and members of the NRC staff. The meeting discussion focused on the utility's progress in plant improvement actions. The utility indicated that Zion's startup may take place in late December.

Management Visit to NRC Region II

NRC Region III's Acting Director of the Division of Administration B.J. Holt and other members of the regional staff visited NRC Region II, Atlanta, Georgia, to review the information technology processes used by Region II.

Region IV
Items of Interest
Week Ending November 14, 1997

Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate (SKI) Week of 11/3/97

On November 5, 1997, the Senior Resident Inspector at WNP-2 met with Ms. Anna Lekberg of the Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate (SKI) to discuss the role of the resident inspector in the NRC's reactor inspection program. The meeting focused upon the resident inspector's role as the on-site inspector in both evaluating the licensee's regulatory performance and in responding to potential emergencies at the facility. Ms. Lekberg is a technical advisor in SKI's Department of Man Technology Organization and was visiting the WNP-2 facility and the Richland, Washington area as a representative of SKI to work with Batelle's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).

Waterford-3 Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) Meeting

On November 13, 1997, an open public meeting was held between NRC and the Waterford 3 licensee to discuss recent inspection results and the progress the licensee has made in improving engineering performance at the plant. The meeting focused on the operability determination process and engineering staffing at the facility. The next meeting will be in conjunction with the quality assurance program review (IP 40500) and will be conducted in early 1998.

Meeting with Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation

On November 14, 1997, the Region IV Regional Administrator, and members of the Region IV and NRR staffs, met with representatives of the Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation at the Wolf Creek Generating Station. The meeting was part of the ongoing dialogue between the licensee and Region IV in response to performance weaknesses identified in Wolf Creek's last SALP report. This meeting focused on human performance problems and the licensee's efforts to improve in this area. A special inspection on this topic, supported by Regional and Headquarters personnel, was conducted in October (IR 50-482/97-19). The licensee described their recently instituted improvement initiatives. They included a new cause-coding system, improved training, and increased managerial focus. Additionally, the Performance Indicators used by the engineering department were reviewed. The next meeting will be in conjunction with the quality assurance program review (IPC 40500) and will be conducted in early 1998.

Meeting with Wolf Creek Representatives

On November 13, 1997, RIV and Wolf Creek representatives met at the site to discuss licensee identification of the root causes and proposed corrective actions for the 50% failure rate and less-than-expected examination quality for the most recent operator license examinations, administered in August 1997.