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SECY 97-121

June 11, 1997

Contact:  B. McCabe, OEDO

ENCLOSURE A

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Items of Interest
Week Ending June 6, 1997

Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 2

In-Situ Pressure Testing of Degraded Steam Generator Tubes

The licensee for Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 2 (ANO-2), recently updated the NRC staff on the results of in-situ pressure testing completed in the current refueling outage. The licensee tested a total of eight tubes -- two tubes with circumferential cracks at tubesheet expansion-transitions and six tubes with axial flaws located at eggcrate support intersections. The test pressures of interest for ANO-2 are 2900 psi (peak accident pressure) and 4800 psi (three times normal operating differential pressure) to assess leakage and structural integrity, respectively. Both pressures are adjusted to account for temperature effects.

Both circumferentially cracked tubes retained the peak test pressure without burst or leakage. However, two of the axial eggcrate flaws burst at or near the pressure of 4800 psi. Therefore, these tubes may not have had sufficient structural margin to retain the pressure loads specified by NRC Regulatory Guide 1.121, "Bases for Plugging Degraded PWR Steam Generator Tubes" (i.e., three times normal operating differential pressure). The licensee sized the flaws with eddy current as having lengths of 1.36 and 1.86 inches with maximum depth estimates ranging from 49% to 83% through-wall. The licensee believes the tubes tested in the in-situ testing contained flaws that bounded degradation observed in all other tubes identified during the outage.

ANO-2 was forced into an outage in December of 1996 due to excessive leakage from similar steam generator tube degradation. In addition, tubes removed during the outage in December had significantly reduced burst pressures measured slightly above steam line break differential pressures. Given that the flaws tested in the current refueling outage had degraded structural margins and that ANO-2 was in operation for approximately 5.5 months between the two inspections, the staff has raised a concern regarding the licensee's intent to operate for nine months before entering into a mid-cycle outage to complete steam generator tube inspections. The licensee recently stated during a telephone call on 06/03/97 that an operational assessment will be completed and submitted to the NRC within three months. The staff will review this assessment when it becomes available.

Salem Nuclear Generating Station, Units 1 and 2

Restart Schedule - By letter dated May 5, 1997, the licensee provided a revised schedule for Unit 2 restart. Initial criticality is scheduled for mid-July, 1997, and full power, mid-August, 1997. Initial heatup into Mode 4 is expected June 10, 1997. The Readiness Assessment Team Inspection (RATI) began June 9, 1997.

Public Meeting - On May 28, 1997, the staff held a public meeting at Salem Community College to inform the public of the status of restart activities and the NRC's plans for the RATI. Seventy two people signed the attendance list. Of the 25 people who spoke, 16 were in favor of restart, 9 were opposed. These 9 raised concerns about fire penetration seals, plant security, the foundation of Artificial Island, and transport of nuclear waste. The staff concluded that, as a result of this meeting, no changes to the RATI plan are needed.

Restart Issues - On June 4, 1997, the staff and the licensee discussed each of the 22 actions that are needed to be resolved prior to restart. Similar discussions are being held approximately every other week to review the status of these items.

Maine Yankee

On May 27, 1997, the Board of Directors of Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company announced that it was taking immediate actions to reduce cost and place Maine Yankee in a preservation condition pending sale. It also stated that the current owners will not restart the facility. In remarks to the media, Mr. David Flanagan, Chairman of the Board, conceded that sale of Maine Yankee was not likely.

Representatives of PECo Energy are on site during the weeks of June 2 and 9, 1997, to conduct a due diligence review in support of PECo's expressed interest in purchasing Maine Yankee. Maine Yankee officials expect the review to take 30 to 60 days.

At the licensee's request, the staff is beginning a dialogue between the Maine Yankee licensing organization and the NRR decommissioning staff regarding decommissioning process issues. A discussion has also been arranged with representatives of the State of Maine at their request.

On June 4, the licensee notified the staff by telephone of their intent to curtail further work in the steam generators. The eddy current inspections in all three steam generators are essentially complete and will be fully completed prior to demobilizing the vendor's equipment. The licensee has removed one sleeve section from Steam Generator #1 and will complete the removal of the second sleeve section prior to stopping work. The third sleeve section and two additional tube sections originally planned for removal and destructive analysis will not be removed. In preparation for placing the steam generators in a wet lay-up condition, the licensee will insert plugs at the two tube pull locations and in the tubes that exhibited leakage during the in-situ pressure tests. No other tubes will be plugged at this time.

The licensee has concluded that sufficient data has been obtained from the current inspection to provide a reasonable assessment on the condition of the steam generators. The licensee will generate a list of tubes that must be repaired before the plant can be returned to service.

Oconee Nuclear Station, Units 1, 2, and 3

Oconee Unit 2 was restarted on May 24, 1997, and is operating at full power. Before restart, the failed thermal sleeve (2A1) and associated piping were replaced. Other Unit 2 sleeves were inspected and found to be satisfactory. The licensee has determined that the failure of the weld and generation of the pipe cracks were caused by high cycle thermal fatigue, resulting from thermal mixing of the warming line, makeup, and RCS flows. Temporary temperature monitoring has been installed near the nozzles on the four injection lines on Unit 2 and the two makeup lines on Unit 3 to measure the temperature changes that occur as a result of various unit and HPI operations.

As reported by the licensee in LER 97-001, a structural analysis performed for DPC by a consultant determined that, even with the existing crack, the injection line had enough remaining strength to provide a factor of safety greater than 2 under design basis event loads. This would indicate that the line would not have catastrophically failed, even during a design basis event, and that the HPI system was still capable of performing its Emergency Core Cooling System function.

The licensee currently plans to shut down Unit 1 on June 13, 1997, to perform radiographic and ultrasonic examinations of the HPI system thermal sleeves and piping.

While Units 2 and 3 were shut down, the licensee discovered excessive wear of the orifice assemblies in the minimum flow recirculation lines from the discharge of each pump to the Letdown Storage Tank. There are 10 orifices in each assembly with various orifice diameters. Their purpose is to limit recirculation flow whenever the pump is running (one pump runs continuously to supply flow to the reactor coolant pump seals and makeup flow to the RCS).

Wear of these orifices could cause excessive recirculation flow, which would decrease the flow available from the HPI system in the ECCS mode. However, at the time of discovery, the wear was not sufficient to affect pump operability. The Unit 2 and 3 orifice assemblies have been rebuilt. Unit 1 is expected to have a similar orifice wear problem when it is shut down.

Oconee Unit 3 was restarted and the main turbine placed in service on June 1, 1997. As power was being increased, a plant computer alarm was received indicating a mismatch in the measurement of the Final Feedwater Temperature. Investigation revealed that the calculated value of temperature input from the feedwater resistance temperature detectors (RTDs) into the Integrated Control System (ICS) was slowly decreasing and failing low compared to actual feedwater temperature. This caused a slow decrease in reactor power (as would be expected under this condition). The ICS was placed in Manual, stopping the power level decrease. Power was held at 63% to determine the cause. Troubleshooting determined that the three-element RTD well had filled with water. The water was caused by a leak from a weld attaching the well to the feedwater pipe. The same weld had leaked and was Furmanited following startup from the previous refueling outage, but the Furmanite had become loose during the subsequent shutdown and restart. The licensee has re-Furmanited the well and written a design change to move the RTDs to a vacant well located downstream of the original well. This change has been completed and power has been increased to 100%.

The NRR and Region II staffs continue to closely monitor the licensee's activities associated with the many concerns that have been discovered.

LaSalle Units 1 & 2

LaSalle Restart Panel Public Meeting

On 05/29/97, the NRC's LaSalle Restart Panel held its monthly public meeting with LaSalle Station management as required by the conditions of the CAL. The licensee presented the status of the Restart Plan and System Functional Performance Reviews. The Restart Plan was docketed on 05/27/97. The plan focusses on human performance, process, and material condition. The licensee discussed the plan matrix used to track progress. The matrix indicates that the licensee has made progress and is meeting its goals in reducing contaminated areas, reducing temporary alterations, completing design changes, and reducing the amount of rework. However, the backlog of action requests and engineering requests is increasing as the licensee identifies issues through ongoing system reviews. The licensee gave an overview of the System Functional Performance Reviews. The purpose of this program is to review the functional capability of the designated systems, determine the adequacy of testing, and assess the material condition. The licensee has completed 28 of 42 systems and the entire program is approximately 80% complete. Approximately one third of the issues identified to date (470 of a total 1261) have been designated as restart issues by the licensee.

Quad Cities 1 & 2

IPEEE Fire Protection Vulnerabilities

In its IPEEE submittal of 02/17/97, the licensee identified a CDF of 5E-03 for internal fires. In order to better understand the basis for the CDF, NRR, RES, and Region III made a visit to Quad Cities on 04/29-30/97 to review the fire protection status. On 05/21/97 the staff had a conference call with the licensee to review eight concerns developed from the site visit which included compensatory measures, administrative controls, fire fighting equipment, a water curtain in MG set area, dependence on the other unit, interim alternate shutdown methodology, manual operations, and schedule. A followup letter was issued on 05/22/97 to the licensee detailing the concerns and requesting a meeting. On 05/28/97 a conference call was held with the licensee in which they presented the status of their short term compensatory measures which was followed up by a letter to the staff on 05/30/97. On 06/02/97 the licensee came to headquarters for a public meeting to discuss the NRC concerns raised in our 05/22/97 letter. The licensee has set 07/31/97 as the projected date to have conceptual designs completed to help reduce IPEEE risk by limiting opposite unit reliance, operational staff requirements, and manual actions. Another meeting with the licensee will be scheduled for early August to review the status of Quad Cities IPEEE risk reduction activities.

ENCLOSURE B

Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards
Items of Interest
Week Ending June 6, 1997

Meetings with Other Agencies on U.S. Enrichment Corporation Privatization

On May 28, 1997, staff from the Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards and the Office of the General Counsel met with staff from the Department of Energy's (DOE ) Office of Planning and Analysis (OPA) to discuss U.S. Enrichment Corporation (USEC) privatization. At the request of the National Security Council, DOE/OPA has established an interagency team to identify ways of monitoring foreign ownership and control after privatization. During this meeting Nuclear Regulatory Commission and DOE staff agreed to coordinate their planned meetings with interested government agencies. DOE/OPA is preparing a list of mechanisms which agencies currently have in place to monitor foreign stock ownership and corporate involvement. A preliminary list was provided to the National Security Council on May 30, 1997.

On May 29, 1997, staff from the Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards, and the Office of the General Council, accompanied by DOE staff members, met with a member of the Council of Economic Advisors. On the same date, NRC staff, again accompanied by DOE staff, met with staff from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to discuss issues affecting USEC privatization and the existing SEC controls for stock ownership of publicly-held companies. SEC staff agreed to review NRC's proposed certificate conditions relating to issuance of certificates to a privatized USEC successor and to provide comments.

American College of Nuclear Physicians and Society of Nuclear Medicine

On June 3, 1997, the Director, Division of Industrial and Medical Nuclear Safety, participated in the Annual Meeting of the American College of Nuclear Physicians and Society of Nuclear Medicine. His presentation covered the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's planned revision of 10 CFR Part 35 based upon directions received in a March 20, 1997, Staff Requirements Memorandum from the Commission. Questions raised during the presentation were focussed on the process to be used, and on opportunities for professional societies to participate actively in the drafting of the revision. A few comments were addressed specifically to the Commission-directed changes in 10 CFR 35. Several of the other speakers at the Meeting indicated their support for the NRC initiatives.

Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project Lessons Learned Workshop

On May 28-29, 1997, staff from the Division of Waste Management attended a workshop sponsored by the Department of Energy (DOE) Environmental Restoration Division on lessons learned from the Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project. The workshop goal was to provide a forum for the exchange of technical and management lessons learned from the UMTRA Project that could be applied to other DOE or private sector projects. Attendees included representatives of various DOE remediation projects and laboratories; the Bureau of Indian Affairs; the States of New Mexico, Idaho, and Utah; and private contractors. The UMTRA Project will be one of the first major DOE environmental restoration projects to be completed. Although 11 of the original 24 UMTRA Title I sites remain to be licensed between now and the mandated termination date of September 30, 1998, the workshop was scheduled at this time, to allow for attendance by the greatest number of project participants. Workshop sessions covered topics such as Project Management, Site Selection and Characterization, Audits and Quality Assurance, Disposal Design and Construction, and Permits and Regulations, and included both individual papers and panel discussions by DOE staff and contractors.

International Study on Regulatory Reviews of Performance Assessments

On May 27-28, 1997, a member of the Division of Waste Management staff represented the Nuclear Regulatory Commission at an organizational meeting of the Integrated Performance Assessment Group - Phase 2 (IPAG-2), held by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), in Paris, France. IPAG-2 will explore the practical experience of regulatory authorities in reviewing Integrated Performance Assessment (IPA), and will document a better understanding of the regulators' needs. The approach will be to survey both implementers and regulators involved in IPA's. Since the NRC has been interacting with the Department of Energy (DOE) by commenting on their performance assessments, and since NRC is in the process of documenting continuing progress on issues related to performance assessments (through the Issue Resolution Status Report process), the NRC views on the scope and conduct of the study were based on practical experience and were largely incorporated in planning for the study. Other participants at this meeting included DOE, Swiss, Swedish and Canadian regulatory agencies, and OECD/NEA staff.

Department of Energy Preliminary Determination on Program Delays

On June 3, 1997, the Department of Energy's (DOE) Contracting Officer provided utility contract holders with the Preliminary Determination regarding whether DOE's delay in beginning spent fuel disposal was unavoidable. The D.C. Circuit Court had mandated that DOE's Office of Procurement make a Preliminary Determination after DOE advised contract holders that it would be unable to begin acceptance of spent fuel by January 31, 1998, and that the delay was unavoidable, as defined in the contract with the utilities. The Preliminary Determination concludes that if the Yucca Mountain site is found suitable, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission authorizes construction in accordance with the time schedule in the draft Program Plan, DOE could commence spent fuel acceptance at the repository in 2007. The NRC staff is reviewing this DOE approach to determine if it is allowable under current NRC regulations.

In addition, the Preliminary Determination concludes that the delays were unavoidable. The causes for the unavoidable delay fall into six broad categories: (1) technical problems; (2) regulatory problems; (3) roadblocks to implementation of interim and monitored retrievable storage; (4) funding restrictions; (5) litigation delays; and (6) consultation requirements. Under regulatory problems the following NRC-related issues are identified as contributing to the unavoidable delay: unprecedented application of NRC quality assurance for reactors to scientific investigations; design control objections to the exploratory studies facility; and inferred fault in the location of the exploratory shaft. Lack of an Environmental Protection Agency Standard and associated NRC rule are also identified as causing delays.

ENCLOSURE D

Office for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data
Items of Interest
Week Ending June 6, 1997

Preliminary Notifications (PNs)

ENCLOSURE F

Office of Administration
Items of Interest
Week Ending June 6, 1997

Procurement Reform

On June 3, 1997, in cooperation with NMSS, Mary Lynn Scott of the Division of Contracts and Property Management gave a presentation regarding NRC contracting processes and procedures at the Joint NRC/National Mining Association (NMA) Uranium Recovery Workshop in Denver, CO. The presentation included a discussion of procurement streamlining methods available to NRC under the Procurement Reinvention Laboratory. Methods for selecting procurement strategies and developing performance incentives were also discussed.

U.S. Enrichment Corporation (USEC)

On June 6 and 10, 1997, DFS staff will accompany NMSS to meetings at the Department of Treasury (June 6, 1997) and the Central Intelligence Agency (June 10, 1997) regarding NRC's role in the privatization of USEC. The staff will brief these agencies on its plan to condition the transfer of certificates to a private successor to USEC. The conditions would assist NRC in assessing the degree of foreign ownership, control and domination; and would help ensure the successor organization abides and honors the terms of a USEC/DOS/DOE agreement regarding disposition of high enriched uranium. The NRC staff will be seeking comments from these agencies on its proposed certificate conditions.

Restack

The 17th floor phase of the Restack project is continuing with all work occurring after hours. The contractor has installed the metal framing for the new, permanent walls and has begun installation of the electrical wiring for the convenience outlets and the new strobe lights for the fire alarm system. Next week, the contractor will begin work in the 17th floor elevator lobby including installation of a new lobby security door and the removal of existing wall covering and wall preparation for the new wallcovering. IRM has removed the communications cable from the floor and has begun to install new cable and communications equipment.

ENCLOSURE G

Chief Information Officer
Items of Interest
Week Ending June 6, 1997

Significant FOIA/PA Requests Received during the 5-Day Period of May 30, 1997 - June 5, 1997:

ENCLOSURE I

Office of Personnel
Items of Interest
Week Ending June 6, 1997

Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) Meeting Attended

On June 6, 1997, Gloria Corbitt attended a meeting of the Local Federal Coordinating Committee for CFC of the National Capital Area at the Department of Health and Human Services Building. Topics discussed included the selection of organizations approved as qualified charities, the criteria used to evaluate potential charity organization applications, and an update on this year's campaign.

ENCLOSURE M

Office of Public Affairs
Items of Interest
Week Ending June 6, 1997

Media Interest

Ellis Merschoff was interviewed by Inside NRC about "focus meetings" being held at Wolf Creek, Waterford 3, and Cooper. Similar meetings will be held at WNP-2.

Chairman Jackson was interviewed by Jenny Weil, a reporter previously with Radioactive News, now at Inside NRC.

The Portland Press Herald is planning a story this weekend on the RELAP code at Maine Yankee. The Connecticut Post is planning a story on Millstone.

The newsletter California Energy Markets is planning a story about leakage of groundwater into the reactor caisson at the closed Humboldt Bay plant.

School Volunteers Program

Jan Strasma, Region III, spoke at a Columbia College graduate journalism seminar regarding coverage of federal agencies. He also spoke at the annual meeting of the Wisconsin Industrial Energy Group in Green Lake, WI, regarding NRC regulatory activities involving nuclear plants which are currently shut down in the area.

Joe Himes, AEOD, was interviewed by an 8th grade math student in the H-B Woodlawn Program, a "magnet" school, in Arlington, VA.

ENCLOSURE P

Region I
Items of Interest
Week Ending June 6, 1997

Radiopharmaceuticals Shipping Package Contamination

Region I is conducting reactive inspections in response to a June 3, 1997 event in which a radiopharmaceuticals shipping container was found to be contaminated. The external surfaces of the containers were contaminated with levels as high as approximately 600,000 dpm per 100 cm² of removable technicium-99m, a short lived isotope used in diagnostic medical tests. These contamination levels represent several hundred times the limit for removable surface contamination. The removable contamination was found on the container upon its return from Grandview Hospital (Sellersville, PA) to Syncor's Allentown (PA) pharmacy.

Tritium Contamination in Union, NJ

This updates the weekly report submitted on May 23, 1997. The State of New Jersey Radiological Protection Program reported that decontamination of the home in Union, NJ, is completed. The first floor was released for use by the family on May 21 and the family returned to the home prior to the Memorial Day weekend. The basement was released for use by the family on May 28. The State of New Jersey is waiting for the contractor to complete the report of the decontamination activities.

ENCLOSURE P

Region II
Items of Interest
Week Ending June 6, 1997

Chem-Nuclear - Barnwell

The Region II and HQs staff accompanied three visitors from the Ministry for Environmental Protection & Nuclear Safety of Ukraine on a tour of Chem-Nuclear's Barnwell, South Carolina low-level radioactive waste disposal facility.

Browns Ferry Full-Scale Exercise

The State Liaison Officer participated as a member of the Regional Assistance Committee in the full-scale Browns Ferry exercise involving officials of the State of Alabama and the applicable local governments.

Letter to Secretary of Health, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico

On June 4, a letter was sent to the Secretary of Health, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, forwarding patient information for those patients of Drs. Fernandez and Vazquez who received misadministrations and are to receive notices from the Puerto Rico Health Department that they should receive annual followup eye exams.