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INFORMATION REPORT SECY-07-0161 September 14, 2007
Contact: L. Quinones, OEDO Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) Generic Fundamentals Examination On September 5, 2007, the staff administered its Generic Fundamentals Examination (GFE) to 146 license operator applicants in 15 utilities across all four Regions. The GFE measures applicant knowledge in components, reactor theory, and thermodynamics, and is the first examination that license operator applicants must take and pass before they can proceed to their site specific training and subsequently take the NRC site specific license examination. Working Group Begins Evaluation of Petition for Rulemaking On September 5, 2007, the staff working group established to address Petition for Rulemaking (PRM) 50‑84 held its initial meeting. PRM‑50‑84 was submitted by a petitioner Mark Leyse and requests the NRC to amend its regulations for nuclear power plants to:
The petition was published for public comment in the Federal Register in May 2007 and 10 comments were received. Review responsibilities for the comments were assigned at the meeting and an overall schedule for resolving the petition was established. The next working group meeting is planned for early October. Meeting with the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) on the NEI White Paper on Operational Leakage On August 30, 2007, the staff met with industry representatives to discuss industry concerns with RIS 2005‑20, "Revision to Guidance Formerly Contained in NRC Generic Letter 91-18, "Information to Licensees regarding Two NRC Inspection Manual Sections on Resolution of Degraded and Nonconforming Conditions and on Operability," regarding actions to be taken following the discovery of operational leakage in American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Class 2 and 3 piping systems. The discussions focused on two issues. The first issue concerned a draft revision to the staff guidance attached to the RIS, in particular guidance concerning operational leakage in ASME Class 2 piping and ASME Class 3 high energy piping. This draft was provided prior to the meeting by a letter to NEI. The second issue discussed was the acceptance criteria for prompt operability determinations in the event of through-wall leakage. The staff indicated that it would review material provided by industry during the meeting and schedule a follow up meeting. Industry representatives indicated that they would consider addressing NRC comments in draft changes to the NEI white paper to be shared with the staff at a future meeting. Meeting to Discuss the Steam Generators at Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 1 On August 29, 2007, the staff met with representatives of Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 1 (ANO-1) to discuss their investigation into the cause of the bowing of several tie rods and tubes in one steam generator at the plant. The once through steam generators at ANO-1 were replaced in 2005. The approximate 16,000 tubes in the steam generators are supported at various axial elevations by 15 tube support plates. These support plates are supported at the lower tubesheet through a number of rods referred to as tie rods. The tube support plates are free floating (i.e., they are free to move in the axial direction as a result of differential thermal expansion between the shell and the tie rods). During the first refueling outage following replacement of their once through steam generators, ANO-1 detected approximately seven distinct locations where the tubes were in close proximity to each other and to the tie rods. Following the outage, a root cause team was formed. The team concluded that locking of one or more of the upper tube support plates to the upper shroud is sufficient to cause the extent of bowing observed at ANO-1. Based on this postulated cause, the licensee performed analysis which demonstrates that the steam generators can safely operate for at least 10 heatup and cooldown cycles. The licensee is planning additional analyses, and it plans to inspect the steam generator during their next refueling outage (Fall 2008) to confirm the apparent root cause and the analyses inputs. The staff will continue to monitor the licensees' analyses and their inspection results. Comanche Peak Units 1 and 2 Stretch Power Uprate (SPU) Application On August 28, 2007, the licensee requested a 4.5 percent Stretch Power Uprate for Comanche Peak Units 1 and 2. The application requests NRC's approval of the amendment by July 31, 2008, with an implementation period of six months following NRC's approval of the amendment. The licensee followed the guidance in NRC's extended power uprate Review Standard RS-001, "Review Standard for Extended Power Uprates," in developing its application. Vogtle Units 1 and 2 Measurement Uncertainty Recapture Power Uprate ( MUR ) Application On August 28, 2007, the licensee requested a 1.7 percent measurement uncertainty recapture power uprate for Vogtle Units 1 and 2. The application requests NRC approval of the amendment by March 1, 2008. The licensee plans to implement the power uprate during the Spring 2008 refueling outage for Unit 1, and during the Fall 2008 for Unit 2. The licensee indicated that they followed the guidance in NRC RIS 2002-03, "Guidance on the Content of Measurement Uncertainty Recapture Power Uprate Applications" in developing its application. Issuance of NUREG on Steam Generator Operating Experience In August 2007, the staff issued NUREG-1841, "U.S. Operating Experience with Thermally Treated Alloy 690 Steam Generator Tubes." This NUREG describes the inspection history and the design of steam generators with Alloy 690 tubes. This is the first such compilation of the design and operating data for these steam generators. There has been no detected corrosion of the tubes in these steam generators and less than 0.1-percent of the tubes have been plugged. Office of New Reactors (NRO) Staff Issues the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Vogtle Early Site Permit (ESP) On September 7, 2007, the staff delivered NUREG-1872, "Draft Environmental Impact Statement for an ESP at the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant Site" to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for issuance. The EIS includes the staff's preliminary environmental recommendation that the ESP should be issued and that there are no environmentally preferable or obviously superior sites. In addition, the staff concluded that the site preparation and preliminary construction activities allowed by 10 CFR 50.10(e)(1) will not result in any significant adverse environmental impacts that cannot be redressed. A 75-day public comment period is expected to begin on September 14, 2007, with the Notice of Availability of the draft. The staff has scheduled a public meeting at the Augusta Technical College, Waynesboro Campus Auditorium on October 4, 2007, to present its analyses and to accept public comments on the draft EIS. Change in Expected Submittal Date for Lee Station Combined License ( COL ) Application By letter dated September 5, 2007, Duke informed the NRC that it would submit the Combined License application for two AP1000 units at the Lee Station site in December 2007, rather than in October 2007 as originally planned. Duke made this decision to avoid interference between the reference COL application (Bellefonte) and subsequent COL applications. Duke believes that staggering these applications will allow for more effective and efficient interactions during the reference and subsequent COL acceptance reviews. Vendor Inspection of Babcock and Wilcox Canada (BWC) From August 27 - 31, 2007, staff conducted an inspection of selected portions of the BWC facility's 10 CFR Part 50 Appendix B quality assurance (QA) program and selected portions of the program established to implement the provisions of 10 CFR Part 21 (Part 21), "Reporting of Defects and Noncompliance." Two quality management specialists from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) observed inspection activities conducted by the staff. Currently, the CNSC regulatory structure does not provide for the conduct of vendor inspections. However, the NRC's vendor inspection process was of significant interest to the CNSC members and they expressed an interest in observing future vendor inspection activities. PPL Generation Commencement of Activities at Berwick Site By letter dated September 4, 2007, PPL Generation informed the NRC that it has commenced activities associated with performing feasibility and environmental impact studies for potential new nuclear generation at the Berwick site. This is the same site as identified previously for the PPL proposed application. The name of the site has been changed from Susquehanna to Berwick. The letter also indicated that UniStar Nuclear has been retained by PPL to perform the feasibility studies and site characterization activities. Public Meeting on Health Physics Issues On August 30, 2007, a public meeting was held between staff and representatives of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI). The purpose of the meeting was to discuss new reactor health physics issues including implementation policy for Revision 2 of Regulatory Guide (RG) 4.15, "Quality Assurance for Radiological Monitoring Programs;" development of templates for Chapter 11 operational programs; and acceptable methods for addressing 10 CFR 20.1406, "Minimization of Contamination" requirements at the COL submittal stage. NRC staff committed to providing an agency position on implementation of RG 4.15, rev. 2, for new and operating reactors as soon as possible. A commitment was also made to provide industry with an answer concerning the appropriate regulatory process to follow for modifying operational programs required by license conditions after the COL has been issued. NRC staff plans to respond to NEI on this topic at the next public meeting on new reactor health physics issues to be held on September 20, 2007. Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS) Meeting with Energy Solutions on TS125/VSC-24 Transportation Package On September 5, 2007, Division of Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation staff met with Energy Solutions to discuss the request for additional information (RAI) issued by the staff on the amendment request for the TS125/VSC-24 transportation package. The applicant has requested approval for transport of 48 VSC-24 canisters loaded with spent fuel assemblies and stored at Arkansas Nuclear One, Palisades, and Point Beach dry storage facilities. The purpose of the meeting was to clarify the RAIs issued by the staff on July 26, 2007. Meeting with Washington TRU Solutions on TRUPACT-III and HalfPACT Transportation Packages On September 5, 2007, Division of Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation staff met with Washington TRU Solutions to discuss the application on the TRUPACT-III transportation package, which was submitted in June 2007, and a future amendment request for the HalfPACT transportation package. The discussion on the TRUPACT-III application focused on an exemption request included in the application for some portions of the TRUPACT-III contents with flammable gases. The discussion on the upcoming HalfPACT amendment request was with respect to transporting shielded remote-handled transuranic waste drums in HalfPACT transportation packages, which have been designed for contact-handled waste. Washington TRU Solutions is planning to submit the HalfPACT amendment request in November 2007. Office of Administration (ADM) Contract Awarded to Nuclear Safety Solutions Limited As a result of a competitive acquisition, contract no. NRC-04-07-087 was awarded to Nuclear Safety Solutions Limited on August 31, 2007. The contractor will provide the NRC with research investigation on of Local Heat Transfer Phenomena in a High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactors (HTGR) Core. The total value of the contract is $590,859. The period of performance is August 31, 2007 - November 30, 2009. Contract Awarded to University of Florida As a result of a competitive acquisition, contract no. NRC-04-07-086 was awarded to University of Florida on August 29, 2007. The contractor will provide the NRC with research investigation on of Local Heat Transfer Phenomena in a HTGR Reactor Cavity Cooling System. The total value of the contract is $348,955. The period of performance is August 29, 2007 - February 28, 2009. Contract Awarded to Carlson Wagonlit (CW) Government Travel Inc. On August 28, 2007, a task order no. DR-09-07-362 under the General Services Administration e-travel master contract was awarded to CW Government Travel Inc. The contractor will provide travel agent services to the NRC. The total value of the contract is $590,720. The period of performance is September 1, 2007 - December 31, 2007, with additional four (4) 6-month options. Office of Information Services (OIS) Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Privacy Act (PA) Requests Received During the Period of August 31, 2007 through September 6, 2007:
Office of Human Resources (HR)
Office of the Secretary (SECY)
Region IV (RIV) Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station Public Meeting On September 6, the staff conducted a public meeting in the RIV office with representatives of Arizona Public Service Company to discuss the status of the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station improvement efforts and evaluations in support of the IP 95003 supplemental inspection and to describe their readiness for the inspection. Several members of the public and one media representative observed the meeting. The Executive Director for Operations (EDO) Visits San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station On September 4, the EDO toured the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. While at the site, the EDO met with the resident inspectors and licensee management to discuss station challenges, plant security, safety culture assessments and the use of risk insights at the facility. Office of Congressional Affairs (OCA)
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