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INFORMATION REPORT SECY-07-0165 September 21, 2007
Contact: L. Quinones, OEDO Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) Meeting with Waterford 3 On September 6, 2007, the staff held a public meeting with the Waterford Unit 3 licensee. The topic of the meeting was the steam generator internals failures, parts termed "batwings," identified in the last two refueling outages at the plant. Specifically, the licensee described inspection plans for its mid-cycle outage, including the scope of the inspections and contingency plans (both additional inspections and possible repairs, if warranted) depending on the results of the planned inspections. NRR staff will provide full support to the regional oversight of the licensee inspection findings as necessary. Direct Transfers of Four Reactor Licenses from the General Electric Company (GE) to GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas, LLC On September 6, 2007, the staff issued an Order approving direct transfers of four reactor licenses from GE to GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas, LLC. The reactors are at the Vallecitos Nuclear Center, and include three permanently shutdown facilities (the Vallecitos Boiling Water Reactor, the General Electric Test Reactor, the ESADA Vallecitos Experimental Superheat Reactor), and one operating research reactor (the Nuclear Test Reactor). Purdue Starts High-Enriched Uranium (HEU) to Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) Fuel Conversion On September 7, 2007, Purdue University started conversion of its research reactor (PUR-1). The PUR-1 is a 1 kilowatt thermal power, heterogeneous, pool-type reactor that uses Materials Testing Reactor-type plate fuel. No requests for a hearing on the conversion order were received. The first LEU fuel element was placed on the grid plate on September 8, 2007. This action meets the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) definition of reactor conversion. The licensee continues with its critical experiment and hope to reach criticality this week. Regulatory Issue Summary (RIS) 2007-18 On September 7, 2007, the staff issued RIS 2007-18, "Data for Updating the Interim Inventory of Radioactive Sources." RIS 2007-18 informs addressees of a forthcoming survey of data for input into the interim inventory of radioactive sources. The submission of this information will be voluntary. Discussion with FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC) - Davis Besse's Proposed Conversion to Improved Technical Specifications On September 11-12, 2007, the staff held public meetings with FENOC representatives to discuss FENOC's August 3, 2007, application for conversion to Improved Technical Specifications (ITS) for the Davis Besse Nuclear Power Station. The purpose of the meetings was to initiate communications between the NRC staff and FENOC regarding the NRC staff's review of the proposed license amendment request. Discussion topics included the proposed schedule/milestones for the review of the application, the treatment of beyond scope items, and the project plan revision process. FENOC has requested approval of the ITS conversion license amendment by August 1, 2008. Corrective Action Program Owners Group Meeting On September 12-14, 2007, the staff attended the Corrective Action Program Owners Group meeting to present information on the interfaces between the Reactor Oversight Process safety culture initiative and corrective action programs and the results from Problem Identification and Resolution inspections. Sessions at the meeting covered a variety of topics related to corrective action programs, including the progress on an industry white paper to define significant conditions adverse to quality. Office of New Reactors (NRO) Order to New Reactor Vendors On September 12, 2007, the staff issued an Order to new reactor vendors (Westinghouse, GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy [GEH], AREVA, and Mitsubishi) imposing requirements for the protection of safeguards information (SGI). Vendors must comply with the requirements imposed by the Order before they can receive SGI-level aircraft impact characteristics. These characteristics can be used as a reasonable input by reactor vendors for performing an assessment of their designs, which an upcoming rulemaking will require. The Order is similar to the ones issued previously to Westinghouse and GEH, with additional provisions regarding access to SGI by foreign nationals and restrictions on storage locations. This Order supercedes the earlier Orders. Awarding of NRO New Reactor Review Commercial Technical Assistance Contracts On September 13, 2007,the staff completed the notification process related to awarding four NRO new reactor review commercial technical assistance contracts. The contracts were awarded to three local companies, including two small businesses. These contracts extend for five years and encompass all activities from pre-application, environmental, combined license, design certification, regulatory infrastructure and litigation support. Meeting with the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) to Discuss Operator Licensing White Papers On September 13, 2007, management and staff met with NEI to discuss industry initiatives and issues related to the training, qualification, and licensing of control room operators. Topics discussed included licensed operator experience requirements, use of partial scope simulators for training, licensed operator training challenges, and NUREG changes. No new policy issues were identified during the meeting. The staff raised questions and asked for clarification on White Papers submitted by NEI. NEI agreed to clarify issues and respond to the questions related to the White Papers. Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS) Munich, Germany, Presentation on Repository Natural Analog Studies From August 24-September 3, 2007, a Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses staff member presented a paper; attended two conferences in Munich, Germany; and visited the Institute for Nuclear Waste Disposal, in Germany. The conferences focused on the geochemical aspects of nuclear waste disposal, and the Institute visit focused on potential future collaborative radionuclide-transport studies. Eastman Kodak Facility Site Trip On September 11, 2007, NMSS and Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response (NSIR) staff members visited the Eastman Kodak facility in Rochester, NY, to discuss security measures Kodak will use during the disassembly, packaging, and shipping of the neutron-flux multiplier. Other attendees included staff from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). They visited the labyrinth and vault and observed the security Kodak has in place for the flux multiplier. Attendees discussed the disassembly process and special security measures Kodak will use during flux-multiplier disassembly, packaging, and transport to the loading dock. Global Nuclear Energy Partnership Interagency Agreement (IA) The IA between the NRC and DOE, for the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) program, was finalized on September 12, 2007. Under the IA, DOE will reimburse NRC up to $1 million for certain GNEP-related efforts, expended by NRC staff through April 30, 2008. The IA authorizes DOE to commit additional funds, up to a total of $6 million, over the IA's durational period of August 22, 2007, to August 21, 2009. NRC staff's GNEP-related efforts covered by the IA include: (1) participation in technical-information-exchange meetings; (2) review and analysis of GNEP reports and engineering studies; (3) observation of tests, simulations, and demonstrations; (4) participation in facility tours, meetings, and conferences; and (5) development of its knowledge base in GNEP. Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES) Agreement Between the NRC and the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT) in the Area of Severe Accident Research On September 10, 2007, the NRC's Executive Director for Operations signed the subject international Agreement which defines the terms and conditions by which the NRC and the VTT will cooperate in the area of severe accident research. Aside from the NRC gaining additional data and knowledge related to severe accidents, this cooperative agreement will allow for the independent verification of the accuracy of the NRC's MELCOR severe accident code for different accident sequences. The NRC uses the MELCOR code to evaluate potential risk and security scenarios for severe accidents, address regulatory and licensing issues for operating plants, and to review new designs. This Agreement will remain in effect for a period of 3 years. Visit by RES to the Building and Fire Research Lab (BFRL) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) On September 13, 2007, RES staff, accompanied by the Office and Deputy Office Director, visited NIST's BFRL to discuss current fire research projects between NRC and NIST. Staff witnessed a fire test that NIST is conducting as part of on-going efforts to validate NIST-developed computer fire models, which have been evaluated in NUREG-1824, "Validation and Verification of Selected Fire Models for Nuclear Power Plant Applications, Vols. 1-7." NIST has been a significant partner with the NRC in developing useful tools and guidance for fire modeling and fire testing. Office of Information Services (OIS) Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Privacy Act (PA) Requests Received During the Period of September 7-September 13, 2007:
Requests Completed: Officeof Human Resources (HR)
Office of the Secretary (SECY)
Commission Correspondence
Federal Register Notices Issued
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