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SECY-03-0012

January 30, 2003

Contact: C. Glenn, OEDO

Enclosure A

North Anna, Unit 2, Reactor Vessel Head (RVH) Replacement

As requested by VEPCO, NRR and Region II staff have postponed the inspection of the RVH replacement project at North Anna, Unit 2, until the week of January 27-31, 2003. The purpose of this inspection is to examine how VEPCO was able to reconcile the differences between the replacement RVH and the formerly installed head under the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Code Section XI. As part of this inspection effort, the staff plans on reviewing VEPCO's modification package, reconciliation report, new design specifications, and the ASME data package.

Nuclear Management Company (NMC) Organizational Changes

In a news release on January 20, 2003, NMC announced the following organizational changes: Mano Nazar, Site Vice President at Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant, and Jeff Forbes, Site Vice President at Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant, have both been promoted to the position of Senior Vice President. Mr. Nazar retains responsibility for Prairie Island, while also assuming responsibility for the Point Beach Nuclear Plant. Mr. Forbes retains responsibility for Monticello while also taking on Duane Arnold Energy Center. Mr. Nazar and Mr. Forbes (like the site vice presidents at Kewaunee and Palisades) will report to John P. Cowan, Chief Nuclear Officer, following a transition period with their successors. Joe Solymossy, NMC Vice President of Nuclear Assessment Programs, will replace Mr. Nazar as Site Vice President at Prairie Island and will report to Mr. Nazar. Dave Wilson, who most recently led NMC's management efforts at Cooper Nuclear Station, will replace Mr. Forbes as Site Vice President at Monticello. Mr. Wilson (and Mark Peifer, Site Vice President at Duane Arnold) will report to Mr. Forbes. Gary Van Middlesworth, currently Vice President of Nuclear Operations and a previous Site Vice President at Duane Arnold, was named Vice President of Nuclear Assessment Programs, replacing Mr. Solymossy, effective January 27, 2003.

NRC Information Notice 2003-01, Failure of a Boiling Water Reactor Target Rock Main Steam Safety/Relief Valve dated January 15, 2003

The NRC is issuing this information notice to alert addressees to a recent failure of a main steam safety/relief valve on a boiling water reactor. The NRC anticipates that recipients will review the information for applicability to their facilities and consider taking appropriate actions.

NRC Information Notice 2003-02, Recent Experience With Reactor Coolant System Leakage And Boric Acid Corrosion dated January 16, 2003

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is issuing this information notice to inform addressees of recently observed reactor coolant leakage at two pressurized water reactor facilities, one of which resulted in the subsequent degradation of the reactor pressure vessel head. It is expected that recipients will review the information for applicability to their facilities and consider actions, as appropriate, to avoid similar problems.

NRC Regulatory Issue Summary 2003-01, Examination of Dissimilar Metal Welds, Supplement 10 to Appendix VIII of Section XI of the ASMECode

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing this regulatory issue summary to inform addressees of the NRC staff's position on the implementation of Supplement 10 to Appendix VIII, "Performance Demonstration for Ultrasonic Examination Systems," of Section XI of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (ASME Code), as required by Title 10, Section 50.55a(g)(6)(ii)(C), of the Code of Federal Regulations. Supplement 10 contains the qualification requirements for procedures, equipment, and personnel involved with examining dissimilar metal welds using ultrasonic techniques, which licensees were required to implement by November 22, 2002. Not meeting the schedule is subject to disposition through the Reactor Oversight Process if the program is not available at a time when an examination is required.

Enclosure B

Amendment to the Ventilated Storage Cask System Certificate of Compliance

On January 22, 2003, NRC issued Amendment 4 to Certificate of Compliance Number 72-1007 held by Pacific Sierra Nuclear Associates for the Ventilated Storage Cask (VSC-24) System. The amendment allows for storage of specific fuel control elements as integral components to fuel assemblies. In addition, the structural calculations were updated to provide bounding analyses for the various design configurations, to accommodate the storage of selected fuel control elements.

Information Exchange Meeting with U.S. Department of Transportation

On January 22, 2003, managers and staff of the Spent Fuel Project Office met with U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) staff for an Information Exchange Meeting, as provided under the NRC/DOT "Memorandum of Understanding on the Transportation of Radioactive Materials." Staff members from the Division of Industrial and Medical Nuclear Safety and the Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response also participated. The discussions focused on transportation-related rulemaking activities, upcoming international meetings, conferences and support missions, package recertification/revalidation issues, and safety and vulnerability studies.

Spent Fuel Management Seminar

On January 15-16, 2003, management and staff from the Spent Fuel Project Office (SFPO) made three presentations at the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management Twentieth Spent Fuel Management Seminar. SFPO presentations were made on the following subjects: (1) advances in spent fuel storage and transportation; (2) an overview of SFPO program activities; and (3) an overview of the analysis of the Baltimore tunnel fire. The presentations were well received by the wide range of industry and Government representatives participating in the conference.

Public Meeting with Syncor International Corporation

On January 16, 2002, the Division of Industrial and Medical Nuclear Safety held a public meeting to discuss policy-related issues relative to extremity monitoring and dosimetry with the regulated radiopharmaceutical community. The meeting was conducted as a roundtable discussion, among participants, to address policy and guidance-related issues regarding shallow dose equivalent assessments to the portion of the skin of the extremity likely to receive the highest dose. Meeting participants included Syncor International Corporation, representatives from other radiopharmaceutical companies, a representative from the Organization of Agreement States, and NRC Headquarters and regional staff. The regulated community raised many concerns regarding the issue of monitoring dose to the extremities.

Enclosure C

Peer Review Report on Radionuclide Transport in the Environment (RTE): Research Program Plan, March 2002

In November 2002, the above referenced research plan developed by the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES) staff underwent a peer review at the Institute for Regulatory Science (RSI) in Columbia, MD, using peer-review procedures recommended by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. The report was issued in mid-January 2003, as ASME publication CRTD-Vol. 71, "Technical Peer Review Report, Report of the Reviewer Panel, Radionulcide Transport in the Environment." The peer reviewers commended the NRC staff for developing a comprehensive research plan, making the plan a living document, encouraging staff participation in hands-on research, focusing its research on the needs of the NRC's regulatory offices, and leveraging its research with other organizations outside the NRC.

The peer reviewers found that the objective of the research plan is sound, the key elements of the research plan are reasonable for meeting the research objective, the proposed research will help meet the program's objective, the plan should include more peer-reviewed references, and leveraging with other organizations is essential to RTE program for meeting the plan's objective. The peer reviewers recommended that the NRC staff should (1) update the plan every five years to ensure that it remains a living document, (2) do an in-depth analysis of computer codes relevant to its program and identify any systematic errors, (3) pursue additional avenues of leveraging, (4) consider replacing its prioritization scheme with a formal multi-attribute scheme, and (5) obtain input from the scientific community outside the NRC as part of its research prioritization. NRC staff will review and update the plan based on these comments.

Staff Participation in 51^st Session of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation

The Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES) staff will be attending the 51^st session of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) in Vienna, Austria from January 27-31, 2003. The purpose of the session is to review ten draft annexes that will be included in the UNSCEAR 2005 report. RES staff will participate in a review of annexes describing the epigenetic effects of exposure to ionizing radiation as well as exposures of workers and members of the public from various sources of ionizing radiation. The committee will be updating the UNSCEAR 2000 annex on health effects due to radiation from the Chernobyl accident. Scientists from Belarus, Ukraine, and the Russian Federation will present a special seminar on radiation health effects and the Chernobyl accident.

OECD Reactor Pressure Vessel Lower Head Failure (OLHF) Experiments at Sandia National Laboratories

The lower head of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) can be subject to significant thermal and pressure loads in the late phases of core melting during a postulated severe accident. An understanding of the mode, timing, and size of lower head failure is important in evaluating the consequences of a severe accident, because it defines the initial conditions for many of the subsequent challenges to containment integrity. The OLHF program complemented the earlier NRC-sponsored Lower Head Failure (LHF) program, but at more prototypic conditions (i.e., large temperature gradient across the vessel wall). This program involved both experimental and analytical work, and was ended in October 2002.

The OLHF program yielded a unique and well-qualified data set for code validation. Both LHF and OLHF programs, as well as the Swedish FOREVER experimental program, revealed that initiation of failures in the lower head of the RPV would typically be local. Severe accident codes, such as the MELCOR code, utilize a simple model, i.e., the Larson-Miller parameter (LMP) correlation, to predict vessel failure time. Assessment of the LMP correlation, against the OLHF integral experiment showed that vessel failure time can be reasonably well predicted. The final report on OLHF will be published by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in the near future.

Generic Safety Issue (GSI) 189, "Susceptibility of Ice Condenser and Mark III Containments to Early Failure from Hydrogen Combustion During a Severe Accident"

The Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES) completed the technical assessment of Generic Safety Issue (GSI) 189, "Susceptibility of Ice Condenser and Mark III Containments to Early Failure from Hydrogen Combustion During a Severe Accident," and by memorandum of December 17, 2002, provided its recommendation, and transferred lead for GSI-189 from RES to the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) as described in NRC Management Directive 6.4 (Regulation and Guidance Development Stage). GSI-189 was raised within the context of the on-going effort to risk-inform 10 CFR 50.44, "Standards for Combustible Gas Control System in Light-Water-Cooled Power Reactors." Based on the technical assessment with due consideration of uncertainties, RES concludes that further action to provide back-up power to one train of igniters is warranted for both ice condenser and Mark III plants.

Public Workshop on Mitigating Systems Performance Index (MSPI) Pilot Program

In a January 21, 2003, public workshop to discuss issues with the MSPI pilot, staff from the Office of Nuclar Regulatory Research/Operating Experience Risk Analysis Branch (RES/OERAB) and the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) presented a mid-course overview on the status of the program. The workshop was attended by approximately eighty participants from the NRC Regions, industry representatives, licensees, and the public.

The purpose of the MSPI is to monitor the performance of six systems based on their ability to perform risk-significant functions. The index is comprised of two elements - system unavailability and system reliability. Plant-specific probabilistic risk assessment models are used to calculate the contribution of component failures and maintenance unavailability to the index, that approximates the change in core damage frequency.

At the workshop, the staff discussed the status of the independent verification as well as the "Top 5 Issues" associated with the implementation of the Nuclear Energy Institute guidance. Results of inspections from sixteen of the twenty nuclear plants within the pilot were summarized as well. During the afternoon, breakout sessions by reactor type were held. The smaller working groups allowed for more detailed analysis and discussion of the similarities and differences in MSPI results from plant-to-plant.

The Workshop provided an opportunity to raise issues during the "data collection phase" of the program, scheduled to end on February 28. This phase will be followed by six months of analysis prior to final conclusions and recommendations for the full implementation of the program.

Enclosure D

Dose Assessment Tabletop for Radiological Dispersal Device Exercise

On January 22, 2003, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Operations Center conducted a tabletop exercise to estimate the radiological consequences of a radiological dispersal device (RDD). The dose assessment was conducted in support of the BUSRIDE 2 Exercise which is scheduled for January 29, 2003. The NRC ran three dose assessment teams using two different codes. The National Weather Service supported the NRC by providing meteorological support. In addition, Sandia National Laboratory and the National Atmospheric Release Advisory Center independently conducted dose assessments and reported their results to the NRC. The NRC then evaluated the results to come up with a unified, coordinated Federal assessment of the radiological consequences of the release.

National Response Team Meeting

On January 23, 2003, Division of Incident Response Operations staff participated in the National Response Team (NRT) meeting at the Environmental Protection Agency's Emergency Operations Center. Topics of discussion included planning for the upcoming Regional Response Team Co-Chair meeting, upcoming exercises, NRT interactions with the new Department of Homeland Security, the response procedure reconciliation report, risk and protective action communication, and the Prestige oil spill off of Spain.

Preliminary Notifications

1. PNO-III-03-002, D.C. Cook - REACTOR TRIP DUE TO MAIN TRANSFORMER FIRE.

2. PNO-IV-03-003, Geotech Engineering and Testing - STOLEN PORTABLE GAUGE.

3. PNO-IV-03-004, Consolidated Engineering - STOLEN PORTABLE GAUGE.

Enclosure F

List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: VSC-24; Confirmation of Effective Date (Part 72)

A document confirming the effective date of February 3, 2003, for a direct final rule that revised the VSC-24 cask system listing within the list of approved spent fuel storage casks was published in the Federal Register on January 21, 2003 (68 FR 2686).

Interagency Financial Managers Council Meeting

On January 15, 2003, representatives from the NRC's Division of Accounting and Finance and Division of Contracts attended the Interagency Financial Managers Council meeting. A "Lessons Learned" presentation was made regarding registering commercial vendors into the government-wide Central Contractor Registration (CCR) website. The CCR website provides a central point where contractual and financial offices can obtain information needed to transact business with commercial firms and other government agencies. Eventually, the CCR will become the "Business Partner Network (BPN)." The BPN is a part of the President's E-Government Initiative known as the Integrated Acquisition Environment.

Enclosure G

NRC Introduces New Web-based Access to Publicly Available Documents in ADAMS

On January 24, 2003, NRC released a new search and retrieval capability, which will allow users to access publicly available documents in ADAMS directly from the NRC’s Web site. This new Web-based interface is a significant step in the NRC’s electronic government strategy which will simplify the process of searching for and accessing public documents. The interface has been successfully tested by the ADAMS Public User Group.

The new Web-based search and retrieval interface offers the following features:

• “Relevancy ranking” locates the “best” (most relevant) documents and brings them to the top of the list of your search results.

• “Natural language queries” eliminate the need for users to master structured search languages to find needed information.

• Highlighting identifies key words or phrases in the text of a document.

• A detailed HELP screen simplifies use of the Web-based search and retrieval interface.

• An “Already Seen” indicator identifies documents that the user has already viewed in the listed search results.

• The “More Like” search allows users to refine and optimize a search by narrowing the list of matching documents to those that are similar to an especially relevant document found in the initial search results.

In addition to the basic ability to search for document containing a text phrase, the interface enables users to perform more advanced searches using three kinds of queries:

• A “concept search” expands the user specified search terms to include related terms using English language dictionaries and thesauri instead of limiting the search to exact matches for words in the query.

• A “pattern search” expands the user specified search terms to include words that are spelled similarly, and then matches those terms against documents in ADAMS.

• A “boolean search” matches the exact user specified search terms against the documents in the ADAMS library using operators such as “AND,” “OR,” “NOT,” among others in the search statement to control matching.

Freedom of Information and Privacy Act Requests received during the period of January 17 through January 23, 2003:

Enclosure I

*Transferring from RII

Enclosure L

Issuance of Final Revision of STP Procedure SA-900: Termination of Uranium Milling Licenses in Agreement States

On December 31, 2002, STP issued a final revision of Procedure SA-900: "Termination of Uranium Milling Licenses in Agreement States." The procedure describes the NRC review process for making determinations that all applicable standards and requirements have been met prior to termination of an Agreement State uranium milling license. The announcement of the availability of the procedure is expected to be published in the Federal Register during the week of January 27, 2003.

Nine Agreement State uranium milling licenses have been terminated since the issuance of the original procedure on April 20, 1999. During review of the license termination proposals, especially Washington State's proposal for termination of the Western Nuclear (Sherwood) milling license, staff recognized that the procedure needed to be revised to provide better guidance. A Working Group composed of five Agreement State and four NRC representatives was formed in April 2001 to identify areas that needed improvement. The Working Group held four teleconference calls and one public meeting with stakeholders in 2001. Opportunity for public and stakeholders' comment on the procedure was announced in August 2001 during the Working Group's preparation of its final report, and in October 2002 during staff's preparation of the final procedure. Prior to issuance of the final procedure, staff considered recommendations documented in the Working Group's final report, and comments received from the Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety, the Nuclear Energy Institute, the National Mining Association, the Texas Department of Health, the Washington Department of Health, and the NRC staff. The staff estimates that six conventional and three to nine in-situ Agreement State uranium milling licenses will be terminated in accordance with the guidance provided in the procedure in the next five years.

Enclosure M

Media Interest

Chairman Meserve appeared on PBS' "Bill Moyers Now" television program, discussing several issues on the troubled Davis-Besse nuclear plant in Ohio.

The Chairman was interviewed by WABC-TV in New York on the controversy surrounding security guards at the Indian Point nuclear facility. Excerpts from the session will be included in a piece scheduled to air sometime next week.

There continues to be significant media interest in the security of nuclear power plants, especially with the NRC's recent actions on access authorization enhancements. Also, there is growing interest in the issue of security guard fatigue at nuclear facilities, with several reporters attending the agency's public meeting this week on a related NRC draft order.

Some media coverage resulted from leaking reactor coolant that caused minor corrosion at TVA's Sequoyah nuclear facility in Tennessee.

Enclosure O

Commission Correspondence

1. Letter to Joe M. Allbaugh, Federal Emergency Management Agency, dated January 17, 2003, concerns opportunity to coordinate and synchronize the assessment requirements relating to emergency responsibilities placed upon the States.

2. Letter to Mary Lampert, Massachusetts Citizens for Safe Energy and Nuclear Security Watch - MA, dated January 17, 2003, concerns the status of issues related to the environmental impacts of an attack on nuclear facilities.

3. Letter to R. Edison Elkins, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, dated January 13, 2003, provides NRC's "FY 2003 Affirmative Action Program Plan Update and FY 2002 Report of Accomplishments" for hiring, placement, and advancement of individuals with handicaps.

Region I

Special Inspection at Allegheny General Hospital

On January 24, 2003, two inspectors from the Region I Division of Nuclear Materials Safety performed a reactive inspection at Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The inspection was in response to a January 15, 2003, licensee report that iodine-131 contamination had been found on the skin of a nuclear medicine technologist's finger, and that the resulting skin exposure may exceed the regulatory limit of 50 rem. The preliminary estimate is that the dose was between 50 and 150 rem. The inspectors reviewed the licensee's evaluation of the event and its root causes. The licensee is continuing to evaluate the dose estimate.

Region II

Commission Meeting - Status of the Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Programs, Performance and Plans

On January 23, 2003, the Regional Administrator attended the Commission Meeting on the Briefing on Status of the Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Programs.

Combined Region I/II Nuclear Plant Manager's Meeting

On January 24, 2003, the Regional Administrator and the Deputy Director, Division of Nuclear Security, Office of the Nuclear Security and Incident Response attended the Combined Region I/II Nuclear Plant Manager's Meeting in Panama City, Florida.

Representatives from the Office of the Inspector General's Office Visits Region II

On January 21 and 23, 2003, several representatives from the Office of the Inspector General met with Region II managers and conducted interviews with selected regional staff on the control of safeguards information.

NUREG-6642 (Materials Risk) Training

On January 22, 2003, NUREG-6642 (Materials Risk) training was held for the Division of Nuclear Materials Safety staff. The course outlined results of the risk review done of a variety of uses of licensed materials in medicine, research, education, and industry.

NRC Holds an Outreach Meeting on Emergency Preparedness

On January 23-24, 2003, the NRC held an Outreach Meeting on Emergency Preparedness in Glen Allen, Virginia. The Deputy Regional Administrator, other regional staff, managers and staff from the Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response and State and local governments representatives participated.

Duke Energy Corporation Regulatory Performance Oconee

On January 23, 2003, a Regulatory Performance meeting was conducted with Duke Energy Corporation at Oconee. The purpose of the public meeting was to discuss the results of the supplemental inspection performed to assess corrective actions associated with a White finding related to containment closure controls during reduced reactor coolant system inventory conditions in Unit 1 and a White Performance Indicator related to unavailability of the 1B motor driven emergency feedwater pump. Several media representatives attended the meeting.

Region III

Safeguards Tabletop Exercise in Wisconsin

On January 22, 3003, representatives of Region III and the Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response participated in a State of Wisconsin tabletop exercise in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. The scenario involved a hypothetical terrorist attack on a spent fuel shipment from a shutdown reactor involving a derailment and release of radioactive material to the environment. More than 100 persons participated in the tabletop, including those from a number of federal agencies. Based on the tabletop results, the state intends to modify its existing plans in preparation for a full-scale exercise in mid-April.

Region IV

South Texas Project

On January 22, 2003, a public meeting was held in the Region IV office with representatives of the South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company. The topic of the meeting was implementation of the risk-informed exemption issued in 2001. Members of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation and Region IV staffs participated in the meeting.

Fort Calhoun Station Public License Renewal Inspection Exit Meeting

On January 23, 2003, a public license renewal inspection exit meeting was conducted in Omaha, Nebraska. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss the results of the inspection of the Fort Calhoun Station aging management programs. This inspection was conducted as part of the license renewal application review process.

Enclosure R

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