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SECY-03-0053

April 10, 2003

Contact: C. Glenn, OEDO

Enclosure A

NRC Information Notice 2002-21, Supplement 1, Axial Outside-Diameter Cracking Affecting Thermally Treated Alloy 600 Steam Generator Tubing, dated April 1, 2003

The agency is issuing this supplement to IN 2002-21 to inform addressees of the root cause assessment for the axially oriented outside-diameter crack indications in the thermally treated Alloy 600 steam generator tubing at Seabrook. It is expected that recipients will review the information for applicability to their facilities and consider actions, as appropriate, to avoid similar problems.

Early Site Permit - North Anna

On April 1, 2003, agency representatives held two Category 3 public meetings in Mineral, Virginia. The primary purpose of the meetings was to inform the public in the vicinity of the North Anna site of the staff's plans and process for review of the early site permit (ESP) application that Dominion Energy, Inc. plans to submit in September 2003. The staff discussed the scope of the ESP review and opportunities for public involvement in the review process. Another objective of the meetings was to have a dialog with the public on questions or concerns they may have on the process. Over 20 members of the public attended the afternoon meeting, and 10 attended the evening meeting. The staff responded to a number of questions and concerns, the majority of which were related to nuclear waste issues (such as concerns about the Commission's "confidence findings" on storage and disposal of high-level waste), local environmental concerns (ability of Lake Anna to cool another power plant without overheating or seeing loss of lake level), and concerns regarding security in light of the terrorist attacks in September 2001.

Approval Of General Electric Nuclear Energy (GENE) Power Uprate Topical Reports (TRs)

The staff has completed its review of two GENE TRs. These are the thermal power optimization TR for measurement uncertainty recapture power uprates and the constant pressure power uprate TR for extended power uprates. Completion of the staff's review of both TRs took longer than originally planned due to issues with GENE's request to withhold certain information from public disclosure. Review of the constant pressure power uprate TR was also delayed due to issues related to how the TR was to be applied. Both issues have been resolved to the staff's satisfaction and the TRs were approved.

Sequoyah, Unit 1 Reactor Pressure Vessel Head Inspection

During the current Sequoyah Unit 1 refueling and steam generator replacement outage, a bare metal visual inspection of the reactor pressure vessel head was performed in accordance with NRC Order EA-03-009 (the Order). Using the guidance in the Order, Sequoyah Unit 1 is considered a low susceptibility plant. During the inspection on March 24, 2003, the licensee identified a potential leak indication at the head to penetration interface for control rod drive mechanism (CRDM) penetration number three. Subsequent chemical analysis of samples by the licensee on March 26, 2003, confirmed that the residue found at this interface contains boron, iron, and zinc; consistent with a reactor coolant system (RCS) leak. This RCS leak is postulated to be from a crack in the pressure boundary at the CRDM interface. Between April 2-4, 2003, the licensee plans to conduct a remote ultrasonic testing (UT) examination of penetration number three to test for the presence of a through-wall crack. If the UT examination is not conclusive, the licensee may conduct a dye penetrant test of the penetration number three J-groove weld to test for the presence of a through-weld crack.

Enclosure B

Presentation of Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards Version of the Fuel Cycle Processes Course

On March 24-28, 2003, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards (FCSS) staff presented the 1-week FCSS version of the Fuel Cycle Processes Course (F201S) to NRC staff and management. This course replaces the need for an individual to take the 6-month self-study course. This is the fourth time the FCSS version of the course has been taught in the last 3 years. Each time the course is given: (1) FCSS staff, and now Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response (NSIR) staff, who are experts in the topics, prepare and present the lecture materials; and (2) an FCSS staff member administers the course. In the future, NRC interns from the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS) and the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES) will be required to take F201S. There are 28 students in this year's FCSS class from Region II, NMSS, NSIR, and RES.

Staff Participates in Public Meeting on Mixed-Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility Draft Environmental Impact Statement

On March 25-27, 2003, Division of Waste Management staff held public meetings in Savannah, Georgia; North Augusta, South Carolina; and Charlotte, North Carolina, respectively, for the proposed Mixed-Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility. Staff provided a brief overview on NRC's roles and responsibilities relative to the proposed MOX project, a summary of the impacts associated with the alternatives, and ways the public could submit comments. After the presentation, there was a question and answer period followed by a formal comment period. The meetings in Savannah and Charlotte were lightly attended, whereas the meeting in North Augusta had approximately 80 attendees. Areas of concern repeatedly identified in comments were acts of terrorism and environmental justice. Attendees in each city were pleased that NRC was willing to hold the public meetings, and encouraged NRC to expand its outreach.

An open house was also held before each of the meetings. During this time, the staff was available to answer individual questions/concerns about any material found in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement. The Department of Energy (DOE), Duke Cogema Stone & Webster, and other organizations (e.g., Southern Alliance for Clean Energy), were also available during the open house.

Southern States Energy Board Meeting

On March 26-27, 2003, Spent Fuel Project Office (SFPO) staff participated in a Southern States Energy Board's Radioactive Materials Transportation Committee and Transuranic Waste Transportation Working Group meeting in Houston, Texas. Approximately 35 representatives from State agencies, various offices of DOE, and the Department of Transportation's (DOT's) Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration also attended. Meeting presentations included updates on DOE's transportation programs (Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, Savannah River, and Mound cleanup, Foreign Research Reactor returns); the TRANSCOM system; the response capabilities of DOE's Office of Secure Transportation; and Federal agency updates (by NRC, DOE, and DOT). SFPO presented an update of NRC's transport and storage activities. There was interesting roundtable discussion at the meeting on several issues, including implementation of security escorts, funding for emergency response, and the NRC Package Performance Study.

DOT/NRC Periodic Meeting

On March 27, 2003, SFPO and DOT staff met at DOT Headquarters for a periodic information-exchange meeting, as provided under the DOT/NRC Memorandum of Understanding. Agenda topics included: (1) DOT and NRC rulemaking activities; (2) outcome from the public meetings on NRC's Package Performance Study; (3) preparations for the International Atomic Energy Agency's transport safety conference; (4) interpretation of DOT's "exclusive-use" transport requirements; and (5) regulatory compliance issues. The next meeting was tentatively scheduled for May 8, 2003, at NRC Headquarters.

Spent-Fuel Cask Testing

On April 1, 2003, SFPO staff met with DOE staff in Germantown, Maryland, to view the industry/DOE report on aircraft crashing into a containment building and spent-fuel dry-storage casks. The report will be transmitted to NRC as a safeguards document.

Enclosure C

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Melt Coolability Concrete Interaction (OECD-MCCI) Program

The OECD Melt Coolability and Concrete Interaction (MCCI) Program was launched in January 2002 to provide confirmatory evidence and test data for various mechanisms to cool ex-vessel core debris by an overlying water pool and to determine the efficacy of severe accident management strategy of flooding the reactor cavity in the event of an ex-vessel core melt release. Preliminary data from the experiments recently conducted at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) indicate that additional cooling over and above the conduction limited cooling was achieved in both tests, thus confirming water ingression to be a viable coolability mechanism. However, no appreciable effect of system pressure was observed on long-term cooling by water ingression.

Other potential coolability mechanisms such as melt eruption and crust breach will also be investigated under this program. Results from water ingression and other tests will be used to develop coolability models for incorporation into analytical codes, which will be used for extrapolation to plant conditions to determine the efficacy of severe accident management strategies. The OECD-MCCI Program is hosted and coordinated by NRC with participation by 13 OECD countries and by the Department of Energy.

Air Oxidation of Spent Fuel Cladding

Air oxidation tests of fuel cladding are continuing at ANL. These tests will provide essential data on air oxidation kinetics of cladding necessary for evaluating the heatup of fuel during certain spent fuel pool, dry cask and reactor accidents. ANL has completed low-temperature air oxidation tests of steam preoxidized Zircaloy-4 cladding specimen. The experimental data were used to develop correlations for more realistic assessment of spent fuel heatup under air ingression conditions. Air oxidation tests of Zircaloy-4 at higher temperatures have begun. Also, low temperature air oxidation tests of Zirlo, an advanced cladding material for high burnup operation, have begun. These series of tests will be followed by air oxidation tests of M5 cladding, another advanced cladding material for high burnup operation.

Technical Advisory Group Meetings on Advanced Reactors

The Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES) and the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) are in the process of holding a series of Technical Advisory Group (TAG) meetings on the advanced reactor infrastructure. The TAG consists of senior technical staff from RES and NRR, with the purpose of providing advice and recommendations to a joint RES/NRR Advanced Reactor Steering Committee on research activities associated with advanced reactor designs. The research areas covered in the March 31, 2003 TAG meeting included Technology Neutral Framework, Probabilistic Risk Assessment, Structural Analysis, and Materials Analysis. The next meeting in the series is scheduled for April 9, 2003, and will include High Temperature Gas Cooled Reactor (HTGR) Systems Analysis. Over the next several weeks, meetings will be held on instrumentation and control, human factors, the General Atomic's Gas Turbine Modular Helium Reactor pre-application review, and HTGR fuels research.

Public Meeting on Handbook of Parameter Estimation for Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA)

A public meeting was held on April 2, 2003, to provide external stakeholders an opportunity to discuss the contents of the Parameter Estimation Handbook (i.e., Data Analysis Handbook), the schedule for receiving comments, and the plan for completion of the document. RES staff opened the meeting with a presentation of the project background and history, including a discussion of the relationship between the Data Analysis Handbook and the ASME/ANS PRA Standards. The objective of the document and its application, the scope of the effort, and the process used to develop the document were also discussed at the meeting. One important clarification made by the NRC staff was that the Handbook should be considered as a reference document. The technical presentations described the guiding principles used in the development of the Handbook, the techniques used in assembling and organizing the technical material, and the limitations of the Handbook. Licensees were requested to provide comments on the Handbook.

Draft Industry Initiating Event Indicator Report Issued for Peer Review

A draft report documenting development of an integrated industry initiating event indicator (IIIEI) for potential use in NRC's Industry Trends Program (ITP) has been issued. The ITP provides a means to assess overall industry performance.

Staff from RES and NRR have worked together in developing an overall industry-level indicator for the initiating event cornerstone. An integrated indicator can provide a better representation of the overall risk from initiating events when compared to multiple individual indicators of initiating events with varying degrees of risk significance. This indicator consists of an index of up to 10 of the most risk significant initiating events, each weighted by its relative contribution to core damage frequency. The development of the IIIEI relies on concepts similar to those currently used in the development of the mitigating systems performance indicator currently being pilot-tested for the Reactor Oversight Process (ROP). RES is continuing to develop risk-informed thresholds for the IIIEI.

Enclosure D

Center for Strategic and International Studies Workshop

On March 27, 2003, the Acting Director of the Division of Incident Response Operations attended a joint meeting of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Civil Security Working Group and the Silent Vector Roundtable Discussion Series. The purpose of the meeting was to address inconsistencies and areas of concern associated with the homeland security threat warning system.

Preliminary Notifications

1. PNO-III-03-014B, Palisades Nuclear Power Plant - PALISADES LOSS OF SHUTDOWN COOLING CAUSED BY LOSS OF OFFSITE POWER (SECOND UPDATE).

2. PNO-IV-03-020, CTL/Thompson Texas, LLC - STOLEN PORTABLE GAUGE.

3. PNO-I-03-008, The Medical Center, Beaver, Pa, Inc. - MEDICAL EVENT INVOLVING A HIGH DOSE RATE BRACYTHERAPY AFTERLOADER.

4. PNO-I-03-009, New York State Department of Health Licensee - MEDICAL EVENT INVOLVING NOVOSTE BETA-CATH INTRAVASCULAR BRACHYTHERAPY SYSTEM.

5. PNO-III-03-016, University of Michigan - MEDICAL EVENT INVOLVING SODIUM IODIDE IODINE-131.

Enclosure F

Revision of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery for FY 2003 (Parts 170 and 171)

A proposed rule that would amend the licensing, inspection, and annual fees charged to the Commission's applicants and licensees was published in the Federal Register (FR) on April 3, 2003 (68 FR 16374). The proposed rule is intended to ensure NRC compliance with the Omnibus Budget and Reconciliation Act of 1990. The Act mandates that the NRC recover approximately 94 percent of its budget authority in Fiscal Year (FY) 2003, less amounts appropriated from the Nuclear Waste Fund. The amount to be recovered for FY 2003 is approximately $526.3 million. The comment period on this action closes May 5, 2003.

Contract Award

As a result of a competitive small business set-aside procurement, a fixed-price contract No. NRC-10-03-140, was awarded to Shirlington Limousine and Transportation on March 24, 2003. The purpose of this contract is to provide on-call transportation services for NRC senior staff. The period of performance is six months with one six-month and two one-year options. The total estimated contract amount, including options, is $342,555.

Enclosure G

Freedom of Information and Privacy Act (FOIA/PA) Requests received during the period of March 28 through April 3, 2003:

Enclosure I

Enclosure M

Media Interest

The President's designation of Commissioner Diaz as Chairman received wide coverage. The Chairman was interviewed by Dow Jones and The St. Petersburg Times.

Media attention continued to focus on security at nuclear plants, especially during public meetings on annual nuclear plant performance assessments.

Safety concerns regarding transportation of spent fuel also received press scrutiny, with features on the Baltimore Harbor study and transportation needs for Yucca Mountain. Nevada's petition for a hearing panel of outside experts to review DOE's license application for Yucca Mountain received coverage.

Enclosure O

Commission Correspondence

1. Letter to Representative W.J. "Billy" Tauzin, dated March 31, 2003, concerns amendment pertaining to medical isotope production that could be offered at the markup of the proposed "Energy Policy Act of 2003."

2. Letter to Congress (Sen. Domenici & Rep. Hobson), dated March 31, 2003, provides report on efficiencies gained through implementation of the Reactor Oversight Process.

3. Letter to Congress dated March 28, 2003 provides January report on NRC's licensing and regulatory duties.

4. Letter to Representative W.J. "Billy" Tauzin, dated March 28, 2003, concerns amendment to the "Energy Policy Act of 2003" offered by Rep. Markey on emergency evacuation plans before the NRC issues a license or grants a license renewal for a "sensitive nuclear facility."

5. Letter to Tom Ridge, Secretary of Homeland Security, describing additional security-related actions the NRC has taken over the past several months.

Federal Register Notices Issued

1. ACRS Meeting of the Subcommittee on Reactor Fuels - Notice of Meeting.

2. ACRS Meeting on Planning and Procedures - Notice of Meeting.

3. ACRS Meeting of the Subcommittee on Materials and Metallurgy - Notice of Meeting.

4. 141^st Meeting of the Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste - Notice of Meeting.

Region I

Meeting on Emergency Response Issues and Perspectives

On April 3, 2003, the Delaware Valley Society for Radiation Safety, and the Philadelphia chapter of the Health Physics Society, presented an all-day seminar on Emergency Response Issues and Perspectives. Representatives from State and Federal organizations, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, and local law enforcement agencies and licensee organizations made presentations on a variety of emergency response issues, including radioactive dispersal devices and dealing with the media. Region I staff attended the seminar and a Region I Branch Chief represented NRC on the closing panel discussion.

Region II

Reactor Oversight Process (ROP) Annual Assessment Meetings

During the week of March 31 - April 4, 2003, the Regional Office held the NRC ROP Annual Assessment Meetings for Summer, Vogtle, Turkey Point, Browns Ferry, Surry, McGuire and Oconee nuclear plants. The meetings were held at or near the nuclear plants and were open to the public. The Regional Administrator attended the Oconee ROP Annual Assessment Meeting in Seneca, SC.

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

On March 31, - April 1, 2003, a representative from the Office of the Inspector General visited the Regional Office as part of his interfacing with the regional staff.

Region II Allegation Program Audit

On March 31 - April 2, 2003, the Agency Allegation Advisor, accompanied by the Office of the Nuclear Reactor Regulation Senior Allegations Coordinator, and the Region I Allegations Coordinator were in the Regional Office to conduct the Annual Allegation Program Audit of the Region II implementation of the program.

National Radiological Emergency Preparedness Conference

On March 31 - April 3, 2003, the Regional State Liaison Officer participated in the National Radiological Emergency Preparedness Conference in Portland, Oregon.

Region IV

Management Changes at Entergy Nuclear South

Effective April 7, 2003, Bill Eaton, Vice President at Grand Gulf Nuclear Station, will become Vice President of Engineering for Entergy Nuclear South. George Williams, Vice President of Operations, will begin a rotational assignment as Vice President of Grand Gulf. Greg Pierce, Director of Nuclear Support, will step up to be Acting Vice President of Operations Support.

During the week of March 31 - April 4, 2003, the Regional Office held the NRC ROP Annual Assessment Meetings for the Waterford 3, Callaway, Wolf Creek and San Onofre nuclear plants. The meetings were held at or near the nuclear plants and were open to the public. The Regional Administrator attended the Callaway Plant Annual Assessment Meeting.

ENCLOSURE Q

Proposed Rule Signed by EDO

On March 31, 2002, the Executive Director for Operations approved a proposed rule that amends 10 CFR Part 35, "Medical Use of Byproduct Material." This amendment would clarify certain inconsistencies within Part 35 and allow training in ophthalmic treatment to be conducted in eye clinics or private practices, in addition to medical institutions.

Enclosure R

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