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SECY-00-0073

March 23, 2000

Contact:  K. Landis, OEDO

WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2000

The Weekly Information Report is compiled by the Office of the EDO and includes highlights of Headquarters and Regional Office activities.

Contact: K. Landis, OEDO by E-mail: Kerry.Landis@nrc.gov.

ENCLOSURE A

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Items of Interest
Week Ending March 17, 2000

Misapplication of Leak Before Break to Steam Generator Tube Design

The Babcock and Wilcox Owners Group has, since 1991, used Leak Before Break (LBB) to remove large break LOCAs from consideration when designing steam generator tube repairs for B&W plants. Certain large break LOCAs can cause significant forces on the steam generator tubes due to differential thermal expansion. This could impact the design of roll-repairs to the steam generator tubes, where licensees desire to not take credit for the outer roll and seal weld which help to hold the tube in place. The roll-repairs have been used at all of the B&W sites except Three Mile Island (TMI).

In a conference call on March 9, 2000, the staff told the B&WOG the following:

1. The staff has not approved this application of LBB. Further, since the loads are primarily caused by temperature effects and not fluid dynamics, LBB does not apply. Therefore, large break LOCAs need to be considered in the design basis, and the previously-approved repair methods are invalid (they are based on incomplete information).
   
   
2. Licensees who have previously rolled tubes need to justify the operability of their steam generators (e.g., through use of Generic Letter 91-18).
   
   
3. It is inappropriate to use previously-approved license amendments to roll-repair more steam generator tubes until this issue is resolved.

In addition to its impact on roll-repairs, the B&WOG informed the staff that designing for a large break LOCA would have a significant impact on the replacement steam generators that are currently being fabricated for Oconee.

The B&WOG is currently evaluating its options for long term resolution of this issue, including the option of a risk-informed submittal to demonstrate that a large break LOCA does not need to be considered for steam generator tube design.

The staff is aware of the B&WOG's efforts to resolve this issue. The staff expects several licensees with spring refueling outages to request expedited reviews of changes to their roll-repair methods. A public meeting on long-term resolution has been tentatively set for the week of April 3, 2000.

ENCLOSURE B

Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards
Items of Interest
Week Ending March 17, 2000

Removal of the Homestake, New Mexico, Site

On March 6, 2000, staff from the Division of Waste Management met to discuss the possibility of removal of the Homestake uranium mill tailings site in New Mexico from the National Priorities (Superfund) List. The meeting, requested by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA ) and the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), was held in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Reclamation of the Homestake site is being performed under a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) license, with NRC as the lead federal agency under a Memorandum of Understanding with EPA.

The meeting was followed on March 7, 2000, by a site visit and further discussions which included the licensee. NMED will likely recommend deletion of the site to the Governor of New Mexico if further study of the site reclamation status and discussions with the EPA and NRC demonstrate that the state's interests will be protected.

Department of Energy Q-List Methodology

On March 8, 2000, staff from the Division of Waste Management met with the Department of Energy (DOE ) to discuss DOE's approach for categorizing items important to safety on the Yucca Mountain Project Q-List into three quality levels (QL-1, QL-2, and QL-3) based on safety significance. An acceptable Q-List categorization process is a necessary step for DOE to implement a graded quality assurance (QA) program. DOE explained its methodology based on the requirements of the proposed 10 CFR Part 63 for conducting a preclosure safety analysis to demonstrate compliance with performance objectives. DOE stated that its approach is risk-informed and generally consistent with available Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) guidance. DOE's QA program for current activities are not graded but it will use a graded approach in the future after providing sufficient justification to NRC. During previous interactions with DOE, NRC staff raised a number of questions related to graded QA, Q-List categorization process, rationale for the basis used for categorization, and related QA procedures. DOE provided clarifications to several of the issues raised by the staff and committed to responding to many remaining ones. The staff is reviewing DOE rationale and committed to providing further guidance on the acceptability of DOE's approach.

Meeting with ABB C-E Hematite

On March 14, 2000, staff representing the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, the Office of the General Counsel, the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, and Region I met at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Headquarters with representatives from British Nuclear Fuels Limited (BNFL), Westinghouse Electric Company, and ABB to discuss pending ownership transfer of ABB C-E to BNFL. The licensee's request to transfer will result in no changes affecting the existing health and safety programs; qualifications of safety personnel; equipment and facilities; or any other existing license requirements or conditions in the current licenses, quality assurance approvals, and certificates of compliance. Completion of the transfer is expected by the end of April 2000.

Meeting of the Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors E-34 Committee on Unwanted Radioactive Material

On March 9-10, 2000, staff from the Division of Industrial and Medical Nuclear Safety and the Environmental Protection Agency participated, in an advisory role, in the seventh meeting of the E-34 Committee on Unwanted Radioactive Material (E-34 Committee), held at the offices of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment in Denver, Colorado. Two Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors (CRCPD), committee members from the states of Illinois and Nebraska, and a representative of the state of Colorado also attended the meeting. Committee activities included: (1) continued development and refinement of a national orphan source program; (2) preparations for the Colorado pilot roundup program for Cesium-137 orphan sources; and (3) development of a state training program for the management of unwanted radioactive materials to be presented jointly with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Nuclear Materials Event Database training. Initial training is planned for April 27, 2000.

Later this month, the E-34 Committee plans to request approval of the CRCPD Board of Directors to initiate a contract for the collection and disposal of orphan sources in the state of Colorado during the pilot roundup program. Upon approval, the E-34 Committee and the state of Colorado will formalize and initiate the pilot roundup program over the next several months. The E-34 Committee plans to meet again in July or August.

International Atomic Energy Agency Meeting on a Possible Code of Conduct on the Safety and Security of Radiation Sources and Radioactive Materials

On March 6-10, 2000, a manager from the Division of Industrial and Medical Nuclear Safety served as the U.S. representative in an open-ended meeting of technical and legal experts to discuss a Code of Conduct on the Safety and Security of Radiation Sources and Radioactive Material, in Vienna, Austria. This effort was convened by the Director General pursuant to the section on "International Undertakings" in the International Atomic Energy Agency's action plan for the safety of radiation sources and the security of radioactive materials. The text of a first draft of the Code of Conduct was developed and together with the Chairman's report of the meeting will be sent to all Member States seeking comments by June 1, 2000. The meeting included participants from sixteen Member States and observers from the European Commission, the Nuclear Energy Agency/Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the Pan American Health Organization.

Meetings on International Atomic Energy Agency Transportation Safety Standards

On March 6-10, 2000, a staff member from the Spent Fuel Project Office participated in a technical committee meeting (TCM) at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The U.S. delegation for the TCM was led by the Department of Transportation, and also included representatives from the Department of Energy and industry. The purpose of the TCM was to identify issues associated with the world-wide implementation date of January 1, 2001, for the IAEA transportation standards (ST-1). Another purpose was to begin dialogue on regulatory changes contemplated for inclusion into the next ST-1 revision cycle. The major topics of the TCM were: (1) problems due to uneven adoption dates among Member States and modal organizations; (2) the need for timely issuance of guidance that compliments ST-1; and (3) the requirements in ST-1 on transportation of fissile material by air, transportation of low-activity consumer products, package contamination standards, and uranium hexaflouride packaging.

Meeting with BNFL Fuel Solutions

On March 9, 2000, the Spent Fuel Project Office met with BNFL Fuel Solutions (BFS) and some of its cask users to discuss its 10 CFR Parts 71 and 72 application submittal plans. BFS presented its owners' needs for the TranStor transportation package, the two dry storage cask designs (Wesflex and VSC-24) and the Trojan site specific license. BFS discussed plans to submit four additional submittals over the next year (TranStor transportation package, and three amendments for VSC-24). BFS also plans to support the Trojan license amendment application anticipated for submittal in June and July 2000.

Meeting with Holtec International

On March 14, 2000, Spent Fuel Project Office staff met with Holtec International to discuss the February 15, 2000, request for additional information on the High Seismic Topical Report for the HI-STORM 100 and HI-STAR 100 dry cask systems. A number of the staff's questions will be resolved with Holtec's revised design of its proposed anchoring system. The staff and Holtec also discussed the possibility of Holtec revising the format of its submittal from a Topical Report to applications for amendments to the Certificates of Compliance for the HI-STAR and HI-STORM systems.

ENCLOSURE C

Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research
Items of Interest
Week Ending March 17, 2000

Workshop on Environmental Software System Compatibility and Linkage

An interagency workshop on multi-media environmental software and data systems was hosted by RES and NMSS staff on March 7-10, 2000. The environmental software systems that were discussed are used to evaluate contaminant release, transport and health effects through various media (e.g. air, ground and surface water) and environmental pathways to the public.

A major motivation for the workshop was the desire of the participating Federal agencies to realize efficiencies and cost savings by utilizing existing models, systems and databases developed in their programs, rather than developing totally new systems. Workshop participants for this inaugural gathering included Federal agencies, their cooperators and contractors (e.g., U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, EPA's national exposure research laboratories, Offices of Research and Development, Radiation and Indoor Air, Solid Waste and Water, DOE, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, Golder Associates Inc., State of New Jersey and New Jersey Institute of Technology). The workshop objective was to facilitate communication between software products by focusing on standard attributes, protocols and specifications for linking environmental and risk models to databases and modeling systems.

The workshop included presentations and demonstrations of current software systems (e.g., RESRAD, MEPAS, FRAMES, SEDSS, DandD, HWIR, LMS, WMS, etc.) used in site decommissioning assessments. The workshop attendees (1) reviewed detailed suggestions from system developers and users on attributes for linking the existing models, systems, web-based and GIS databases; and (2) discussed alternate software designs to assure compatibility and linkage for future models, systems and datasets. RES and NMSS management meet separately with the other Federal-funding agency representatives to explore future coordination opportunities. A summary report of the workshop is being developed by the conveners and attendees and will be circulated to the funding and user Federal agencies.

ENCLOSURE D

Incident Response Operations
Items of Interest
Week Ending March 17, 2000

Millstone Exercise:

Incident Response Operations (IRO) had a full-scale emergency response exercise for the Millstone (Connecticut) Unit 3 nuclear power plant on Wednesday, March 15. The participants included: Northeast Utilities, NRC headquarters operating out of the Incident Response Center with participation by other Federal agencies, Region I which participated with both a base team and a site team, and the States of Connecticut and New York including participation by several local governments. Chairman Meserve headed the headquarters Executive team. The headquarters news Center was also activated for the exercise.

PRELIMINARY NOTIFICATIONS:

1. PNO-III-00-009, Inspection Services Co., STOLEN MOISTURE-DENSITY GAUGE

ENCLOSURE F

Office of Administration
Items of Interest
Week Ending March 17, 2000

List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: (NAC-MPC) Addition (Part 72)

A final rule that adds the NAC-International Multi-Purpose Canister to the list of approved spent fuel storage casks was published in the Federal Register on March 9, 2000 (65 FR 12444). The amendment allows holders of nuclear power plant operating licenses to store spent fuel in the this approved cask system under a general license. The final rule becomes effective April 10, 2000.

ENCLOSURE G

Chief Information Officer
Items of Interest
Week Ending March 17, 2000

Freedom of Information and Privacy Act Requests received during the 5-Day Period of March 10, 2000 through March 16, 2000:

ENCLOSURE I

Office of Human Resources
Items of Interest
Week Ending March 17, 2000

* Transfer from Region III

ENCLOSURE M

Office of Public Affairs
Items of Interest
Week Ending March 17, 2000

Media Interest

There was continuing press interest in the steam generator tube leak at Indian Pont 2.

Eight reporters attended the Region III administrator's press conference at the Clinton plant last week.

ENCLOSURE N

Office of International Programs
Items of Interest
Week Ending March 17, 2000

Chubu Electric Power Company

On March 13, 2000, Mr. Kazunori Kuze, Chief Representative of the Washington Office for the Chubu Electric Power Company, accompanied from his office by Kenji Toyozumi, met with Kevin Burke on the Chubu Company's current reactor program and future construction plans. Chubu has started the construction of a 1,380 MWe Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) at the Hamaoka Station (south of Tokyo). This will be the fifth unit at Hamaoka, joining four operating BWRs which were commissioned from 1976 to 1993. (Toyko Electric Power Company currently operates the world's only two ABWRs, at its Kashiwazaki Kariwa site near Niigata.) The Chubu Company also recently announced a postponement of its long-standing plans, started in 1963, to open a new site in Ashihama where four units would be built. The postponement was precipitated by the opposition of local fishermen to nuclear power.

Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute

On March 14, 2000, Mr. Ichiro Kurita, Deputy General Manager, Fuel Technology Engineering Section, Plutonium Fuel Fabrication Division, Japan Nuclear Fuel Cycle Development Institute (JNC), accompanied by Mr. Itaru Watanabe, JNC's Washington representative, met with Eric Weinstein, Emergency Operations Center, to discuss NRC's experience in developing emergency response and training procedures, including the use of drills. On Wednesday, the visitors attended the Millstone 3 emergency drill as observers.

German Reactor Safety Commission (RSK)

Lothar Hahn, Chairman, and Edmund Kersting, Vice Chairman, of the RSK met with the Chairman and members of the staff to discuss a wide range of current nuclear safety issues including research, risk informed regulation, decommissioning and generic safety issues. Prior to these meetings, they had met with some members of the ACRS in Cambridge, MA. German safety authorities and their expert advisory groups are ready to resume bilateral exchanges with the U.S., a normalization which follows several years in which their international nuclear safety interactions have been focused primarily within central and eastern Europe.

ENCLOSURE O

Office of the Secretary
Items of Interest
Week Ending March 17, 2000

Commission Correspondence

1. Letter to Congressman Markey dated March 9, 2000, concerns status of the new security program to replace the Operational Safeguards Response Evaluation (OSRE) program.
   
   
2. Letter to Congressman Markey dated March 9, 2000, concerns responses to questions on potassium iodide stockpiles.
   
   
3. Letter to the Honorable James S Gilmore, Governor of Virginia, dated March 6, 2000, concerns continued participation in the NRC State Liaison Officer program.
   
   
4. Letter to the Honorable Benjamin J. Cayetano , Governor of Hawaii, dated March 6, 2000, concerns continued participation in the NRC State Liaison Officer program.

Federal Register Notices Issued

1. Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste; Notice of Meeting - Revised.
   
   
2. Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards; Notice of Meeting.
   
   
3. Application for License to Export Nuclear Material (Poco Graphite, Inc.).

ENCLOSURE P

Region I
Items of Interest
Week Ending March 17, 2000

Indian Point 2

On Tuesday, March 14, 2000, the NRC conducted a public meeting at the New York Armory in Peekskill, New York, regarding the Indian Point 2 steam generator tube leak, which occurred on February 15, 2000. Regional Administrator Hubert Miller, along with Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Associate Director Brian Sheron, and other NRC staff discussed the event with members of the public. On the evening of March 16, 2000, Mr. Peter Eselgroth, Projects Branch 2 Chief , and Mr. Robert Bores, Region I State Liaison Officer, met with the Rockland County (NY) Board of Legislators to brief them on the current status of Indian Point 2.

Millstone Unit 3

On March 15, 2000, Northeast Utilities conducted an evaluated emergency exercise at the Millstone Unit 3 Nuclear Power Station. NRC Region I participated in the exercise on site with a team led by the Regional Administrator. NRC Headquarters also participated, led by Chairman Meserve.

Inspection Accompaniment at Shieldalloy Metallurgical Corporation

On March 13, 2000, Frank Costello, Deputy Director, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety and Julie Olivier, Project Manager from NMSS' Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards, participated in an inspection conducted by RI staff at the Shieldalloy Metallurgical Corporation facility in Newfield, NJ. This facility is a Site Decommissioning Management Program site that has proposed in-situ disposal of licensed slag and dismantlement debris, as part of its Decommissioning Funding Plan. The facility has not processed licensed material since February 1998. The requirements of the Decommissioning Timeliness Rule were discussed with the licensees.

Senior Management Visit to the Haddam Neck Nuclear Facility, Haddam Neck, CT

On March 16, 2000, Regional Administrator, Hubert Miller and Ronald Bellamy, Chief, Decommissioning and Laboratory Branch, toured the Haddam Neck site and met with Don Davis, President, Chairman and CEO of Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Company (CYAPCO), Ken Heider, Site Manager and other staff members. The meeting and tour provided an opportunity to view the status of several major component dismantlement activities and to discuss the oversight role of CYAPCO with respect to its Decommissioning Operations Contractor.

ENCLOSURE P

Region II
Items of Interest
Week Ending March 17, 2000

Radiological Emergency Preparedness Conference/Workshop

On March 14 - 16, 2000, representatives from Region II and the Incident Response Operations staff participated in the Radiological Emergency Preparedness Conference/Workshop, sponsored by FEMA Region IV in Mobile, Alabama. Conference attendees included representatives from the State and County emergency management and radiological control organizations and nuclear power plants in the area regulated by FEMA Region IV. NRC representatives discussed the new reactor oversight program, the interactions of Federal and State and local agencies in responding to radiological emergencies, and Liability/Indemnity Insurance Issues.

Executive Director for Operations Visits Region II to speak to Resident and Regional Inspectors

On March 15, 2000, the Executive Director for Operations, visited Region II and spoke to managers and inspectors as a part of a Regional meeting of Resident and Regional Inspectors. The discussion included current issues and challenges for the NRC over the next year. Representatives from the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation also provided status of issues with implementation of the new reactor oversight program.

ENCLOSURE P

Region III
Items of Interest
Week Ending March 17, 2000

Dresden Predecisional Enforcement Conference

On March 16, 2000, the staff conducted a predecisional enforcement conference with representatives of Commonwealth Edison and the utility's contractor NUMANCO to discuss an alleged employment discrimination case. The staff also held predecisional enforcement conferences with two individuals involved in the alleged employment discrimination case. Consistent with NRC policy for employment discrimination cases, the conferences were closed to the public.

Staff Member representing IAEA in Finland

Cindy Pederson, director of Region III's Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, is in Finland for two weeks as a representative of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The IAEA team will evaluate and assess Finland's reactor and materials regulatory program.

ENCLOSURE P

Region IV
Items of Interest
Week Ending March 17, 2000

Revised Reactor Oversight Program Training

The Region IV staff conducted two 2-day training sessions on the Revised Reactor Oversight Program for Region IV inspectors. The training, conducted March 8, 9, 15, and 16, consisted of guidance intended to assist inspectors in planning inspections, applying the enforcement guidance, documenting inspection findings, entering RITS data, and other practical aspects of implementing the inspection program. The Regional Administrator, the DRP Director, and DRP Deputy Director observed and participated in significant portions of the workshop.

Callaway Meeting

On March 13, 2000, the Regional Administrator and members of the Region IV staff met with representatives of Callaway (Union Electric Company) at the NRC Region IV office in Arlington, Texas. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss circumstances, causes, and corrective actions associated with the August 11-12, 1999, degraded switchyard voltage condition.

Deputy Executive Director for Reactor Programs Visit to South Texas Project

On March 15, 2000, the Deputy Executive Director for Reactor Programs accompanied the Deputy Regional Administrator and the Assistant for Operations, Office of the Executive Director for Operations, on a visit to South Texas Project. The visit included a plant tour and discussions with South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company senior management staff. Also part of the visit were direct observations of the current Unit 1 refueling outage and the activities associated with replacement of steam generators.

ENCLOSURE ROffice of Congressional Affairs
Items of Interest
Week Ending March 17, 2000