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INFORMATION REPORT

SECY-00-0153

July 13, 2000

Contact:  C. Marschall, OEDO

WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING JULY 7, 2000

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

Contact: C. Marschall, OEDO by E-mail: csm@nrc.gov.

ENCLOSURE A

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Items of Interest
Week Ending July 7, 2000

Staff Participates in Hearings on Contentions on the Application of Private Fuel Storage for an Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI)

Alex McKeigney and Bob Wood from RGEB/DRIP/NRR, participated in hearings in support of NMSS during late June in Salt Lake City conducted by the NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) on the application by Private Fuel Storage, L.L.C. (PFS) to construct and operate a spent nuclear fuel storage facility. Mr. McKeigney's and Mr. Wood's testimony was on financial issues associated with the PFS application. PFS is a limited liability company organized by utility member companies to store spent fuel from their own reactors and from nonmember utility reactors. The proposed facility is to be an ISFSI located on the reservation of the Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians in Tooele County, Utah.

The ASLB conducted the hearings from June 19-22 and on June 27, 2000, with Judge Paul G. Bollwerk, III, presiding, and with Judges Jerry Kline and Peter Lam serving on the judicial panel. The State of Utah and other parties had submitted contentions against the PFS Application, of which three were heard during this session.

The hearings began with a one-day public session on Contention R regarding emergency planning. On June 20-22, the Board held a closed hearing on Contention E regarding financial assurance with testimony involving extensive proprietary information. On June 27, a public session was held on Contention S regarding decommissioning funding assurance for the facility, and Contention E was completed in a final closed session.

NRC Information Notice 95-03, Supplement 2: Loss of Reactor Coolant Inventory and Potential Loss of Emergency Mitigation Functions While in a Shutdown Condition Dated July 3, 2000

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued this information notice supplement to alert addressees to insights from inspections related to losses of reactor coolant while the reactor is in a hot, pressurized, shutdown condition with the potential for adversely affecting accident mitigation capability.

NRC Information Notice 2000-09: Steam Generator Tube Failure at Indian Point Unit 2 Dated June 28, 2000

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued this information notice which discussed the steam generator tube failure at Indian Point Unit 2.

NRC Regulatory Issue Summary 2000-11 NRC Emergency Telecommunications System June 30, 2000

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued this regulatory issue summary to inform addressees about impending changes to the currently installed NRC Emergency Telecommunications System (ETS).

ENCLOSURE B

Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards
Items of Interest
Week Ending July 7, 2000

Sacramento Municipal Utility District

On June 30, 2000, the Spent Fuel Project Office (SFPO) issued License No. SNM-2510 to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), allowing dry storage of spent fuel at the Rancho Seco independent spent fuel storage installation. The 10 CFR Part 72 site-specific license authorizes the storage of all 493 Rancho Seco spent fuel assemblies in the modified Transnuclear West NUHOMS horizontal dry cask storage system for a period of 20 years.

SMUD is currently projecting that the transfer of spent fuel to the independent spent fuel storage installation will commence in late August 2000. Region IV is coordinating with SFPO in planning for the preoperational inspection.

Spent Fuel Project Office Issues Transport Amendment for PWR or BWR High-Burnup Fuel Rods

On July 5, 2000, the Spent Fuel Project Office approved an amendment request for the NAC-LWT transportation cask to authorize the transport of up to 25 high-burnup PWR or BWR fuel rods. Each high-burnup (up to 80 GWd/MTU) PWR or BWR fuel rod is placed in a stainless steel tube. Each tube array is placed within a canister that has external dimensions similar to a standard PWR assembly. The canister is placed in the previously authorized standard NAC-LWT PWR basket for transport within the NAC-LWT cask cavity. The higher burnup capacity of the NAC-LWT will support Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research activities associated with the materials properties of such fuels.

Meeting with Transnuclear West, Inc., Regarding a Spent Fuel Storage Cask Design for High Seismic Areas

On July 6, 2000, Spent Fuel Project Office staff met with Transnuclear West, Inc., regarding its application for a spent fuel storage cask design to be used in high seismic areas. The storage cask will be used under the general license provisions of 10 CFR Part 72 Subpart K. The pre-application meeting was held to discuss the following Safety Analysis Report Sections: criticality, shielding, thermal, structural, and seismic considerations. Transnuclear West, Inc., plans to submit the application for the new design to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in September 2000.

Involuntary Reduction in Force at the Gaseous Diffusion Plants

On June 29-30, 2000, the U.S. Enrichment Corporation (USEC) implemented an involuntary reduction in force of non-Union workers at its Paducah and Portsmouth gaseous diffusion plants. Approximately 30 workers at Paducah and about 120 workers at Portsmouth were informed of their terminations and escorted off site. About 75 non-Union workers at both sites accepted USEC's offer of a voluntary reduction in force. USEC will layoff Union workers in mid-July 2000, at which time the total workforce at both plants will have been reduced by about 600 workers. Before the recent layoffs, USEC employed approximately 1650 and 1900, at the Paducah and Portsmouth sites, respectively.

On June 21, 2000, USEC announced that it would cease uranium enrichment activities at its Portsmouth facility in June 2001. Uranium enrichment activities will continue at the Paducah facility. After uranium enrichment activities cease at Portsmouth, there will be a transition period of at least one year during which several stages of additional workforce reductions will take place. USEC will continue to operate its transfer and shipping activities at the Portsmouth plant for about four to five years after enrichment activities have ceased after which similar facilities will be available at the Paducah plant.

Replacement Decommissioning Bond Approved for the U.S. Enrichment Corporation

On May 30, 2000, the Safeco Insurance Company of America notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission of its intent to cancel a surety bond for the U.S. Enrichment Corporation's (USEC's) decommissioning financial assurance. On June 29, 2000, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards staff, with timely assistance from Office of the General Counsel and Division of Waste Management staff, received and approved a replacement bond issued by the National Union Fire Insurance Company. The replacement bond was for $55.5 million, the same amount as the Safeco bond.

Visit by Representative of Japan's Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry

On July 3, 2000, the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS) staff met with a representative of the socioeconomic Research Center of Japan's Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI). The CRIEPI is a nonprofit institute founded by nine Japanese electric utilities. (The U.S. Electric Power Research Institute performs a role somewhat similar to the CRIEPI in the U.S.) The purpose of the visit was to discuss evolving risk communication practices in Japan and the U.S. The CRIEPI representative provided a very helpful discussion of activities that were conducted following the events at Tokaimura to assess the impact of the events on the public's perceptions of radiation risk. NMSS staff discussed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's strategic goal of enhancing public confidence, and described recent experiences and actions taken, as well as future plans within NMSS to improve risk communication. NMSS was represented by staff from the Division of Waste Management, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards, and the NMSS risk group.

Scoping Meeting in Support of the Reactor Decommissioning Generic Environmental Impact Statement

Staff from the Division of Waste Management, Region IV, and the Office of the General Counsel participated in a public meeting hosted by the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) to define the scope of the Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) for Power Reactor Decommissioning. This was the final meeting in a series of four scoping meetings. The meeting was held in San Francisco, California. The meeting opened with presentations by the NRR staff on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) plans to develop the GEIS and by staff of NRC's contractor (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) on the current reactor decommissioning process.

A question and answer (Q+A) period followed each presentation. A discussion of GEIS scoping issues followed the Q+A session. Issues raised during this meeting included: storage, transportation and disposal of radioactive wastes; release of solid materials; inadequate notice of scoping meetings; need for more public involvement in the decommissioning process; financial assurance for decommissioning; and adequacy of the license termination rule and NRC dose modeling. In addition, several people commented that long-term SAFSTOR was preferable to immediate dismantlement with resulting shallow-land disposal of large volumes of low-level waste. Approximately 15 members of the public attended.

ENCLOSURE C

Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research
Items of Interest
Week Ending July 7, 2000

Workshop with NASA

On June 27, 2000, members of the RES, NRR, and ADM participated in a small workshop with members of the NASA staff at NASA Headquarters. The workshop objectives were to (a) identify risk assessment and risk management areas where collaboration between NASA and NRC is of mutual interest and (b) initiate collaborative activities in a selected number of these areas.

The workshop was successful in identifying a number of technical areas of mutual interest to both NASA and NRC, including human reliability analysis (e.g., the treatment of errors of commission and work processes), digital instrumentation and control (I&C) system reliability, risk-informed decision making, and the risk significance of cables (e.g., the effect of aging, fire response). The workshop was also successful in defining areas where NASA could benefit from NRC work to support its developing risk assessment and risk management capabilities. These areas include PRA training and PRA software. NASA expressed specific interest in the SAPHIRE code that was developed under RES sponsorship. NASA also expressed willingness to facilitate communications between the NRC staff and the various NASA centers performing work in some of the technical areas indicated above, including digital I&C system reliability (NASA Goddard) and human reliability analysis (NASA Ames).

Public Meeting

RES held a public meeting on June 14, 2000, in Downers Grove, Illinois, to understand Commonwealth Edison's (Com-Ed) concerns with certain regulations that Com-Ed perceives to impose unnecessary regulatory burden. The meeting was coordinated with Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR), and announced in the Federal Register. The RES interest is in understanding remarks made by Mr. D. Helwig, Executive Vice President-Nuclear of Com-Ed, at the RES Water Reactor Safety Meeting in October 1999.

RES opened the meeting by stating that NRC's Strategic Plan identifies maintaining safety as the Agency's most important performance goal. In fulfilling this goal, the NRC is also looking for opportunities to reduce unnecessary regulatory burden and to improve its efficiency and effectiveness as a regulator. To make progress in implementing these performance goals, RES is pursuing an initiative on regulatory effectiveness. Com-Ed presented a list of items that they consider unnecessary regulatory burdens. Each item was discussed to ensure that the items were understood and that there was an exchange of ideas and perceptions. Com-Ed noted the list was illustrative, not exhaustive. In total, Com-Ed believes the proposed items could save about $13 million annually at its five sites and that the savings were significant in the context of operating 20 more years. RES will meet with NRR to follow up on these and other items that could pose unnecessary regulatory burden.

ENCLOSURE F

Office of Administration
Items of Interest
Week Ending July 7, 2000

Natural Resources Defense Council; Receipt of Petition for Rulemaking (PRM-30-63)

A document that requests public comment on a petition for rulemaking submitted by the Natural Resources Defense Council was published in the Federal Register on June 30, 2000 (65 FR 40548). The petitioner requests that the NRC amend its regulations to require that an individual report illegal payments to regulators if the individual has knowledge or evidence of the illegal payments. The petitioner requests that an individual who fails to make such a report not be issued a license or allowed to retain a license. The comment period for this action closes September 13, 2000.

Operator License Eligibility and Use of Simulation Facilities in Operator Licensing (Part 55)

A proposed rule that would allow applicants for operator and senior operator licenses to fulfill a portion of the experience prerequisites for license eligibility by manipulating a plant-referenced simulator as an alternative to use of an actual plant was published in the Federal Register on July 3, 2000 (65 FR 41021). The proposed rule would also remove current requirements for simulation facility certification and the submittal of simulator performance test results to the NRC. The comment period for this action closes September 18, 2000.

Technical Assistance for Support of the Development of Regulations

On June 30, 2000, DCPM awarded a contract for "Technical Assistance for Support of the Development of Regulations" to ICF Consulting. The contract provides for technical assistance for the development and documentation of rules, evaluation of petitions for rulemaking, and regulatory guides. The period of performance of the contract is two years, with the option to extend the period of performance one three-year period. The estimated value of the base period is $869,152.00 and the estimated value of the option period is $1,396,799.00. Streamlining initiatives used were: Waiver of CBD synopsis, electronic transmission of SOW, Competitive Range Report and Final Evaluation Report, limitation on pages in proposal and deadline for questions concerning the solicitation.

ENCLOSURE G

Chief Information Officer
Items of Interest
Week Ending July 7, 2000

Freedom of Information and Privacy Act Requests received during the 4-Day Period of June 30, 2000 through July 6, 2000:

ENCLOSURE I

Office of Human Resources
Items of Interest
Week Ending July 7, 2000

ENCLOSURE M

Office of Public Affairs
Items of Interest
Week Ending July 7, 2000

Media Interest

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch interviewed Region I personnel regarding an overexposure at a Mallinckrodt facility in Pennsylvania.

ENCLOSURE N

Office of International Programs
Items of Interest
Week Ending July 7, 2000

Meeting with Kazakh NGOs

J. Ramsey, OIP, participated in a meeting with representatives from Kazakh environmental NGOs on June 30. This group was brought to the U.S. through a State Department-funded program intended to familiarize Kazakh environmental NGO representatives with U.S. government-sponsored activities in Kazakhstan.

The Kazakh NGO representatives expressed a strong interest in learning about what kind of opportunities exist for public involvement/participation in NRC activities. Considerable discussion was held on NRC's policies governing public observation of and participation in NRC-sponsored meetings, as well as NRC's mechanisms for making information available to the public (public document room, press releases, web site, etc.). Current nuclear safety and non-proliferation issues in Kazakhstan were also discussed.

Meeting of US-ROK Joint Standing Committee on Nuclear Energy Cooperation

OIP (D. Chaney) represented NRC on the U.S. interagency delegation to the 21^st annual meeting of the U.S.-Republic of Korea Joint Standing Committee on Nuclear Energy Cooperation in Seoul June 26-30. NRC chairs one of the three established working groups, Nuclear Safety Cooperation, which includes topics in the areas of training and assignments, technical exchange missions, risk-based regulation, emergency preparedness, the umbrella NRC-Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) information exchange and general cooperation Arrangement (which the parties agreed to strive to renew this September on the margins of the IAEA General Conference, if not before), cooperative research programs, nuclear power plant operating information, and the Korean Next Generation Reactor (KNGR, which the ROK plans to introduce into its grid beginning in 2010). Working Group participants on the ROK side included the MOST, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Energy, the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, and the Korea Electric Power Corporation.

Week of July 10-14, 2000

OIP (S. Schuyler-Hayes) represented NRC on the U.S. interagency delegation to the Nuclear Suppliers Group Plenary meeting in Paris, France, June 19 -23, 2000. The Executive Branch (the Departments of State and Energy), which has the lead for coordination of U.S. participation in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), led the delegation. The NSG seeks to contribute to the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons through implementation of two sets of Guidelines, Part 1 for nuclear equipment and material exports, and Part 2 for nuclear-related, dual-use exports. There are currently 38 Member States, with the recent additions of Belarus, Cyprus and Turkey. The Member States of the NSG have agreed to implement the Guidelines on a national basis.

Discussions during the Paris Plenary included restructuring to streamline the NSG, revision of the Guidelines, and efforts to promote greater transparency and openness toward nonmember states through the establishment of an NSG web site.

ENCLOSURE O

Office of the Secretary
Items of Interest
Week Ending July 7, 2000

Document Released to Public		Date	Subject
Decision Documents
1.	COMSECY-00-0024	5/12/00	Plans Regarding the "One Voice" Initiative for Your Information
	SRM on 00-0024	6/16/00	(same)
	Commission Voting Record on 00-0024	6/16/00	(same)
2.	COMSECY-00-0028	6/15/00	Draft Press Release and Federal Register Notice to Solicit Qualified Candidates for the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards
	SRM on 00-0028	7/6/00	(same)
	Commission Voting Record on 00-0028	7/6/00	(same)
Information Papers
1.	SECY-00-0143	6/27/00	SECY-00-0143 Weekly Information Report - Week Ending June 23, 2000

Commission Correspondence

1. Letter to John G Rowland, Governor of Connecticut, dated June 29, 2000, concerns proposed rule to add the NAC International Inc. Universal Storage System to the "List of approved spent fuel storage casks."
   
   
2. Letter to Angus S King, Jr, Governor of Maine, dated June 29, 2000, concerns the impact of the State of Maine's recent legislation on the Maine Yankee License Termination Plan.
   
   
3. Letter to Senator Fred Thompson dated June 29, 2000, transmits responses to GAO recommendations in its report entitled "Nuclear Safety: Concerns with the Continuing Operation of Soviet-Designed Nuclear Power Reactors (GAO/RCED-00-97)."
   
   
4. Letter to Congress dated June 27, 2000, transmits the May monthly report on the status of its licensing and regulatory duties.

Federal Register Notices Issued

1. 10 CFR Part 54; Docket No. PRM-54-1; Union of Concerned Scientists; Receipt of Petition for Rulemaking.
   
   
2. Western Soil, Inc.; Docket No. 030-20563; Establishment of Atomic Safety and Licensing Board.
   
   
3. ACRS Subcommittee Meeting on Planning and Procedures; Revised.

ENCLOSURE P

Region I
Items of Interest
Week Ending July 7, 2000

Mallinckrodt Inspection (Potential Extremity Overexposure at a Nuclear Pharmacy)

A special inspection was conducted on July 5, 2000 at Mallinckrodt, Inc.'s Harrisburg, Pennsylvania facility to review the licensee's report of a potential exposure in excess of the regulatory limits to the right hand of a radiopharmacist. The licensee reported on June 30, 2000, that the extremity exposures reported by their dosimetry processor for the potentially exposed individual was 8.2 rem for February 2000, 26.5 rem for March 2000, 13.1 rem for April 2000, and 12 rem for May 2000, a total of 59.8 rem (versus the annual regulatory limit of 50 rem). A joint inspection with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was conducted and the inspectors reviewed the potential cause(s) of the exposure, the radiopharmacist's training and experience, the licensee's review of exposure reports, precautions taken by the radiopharmacist when handling radioactive material, and the licensee's corrective actions. Regulatory action is under consideration.

ENCLOSURE P

Region II
Items of Interest
Week Ending July 7, 2000

Southern Nuclear Operating Company - Hatch Nuclear Plant

On June 26, 2000, the licensee completed the pre-operational testing and evaluations associated with their first use of the Holtec Hi-Star 100 multipurpose cannister (MPC) system. On June 27, the licensee began loading the first 68 spent fuel bundles. On July 6, the MPC and overpack assembly were moved to the Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation pad.

ENCLOSURE P

Region III
Items of Interest
Week Ending July 7, 2000

D.C. Cook Unit 2 Reaches 100 Percent Power

D.C. Cook Nuclear Power Station's Unit 2 in Michigan reached 100 percent power on July 5, 2000. The power ascension procedure included hold points at 30, 50, 80 and 90 percent power for system testing. Unit 2 was restarted on June 22, 2000 and was connected to the grid on June 25, 2000, after an outage that began in September 1997. Cook's Unit 1 is scheduled to restart later this year.

ENCLOSURE P

Region IV
Items of Interest
Week Ending July 7, 2000

Comanche Peak Steam Electric Station

On July 6, 2000, the Director, Division of Reactor Safety (DRS) with members of the DRS staff, participated in a meeting with the licensee's new emergency preparedness and radiation protection and safety managers. The purpose of this meeting was to introduce the two new managers. This meeting was open to attendance by members of the general public.

WNP2 Reactor Oversight Program Public Meeting

On July 6, 2000, the Chief, Branch E, Division of Reactor Projects conducted a public meeting in Richland, Washington. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the agency's new reactor oversight program for the WNP-2 facility. The meeting was held in the Richland Public Library from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. (PDT). Approximately 20 members of the general public attended the meeting, including one state official.

ENCLOSURE R

Office of Congressional Affairs
Items of Interest
Week Ending July 7, 2000