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SECY 98-115

May 27, 1998

ENCLOSURE A

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Items of Interest
Week Ending May 22, 1998

NRC Staff Meeting with Industry Regarding USI A-46 Issues

At the request of the Seismic Qualification Utility Group (SQUG), a meeting was held on May 18, 1998, at the NRC headquarters between NRC staff and SQUG representatives. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss three issues which SQUG considers to be significant in relation to the closure of USI A-46 at affected plants and to the future use of the Generic Implementation Procedure (GIP) for determining the seismic adequacy of new and replacement equipment (NARE) at these plants. These issues are not new; however, they represent the remainder of a larger population of issues that has been the subject of interaction between the staff and SQUG in the last two years.

The first issue is related to the staff's concern that certain plants have a documented in-structure seismic demand spectra substantially greater than 1.5 times the ground spectra that SQUG asserts is applicable to equipment at elevations within 40 feet above grade level at all plants. The staff requested that SQUG provide additional information to substantiate their assertion. SQUG agreed to provide the requested information. The second issue is related to the apparent perception by SQUG that some of the staff RAIs concerning cable and raceway supports are asking for unnecessary justification to verify a licensee's determinations of support installations ductile behavior. The staff agreed to clarify the types of information needed by NRC in the meeting summary.

The final issue of concern to SQUG is its perception of an apparent change in the staff position on future applications of the GIP by affected utilities for NARE and the means by which the GIP approach could be incorporated into a facility's licensing basis. SQUG believes that the GIP can be incorporated into the licensing basis for a facility via a licensee's 10 CFR 50.59 evaluation, on the premise that the application of the GIP methodology for the USI A-46 program has resulted in an overall improvement to plant safety. The staff reiterated its position stated in SSER No. 2, and later conveyed to SQUG in a letter on November 26, 1997. The staff agreed to assess the approach pursued by SQUG in which a licensee could satisfy 10 CFR 50.59 provisions on a broad programmatic level rather than evaluating the various aspects of the GIP against specific licensee commitments in the FSAR. The staff noted that the issue raised was generic and not restricted to the SQUG issue.

Meeting between NRC and Performance Demonstration Initiative Representatives

On May 12, 1998, NRR and RES staff met with representatives of the Performance Demonstration Initiative (PDI) at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) Center located in Charlotte, NC. The PDI is a utility funded program developed to evaluate the performance of ultrasonic testing personnel and techniques in conformance with the requirements of Appendix VIII of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section XI. The PDI is administered by EPRI at the NDE Center. The purpose of the public meeting was to ascertain the current status of the program and its ability to comply with the proposed revision to 10 CFR 50.55a. Some of the topics covered during the meeting were implementation status, test specimen availability, flaw configuration, personnel test attrition, record keeping, and auditability of the program. The information presented at the meeting was comprehensive with an excellent exchange between the NRC and industry. The meeting resulted in a better understanding of the impact of proposed rule making (50.55a) on the efforts already undertaken by the PDI and the affect the proposed rule would have on personnel already qualified by the program.

Nine Mile Point 1 & 2

The Post-Standard, a newspaper in the Syracuse, N.Y. area, reported on May 19, 1998, that Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation (NMPC) officials appear to have had discussions with AmerGen Energy Company about selling Nine Mile Point Units 1 and 2. AmerGen is a joint venture between PECO and British Energy, currently headquartered in Philadelphia, that was formed last September to acquire and operate nuclear facilities in North America. The article states that the Nine Mile Point plants are "at the top of the shopping list for AmerGen Energy Co., according to a report in the Sunday Telegraph in London" and quotes a spokeswoman for British Energy that NMPC "is one of several companies we are talking to." A spokesman for NMPC would neither confirm nor deny the report, but said that NMPC remains committed to its goal of establishing a statewide nuclear operating company together with the New York Power Authority, Rochester Gas & Electric Corporation, and Consolidated Edison Company, and that "if that's not successful, then we'll have to consider other options."

Based on an application dated April 8, 1998, the NRC staff is currently reviewing a request for consent to a transfer of control regarding Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation's (CHG&E) possessory rights under the Unit 2 operating license. CHG&E is one of the co-owners and licensees with a 9% interest in Unit 2, and would remain in these capacities after the restructuring action. The transfer of control would be to a holding company to be formed in accordance with an order and settlement agreement resulting from electric industry restructuring goals established by the New York State Public Service Commission. The application is similar to those previously filed by two other Unit 2 co-owners (New York State Electric & Gas Corporation and Long Island Lighting Company) for which the NRC has issued consent pursuant to 10 CFR 50.80. CHG&E wishes to implement the restructuring action by July 15, 1998, and staff review is proceeding accordingly.

As previously reported, Unit 1 has been shut down since April 28, 1998, while deficiencies in the Control Room Emergency Ventilation System are being corrected and until a license amendment to change the Technical Specifications consistent with the hardware modifications is issued by the NRC. During a telephone call on May 19, 1998, licensee officials stated that modifications will be completed Friday, May 22, 1998, and Unit 1 will be ready for restart "over the weekend." Twelve analyses supporting the proposed modifications and Technical Specification changes are being submitted to the NRC May 19, 20, and 21, 1998. If the analyses are found acceptable within the available schedule, the NRC staff should be able to issue the amendment on an exigency basis with less than 14 days provided for public comment to meet the licensee's schedule.

Unit 2 is in a normal refueling outage that began May 2, 1998. It is currently scheduled to restart June 12, 1998.

Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant

The Northern States Power Company (NSP) electrical grid which contains Prairie Island Units 1 and 2 has been under grid condition 5 for the last several days due to the unusually hot May temperatures in Minnesota and the scheduled maintenance outages of several fossil fueled units. Grid condition 5 means that peaking units are running and performance of any maintenance or surveillance activities on operating units that have the potential to shut down a unit should first be discussed with the System Control Center prior to being performed.

Compounding this issue, a section of one of Prairie Island's four forced air cooling towers collapsed several days ago; the cooling tower was taken out-of-service for repair. The licensee is investigating the cause of the failure and suspects iron rot on the galvanized bolts used in the cooling tower construction. An inspection of the other cooling towers resulted in the identification of a second cooling tower with structural problems; it too was taken out-of-service. As a result of these problems, Prairie Island Units 1 and 2 are currently operating on two out of four cooling towers. The licensee anticipates that it will take approximately one month to repair the cooling towers and return them to service. As a result of operating with a reduced number of cooling towers during the hot weather, the licensee is currently returning about 900 cubic feet per second to the river to maintain intake temperature low. The limit is 300 cubic feet per second allowed to be returned to the river (the rest is returned to the intake canal bay via the recycle canal). However, the plant is allowed to exceed the 300 cubic feet per second limit in order to prevent inlet temperature from exceeding 85 degrees provided the maximum number of cooling towers practical are on-line.

The staff will continue to monitor the situation at Prairie Island.

Palo Verde Units 1, 2 & 3

On May 20, 1998, the staff issued a license amendment which replaced the Palo Verde technical specifications in their entirety with new technical specifications based on the improved Standard Technical Specifications (STS). These are the 21st, 22nd, and 23th units that have been approved to convert to the improved STS. The licensee will implement these revised technical specifications prior to September 15, 1998.

Management Changes

Carolina Power & Light Company (CP&L) has announced a number of promotions and leadership moves within the company's nuclear generation program.

C. S. "Scotty" Hinnant has been promoted to the position of Senior Vice President-Nuclear Generation and Chief Nuclear Officer. Since May 1997, Hinnant has been Vice President at the Brunswick Nuclear Plant. Previously, he had served as Vice President-Robinson Nuclear Plant and as Plant General manager of the Harris Nuclear Plant. As the Chief Nuclear Officer, Hinnant will be responsible for the Nuclear Generation Group and will report to Orser.

Replacing Hinnant at Brunswick will be Jack Keenan, who has been Vice President-Robinson Nuclear Plant since May 1997. Keenan joined CP&L in 1995 as Director of Site Operations at Robinson.

Replacing Keenan at Robinson is Dale Young, who was elected as Vice President at last Wednesday's meeting of the board of directors. Young joined CP&L in 1994 as Plant General Manager at Robinson and has been Director of Site Operations at Robinson since last May.

W.S. "Skip" Orser, the Executive Vice President-Energy Supply, will continue to oversee the company's generation program, and Hinnant will report to him.

ENCLOSURE B

Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards
Items of Interest
Week Ending May 22, 1998

Nuclear Regulatory Commission/Department of Energy and Electric Power Research Institute Coordinate Spent Fuel Storage Meeting

On May 19, 1998, representatives of the Spent Fuel Project Office, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, Electric Power Research Institute, and Department of Energy/Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management met with staff of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) in a video conference to plan future experiments aimed principally at license renewals for spent-fuel storage systems. Experiments will be conducted using one or more of the licensed dry-cask storage systems at INEEL. Cooperative research is being planned to resolve technical questions and to satisfy the data needs of each of the three organizations. Results of these efforts are expected to be important to others who require estimates of properties and behavior of spent fuel after extended times under storage conditions. These include workers in programs for central interim storage and repository disposal. The agenda included preliminary discussions of data needs, data available from previous INEEL work, age and condition of various stored fuels, and recently developed measurement methods with potential usefulness in the planned studies. With a view toward the establishment of firm objectives for studies to begin early in FY99, plans were initiated for two future meetings.

Meeting with Nuclear Fuel Services on Inspection Findings

On May 20, 1998, the Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, and staff from the Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards and, telephonically, Region II management, met with representatives of Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc., (NFS), to discuss the NFS appeal of a recent Level IV Violation. The violation concerned the apparent failure to adhere to a procedural requirement to perform and document double contingency analysis for a process step in the high-enriched uranium scrap recovery operation.

NFS and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) discussed the basis for the apparent violation, the chronology of NFS licensing submittals, NRC licensing and inspection reviews, and the approach used by NRC in its review. An NRC decision concerning that violation is pending.

Meeting with the General Accounting Office

On May 20, 1998, Stephen Caldwell of the General Accounting Office (GAO) met with representatives of the Offices for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data, Nuclear Reactor Regulation, and Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards to discuss the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC's) roles and responsibilities for conducting counterterrorism and consequence management planning and exercises with its licensees. Mr. Caldwell was briefed on the Federal Radiological Emergency Response Plan (FRERP) and NRC's role, and other Federal Plans which impact on FRERP. Concerns regarding interagency coordination and overlapping roles and responsibilities were also discussed. Mr. Caldwell is currently working on a government-wide GAO study which examines the U.S.' readiness for responding to a major terrorist incident, particularly involving chemical, biological, nuclear or radiological materials and facilities.

Nuclear Energy Agency's International Performance Assessment Group Meeting

On May 7-9, 1998, Division of Waste Management staff attended the International Performance Assessment Group (IPAG) meeting held in Las Vegas, Nevada. IPAG was formed by the Nuclear Energy Agency's (NEA) Radioactive Waste Management Committee, Performance Assessment Advisory Group, to provide a forum for informed discussion on Performance Assessment (PA) methods, to examine the overall status of PA and to shed light on what can be done in future studies. The Phase 1 report was published recently documenting the responses to detailed questionnaires from 10 organizations in 7 countries. Phase 2 is an extension of that effort based on updated PAs from member countries and responses to additional questions which included issues such as documentation, transparency, treatment of uncertainty, and other aspects of the safety case. This phase also focused on the interaction between regulators and implementors. Seventeen agencies covering 10 repository programs responded to the Phase 2 questionnaires. Many of the same issues that have arisen in the U.S. waste programs (WIPP and Yucca Mountain) are being addressed in other countries. Among the issues discussed were: (1) how to address the sufficiency of field or lab data, appropriate consideration of uncertainty, and degree of conservatism in performance assessment assumptions; (2) how should multiple lines of qualitative reasoning be used to make the safety case; (3) how can the PA be made both transparent and traceable; and (4) how can the meaning of such terms as "multiple barriers" be standardized? The main business of the meeting was to review the compilation of the questionnaires, discuss draft conclusions and lessons learned for publication, and agree on a presentation to a topical session for the NEA in October 1998.

International Conference on High-level Radioactive Waste Management

During the period May 11-14, 1998, the eighth International Conference on High-level Radioactive Waste Management was held in Las Vegas, Nevada. The conference was attended by 570 persons, 120 of whom were from foreign countries. Staff from both the Division of Waste Management and the Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses attended and presented papers on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC's) issue resolution process; NRC's strategy to develop performance-based, site-specific regulations for a Yucca Mountain repository; NRC's performance assessment capability using the Total-System Performance Assessment code; and the status of issue resolution of NRC's Key Technical Issues. There was much interest in, and discussion of, NRC's approach to Issue Resolution by international, as well as U.S., participants. NRC staff also participated in a "Breaking Issues" plenary session, where recent anomalous strain-rate measurements of the Yucca Mountain region, using Global Positioning Satellite technology, was discussed. NRC staff emphasized that the significance of the new data to repository performance was yet to be determined.

Public Meeting on the Status of a Possible High-level Waste Repository at Yucca Mountain

On May 13, 1998, a public meeting was held in the Student Union Building of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, to inform the public of the status of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC's) pre-licensing review of a possible high-level radioactive waste repository that the Department of Energy (DOE) may build and operate at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The meeting was scheduled, in part, in response to a request to Chairman Jackson from the Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force.

The meeting was facilitated by Dr. William Wells, Dean of Engineering of the University of Las Vegas. NRC staff provided a brief overview of NRC's statutory responsibility to protect public health and safety, its pre-licensing consultation role under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, and the current status of its review of the key technical issues for licensing a repository at Yucca Mountain. Following this brief presentation, the floor was opened for questions, which were addressed by a panel comprised of members of NRC's Division of Waste Management, Office of the General Counsel, and the Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses. Representatives of DOE were also present and responded to a few questions. Attendees at the meeting included representatives of the Nevada legislature, the Western Shoshone Nation, county governments, and several citizens and public interest groups, as well as a number of attendees from the International High-level Waste Conference, who came to observe.

ENCLOSURE C

Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research
Items of Interest
Week Ending May 22, 1998

Video Conference with EPRI on Cooperative Research

RES and EPRI held a video conference on May 18, 1998, to discuss the status of ongoing cooperative research and potential new areas for cooperative research under the NRC/EPRI Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Cooperative Safety Research signed earlier this year. This video conference was a follow-up to a February 12, 1998 meeting with EPRI on cooperative research.

Highlights from the video conference:

• Ongoing cooperative research programs were proceeding satisfactorily (i.e., high burn-up fuel, steam generator tube integrity and irradiation assisted stress corrosion cracking);
  
  
• An addendum to the MOU was signed to initiate cooperative work on reactor pressure vessel flaw distribution which will provide important validation to one of the key variables in probabilistic analyses of reactor pressure vessel integrity.
  
  
• A number of other areas were discussed for follow-up action and potential cooperative research (e.g., fire protection, digital I & C, human factors, containment coatings, cable aging). Any proposals for cooperative research in these areas will be reviewed at the next meeting.
  
  
• The next meeting will be arranged for September 1998.

ENCLOSURE D

Office for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data
Items of Interest
Week Ending May 22, 1998

Rates of Initiating Events at U.S. Commercial Nuclear Power Plants

The Office for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data has issued the report "Rates of Initiating Events at U.S. Commercial Nuclear Power Plants, 1987--1995 (Draft)" for technical review. This study is part of our ongoing risk-based evaluation of operating experience. The objective of this study was to update the initiating event frequency estimates based on operating experience from licensee event reports during the time period 1987 through 1995. For loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) initiators whose frequency is low enough that no events would be expected in the 1987-1995 time period, additional operating experience and information from other sources were used. These include operating experience from U.S. and foreign reactors, as well as evaluation of causal factors affecting potential medium and large break LOCAs. The report also includes a comparison with initiating event frequency estimates published in probabilistic risk assessments and individual plant examinations (IPEs), an evaluation of the most significant trends, and an evaluation of dominant contributors to risk-significant initiators.

This is the first major analysis of initiating event frequency estimates for non-LOCA events since NUREG/CR-3862, "Development of Transients Initiating Event Frequencies for Use in Probabilistic Risk Assessments," was published in 1985. Also, this report is the first significant effort to update LOCA pipe break frequencies since 1975 when WASH-1400, "Reactor Safety Study," was issued.

Major findings from this study are the following:

• The combined initiating event frequency for all initiators is lower than the frequencies used in NUREG-1150, "Severe Accident Risks: An Assessment for Five U.S. Nuclear Power Plants," and IPEs by a factor of two and four, respectively.
  
  
• General transients constitute 76 percent of all initiating events. Events that pose a more severe challenge to the plant's mitigation systems constitute the remaining 24 percent.
  
  
• All initiating events displayed either a decreasing or constant time trend. The overall initiating event frequency decreased over the period by a factor of three. Most risk-significant initiator frequencies (such as loss of offsite power, total loss of feedwater flow, and loss of condenser heat sink for boiling-water reactors) were decreasing at a faster rate than the overall initiating event frequency.
  
  
• LOCA frequencies are lower than those used in NUREG-1150 and industry-wide IPEs.

Assessment of High-Pressure Core Spray System Reliability

The Office for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data has issued the report "High-Pressure Core Spray System Reliability, 1987--1993." The study is based on the operating experience from 1987 through 1993 as reported in licensee event reports. This is the fifth in a series of system reliability study reports which focus on using operational data to determine the reliability of risk significant systems in U.S. commercial reactors.

The study covers the eight U.S. commercial boiling water reactors that have a High-Pressure Core Spray System (HPCS) system. Consequently, the operating experience data, including demand counts, failure counts, and run times, for computing HPCS unreliability estimates are limited. While there is sufficient data to reasonably estimate the reliability of the system and its associated uncertainties, information regarding dominant contributors and trends are less robust and could change as additional experience is obtained.

The mean observed operational mission HPCS unreliability was 0.075, including recovery. Only one demand failure was observed during 29 operational demands and accounted for 67 percent of the total system unreliability. This failure in the injection subsystem occurred as a result of the system being in a maintenance-out-of-service condition when the system was demanded. The report also includes a comparison with HPCS reliability estimates published in probabilistic risk assessments and individual plant examinations. No trends over time for the reliability were observed (none would be expected based on the available data density).

Preliminary Notifications

1. PNO-I-98-016, Dept. of the Army (Picatinny Arsenal), IDENTIFICATION OF CONTAMINATED MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT
   
   
2. PNO-I-98-017, Westinghouse Electric Corp. (Waltz Mill Site), DEATH OF RADIATION WORKER
   
   
3. PNO-III-98-030, Commonwealth Edison Co. (Zion 1 2), ZION SECURITY GUARD SHOOTS SELF IN FOOT, FABRICATES STORY OF INTRUDER

ENCLOSURE F

Office of Administration
Items of Interest
Week Ending May 22, 1998

Acquisition Training

On May 14, 1998, the Division of Contracts and Property Management conducted its Acquisition for Project Managers module, "Closing Out the Contract" for 11 project managers (PMs.) The module focused on the NRC policies and procedures for deobligation of excess funds; closing contracts; DOE laboratory agreements; and evaluating the performance of the contractor. Each participant received a course manual that will serve as a reference tool for PMs in performing their day-to-day responsibilities.

Contract Award

Contract No. NRC-33-98-180 was awarded to Ruland Associates, Inc. on May 15, 1998, for "Operation of the NRC Data Centers". The period of performance is three years with two (2) one-year option periods. The total amount of this cost-plus-fixed-fee contract is $2,841,949.00 inclusive of option years. The following streamlining initiatives were applied: deadline set for proposer's questions and simplified evaluation criteria/past performance.

Physical Protection for Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste (Parts 60, 72, 73, 74, and 75)

A final rule that clarifies physical protection requirements for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste stored at independent spent fuel storage installations, monitored retrievable storage installations, and geologic repository operations areas was published in the Federal Register on May 15, 1998 (63 FR 26955). The final rule codifies standards for protecting spent fuel at the various storage sites licensed under the Commission's regulations. The final rule becomes effective November 12, 1998.

OWFN Restack

The current phase of the Restack project (12th floor) is on schedule for NRR employees to move onto the floor beginning May 27, 1998. The move will take 4 days and be completed on June 1, 1998. The next floor scheduled to be Restacked is the 11th floor. Work on that floor will start June 2, 1998.

U.S. Enrichment Corporation (USEC) Privatization Process

The Division of Facilities and Security (DFS) with support from DOE has made a foreign ownership, control or influence (FOCI) determination regarding USEC's proposed organization under the initial public offering sale process. This conditional FOCI determination will be communicated to USEC in a letter from the D/ADM.

ENCLOSURE G

Chief Information Officer
Items of Interest
Week Ending May 22, 1998

Freedom of Information and Privacy Act Requests Received during the 5-Day Period of May 15, 1998 - May 21, 1998:

ENCLOSURE I

Office of Human Resources
Items of Interest
Week Ending May 22, 1998

Office of Human Resources Staff Attends Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Conference

On May 18-20, 1998, Eileen Mason, Chief, Human Resources Development; Sandy Johnson, Team Leader, and Alison Hoffman, Personnel Specialist, Human Resources Services and Operations attended Solutions '98, a conference sponsored by OPM. Human resources specialists throughout the government attended sessions on merit staffing, strategic planning for HR, competency models for HR, and other topics of interest to HR employment professionals.

ENCLOSURE J

Office of Small Business & Civil Rights
Items of Interest
Week Ending May 22, 1998

Regional Managing Diversity Session

The Office of Small Business and Civil Rights sponsored the first Regional Managing Diversity Leadership Seminar in Region 3 on Thursday, May 21, 1998. All managers and supervisors were required to attend. The purpose of the session was to discuss the impact of subtle biases on individual and organizational performance, to introduce the concept of managing diversity and discuss the role managers play in creating a work environment that maximizes the potential of all employees. Dr. Roosevelt Thomas, Dr. John Dovidio, and Mr. Howard Jackson conducted the session.

Sexual Harassment Awareness Day

The Office of Small Business and Civil Rights sponsored a Sexual Harassment Awareness Day on Thursday, May 21, 1998 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. This event was located in the Exhibit Area of Two White Flint North. The video "Changing Boundaries" which highlighted examples of sexual misconduct in the workplace was continuously shown, and information regarding the Agency's Policy and Program to prevent sexual harassment was available for employees.

ENCLOSURE M

Office of Public Affairs
Items of Interest
Week Ending May 22, 1998

Media Interest

The Chairman was interviewed on May 19 by reporter, Paul Choinere, The Day, on the impact of Millstone on NRC regulation.

School Volunteers Program

Louis Numkin, IRM at Gaithersburg H.S. to talk about Computer Security
Mike Weber, NMSS at Greenwood E.S. for Career Day topic: Geology
Steve Solomon, OSP at Walter Johnson H.S. for Career Day

ENCLOSURE N

Office of International Programs
Items of Interest
Week Ending May 22, 1998

OECD/NEA Visitors

Luis Echavarri, OECD/NEA Director-General, and Samuel Thompson, OECD/NEA Deputy Director-General, met with Chairman Jackson and Commissioners Dicus, Diaz, and McGaffigan on May 19 and 20. The purpose of their visit was to discuss the NEA Steering Committee views on the Birkhofer Report and the future of the NEA, the NEA's 40th Anniversary plans for October 1998, and the International Nuclear Regulators Association.

ENCLOSURE O

Office of the Secretary
Items of Interest
Week Ending May 22, 1998

Commission Correspondence

1. Letter to Representatives Stephen Horn and Carolyn Maloney dated May 14, 1998 provides NRC's May 1998 quarterly report on the Year 2000.
2. Letter to President Clinton dated May 14, 1998 concerns the 1998 Combined Federal Campaign of the National Capital Area.

Federal Register Notices Issued

1. John Boschuk, Jr.; Docket No. IA 98-19; Establishment of Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (Bollwerk/Murphy/Shon).
2. Lourdes T. Boschuk; Docket No. IA 98-20; Establishment of Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (Bollwerk/Murphy/Shon).
3. 10 CFR Part 71; Requirements for Shipping Packages Used to Transport Vitrified High-Level Waste; Final Rule.

ENCLOSURE P

Region I
Items of Interest
Week Ending May 22, 1998

Westinghouse Meeting Held on May 18, 1998

On May 18, 1998, representatives from Westinghouse Electric Company and one of their contractors met with Region I staff to discuss the status of remediation activities at the Westinghouse Waltz Mill site in Madison, Pennsylvania. The Waltz Mill site is listed on the NRC's SDMP (Site Decommissioning Management Plan) because of soil and groundwater contamination at the east end of the 840-acre site. Based on discussions during the meeting and from a review of correspondence relating to decommissioning plans, Region I, following an acceptable response to a request for additional information, will authorize remediation of retired facilities, within site buildings where licensed activities are currently taking place, to be conducted under its current license for the facility. These areas are not associated with the soil and groundwater at the east end of the site and the company has plans for re-utilization of these interior areas for its licensed activities.

Termination of Environmental TLD Monitoring Program

On May 18 and 20, 1998, Region I completed transfer to two DOE facilities of the equipment formerly used for the NRC's direct environmental radiation monitoring program. The program, instituted at the time of the 1979 accident at Three Mile Island, consisted of concentric rings of environmental thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs) around each U.S. power reactor facility, as well as selected additional facilities. The purpose was to develop a database of the environmental radiation levels so that the impact on the environment of any future accident involving the release of significant quantities of radioactivity could be assessed. The TLDs were replaced quarterly, generally by personnel from the State in which the facility was located, and shipped to Region I, where they were read, the data evaluated, and documented in a NUREG that provided both the quarterly and the accumulated average radiation levels detected at each TLD. The initiation of similar monitoring programs by licensees and some States made the NRC's program duplicative, and the decision was made to terminate the program. Region I arranged for DOE's Argonne National Lab to take the J. L. Shepherd self-contained irradiator, and for DOE's Environmental Measurements Laboratory in New York City to take a larger Williston-Elin irradiator, as well as the associated TLDs and readers. The irradiators had been used to calibrate the dosimetry system. The radioactive materials have been safely received at the destination points, responsibility for the equipment has been transferred to DOE, and the program is now considered terminated.

ENCLOSURE P

Region II
Items of Interest
Week Ending May 22, 1998

Duke Energy Corporation - Oconee

On May 19, 1998, the Regional Administrator and Regional staff held an open Predecisional Enforcement Conference with representatives from the Duke Energy Corporation. The purpose of the conference was to discuss the apparent violations associated with the Unit 1 and 2 control room ventilation system at the Oconee facility. An inspection in March 1998 found that the licensee had modified the control room ventilation system in the 1980s and did not perform an adequate 10 CFR 50.59 safety evaluation. The licensee's representatives provided the prospectus on the NRC findings and their corrective actions.

Duke Energy Corporation - McGuire

Representatives from the Duke Energy Corporation were in the Regional Office on May 20 to attend a management meeting with the Regional Administrator and other Regional staff. The licensee representatives provided an assessment of McGuire Nuclear Station's performance during the last quarter of 1997 and the first quarter of 1998.

Duke Energy Corporation - Catawba

On May 11, 1998, an Augmented Inspection Team (AIT) was established to inspect and assess the Condensate/Auxiliary Feedwater (AFW) event of May 7, 1998, at Catawba Unit 1. While reducing power, a problem with a recirculation valve caused a high temperature in a supply tank for the AFW pumps to exceed the design temperature. Consequently, the AFW system was declared inoperable until the temperature of the tank was returned to within design basis. The basis for the formation of the AIT was the need to understand the cause of the event and the adequacy of the licensee's actions.

The team held a public exit on May 15, 1998, at the Catawba site. There was media coverage. The team concluded that the AFW system remained capable of performing its function of pumping water to the steam generator, but at a higher temperature than design. Root causes of the high temperature in the supply tank included insufficient operator and engineering training which resulted in insufficient knowledge level, and inadequate procedures, instructions and guidelines to support operator intervention or mitigation of this event.

Virginia Electric and Power Company - Surry

A Notice of Unusual Event (NOUE) was declared for Unit 1 on May 20 due to a TS required shutdown for a non-isolable reactor coolant leak. The plant was in hot shutdown when the leak was identified. The leak was in the bonnet of a two-inch manual isolation valve located in the bypass line for a loop isolation valve. Sealant injection repair efforts for a packing leak were ongoing when the through-wall leak was identified. The plant was placed in cold shutdown on May 21 and the licensee plans to isolate the valve with freeze seals to allow replacement of the valve.

ENCLOSURE P

Region III
Items of Interest
Week Ending May 22, 1998

Management Meeting with Memphis Environmental Center, Inc.

On May 18, 1998, a management meeting was conducted in the Region III Office, Lisle, Illinois, between management representatives from Memphis Environmental Center, Inc., and members of the NRC staff. The meeting discussion focused on plans to address a former burial by the former Michigan Chemical Company, Breckenridge, Michigan.

Management Meeting with Commonwealth Edison Company - LaSalle

On May 20, 1998, a management meeting was conducted in the Region III Office, Lisle, Illinois, between management representatives from Commonwealth Edison Company and members of the NRC staff. The meeting discussion focused on the status and effectiveness of performance improvement activities implemented as part of the LaSalle Nuclear Power Station restart plans.

Management Meeting with Wisconsin Public Electric Power Company - Point Beach

On May 21, 1998, a management meeting was conducted in the Region III Office, Lisle, Illinois, between management representatives from Wisconsin Public Electric Power Company and members of the NRC staff. The meeting discussed the utility's employee concerns program, engineering group performance, service water modeling issues, and commitment tracking issues at the Point Beach Nuclear Power Station.

Management Meeting with IES Utilities, Inc. - Duane Arnold

On May 19, 1998, a management meeting was conducted in the Region III Office, Lisle, Illinois, between management representatives from IES Utilities, Inc., and members of the NRC staff. The meeting discussion focused on the human performance errors that occurred during the refueling outage at the Duane Arnold Nuclear Power Plant which resulted in several engineered safety feature actuations and violations of procedures and requirements.

Management Meeting with Commonwealth Edison Company - Dresden

On May 20, 1998, a management meeting was conducted at the Dresden Nuclear Power Station's Training Building, Morris, Illinois, between management representatives from Commonwealth Edison Company and members of the NRC staff. The meeting discussion focused on Dresden Unit 1 status and plans, problem identification/prevention and dry cask storage status.

Predecisional Enforcement Conference with American Electric Power Company - D.C. Cook

On May 20, 1998, a Predecisional Enforcement Conference was conducted in the Region III Office, Lisle, Illinois, between management representatives of American Electric power Company and members of the NRC staff. The conference was conducted to discuss numerous apparent violations that were identified during NRC inspections between August 1997 and April of this year at the D.C. Cook Nuclear Power Station. These inspections focused on D. C. Cook's design basis, on the operability of the plant's ice condenser, and on fibrous material that was found in the plant's containment.

ENCLOSURE P

Region IV
Items of Interest
Week Ending May 22, 1998

Management Meeting to Discuss Cooper Nuclear Station's (CNS) Strategy to Achieve Engineering Excellence

On May 18, a meeting was conducted between the NRC and Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD). The meeting was conducted onsite and was open for public observation. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss CNS' Strategy to Achieve Engineering Excellence. The meeting was attended by the RIV Regional Administrator and members of the RIV and NRR staffs. NPPD was represented by the Chief Executive Officer, the Senior Vice President, Production, the Vice President, Nuclear, and members of the CNS staff.

ENCLOSURE R

Office of Congressional Affairs
Items of Interest
Week Ending May 22, 1998

Note: The Senate is in recess until Monday, June 1, and the House is in recess until Wednesday, June 3.