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INFORMATION REPORT SECY-01-0006 January 12, 2001
Contact: S. Rosenberg, OEDO
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Reactor Oversight Process The Inspection Program Branch (IIPB) staff participated in the Region I public meeting on December 13, 2000, regarding the status of implementation of the agency's new Reactor Oversight Process (ROP). This meeting provided a forum at which representatives from the NRC, licensees, the nuclear industry, and the public, represented by several state offices, could discuss the ROP's progress to date, challenges, and successes. The meeting consisted of sessions on the significance determination process, inspection activities, performance indicators and the NRC assessment and enforcement process. The IIPB held its third cross-cutting issue task group meeting in Headquarters on December 13, 2000. The Regions, Headquarters, industry and the public participated in this meeting. The task group discussed the current approaches for evaluating problem identification and resolution, human performance, safety conscious work environment, and the need for developing more transparent guides or possibly performance indicators. The industry representatives (INPO and NEI) stated that they have developed a "principles" document in the corrective action and self assessment areas and are developing a "best practices" document with regard to the human performance that will be benchmarked next year. The task group agreed to meet again in February 2001 to discuss additional feedback and to assess the data from initial implementation of the ROP. Request for comments/information from members of the public, licensees, and pertinent interest groups related to initial implementation of the ROP has been published in the Federal Register Notice (FRN) [December 14, 2000, Volume 65, Number 241, Pages 78215-78217]. IIPB is also conducting a public workshop, tentatively scheduled for late March 2001, to discuss lessons learned. In support of this workshop, IIPB is seeking public feedback on key issues that should be considered during the workshop in the above FRN. IIPB will include a citation of the notice on the NRC ROP internal and external web site. The due dates, for submitting potential topic areas for consideration during the public workshop and information regarding ROP's first year of initial implementation, are February 23, 2001, and April 13, 2001, respectively. NRC Regulatory Issue Summary (RIS) 2000-24: Concerns About Offsite Power Voltage Inadequacies and Grid Reliability Challenges Due to Industry Deregulation. On December 21, 2000, NRC issued this regulatory issue summary (RIS) to inform addressees of concerns about grid reliability challenges that industry deregulation might pose and of potential voltage inadequacies of offsite power sources. The RIS also describes actions the industry has committed to take to address this issue. NRC Regulatory Issue Summary (RIS) 2000-25: Potential Deficiency in Qualification of Okonite Single-Conductor Electrical Control Cables On December 26, 2000, NRC issued a regulatory issue summary (RIS) to notify and provide a status to addressees of a potential deficiency in the environmental qualification of certain single-conductor Okonite electrical cables used for instrumentation and control allocations in nuclear power plants. The NRC is continuing to work with the nuclear power industry toward closure in this matter. Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant On December 21, 2000, the NRC issued a final no significant hazards consideration determination and license amendment to Carolina Power & Light Company (CP&L) allowing the licensee to expand the spent fuel storage capacity at its Shearon Harris Nuclear Power plant by placing two additional spent fuel pools in service. The amendment was issued in response to CP&L's December 23, 1998, license amendment application. This amendment is the subject of an ongoing Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) hearing. The current issue before the ASLB is an environmental contention concerning the probability of occurrence of the intervener's postulated beyond design-basis accident scenario. The contention challenges the adequacy of the staff's December 21, 1999, Environmental Assessment done in support of the amendment. Written summaries on the contention were filed on November 20, and the ASLB heard oral arguments on December 7, 2000. An ASLB decision is pending. On December 22, 2000, the intervener filed a petition with the Commission to review the no significant hazards consideration determination and stay the effectiveness of the license amendment pending the completion of the ASLB proceeding and the completion of any Environmental Impact Statement that should be required by the Board. NRC and CP&L responses to the intervener's petition are due on January 8, 2001. Summer Nuclear Station During the public meeting on December 20, 2000, the licensee presented a number of conclusions to NRC staff based on their assessment of (a) the root cause and extent of the cracking in the weld in the "A" reactor coolant pipe, and (b) the non-destructive testing of the nozzle welds in all six coolant pipes. The NRC staff determined that additional, more detailed information, regarding the data and analyses upon which the licensee based these conclusions was needed. One of these conclusions was "reasonable assurance exists that the other nozzle welds in the reactor coolant system are acceptable, with margin for 2 years, 9 months until Refuel 14." The staff prepared a list of questions, dated December 22, 2000, and sent them to the licensee. The licensee responded to the questions by the requested response date of December 29, 2000. The NRC staff is in the process of reviewing the responses. The licensee submitted WCAP-15615, "Integrity Evaluation for Future Operation Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Plant: Reactor Vessel Nozzle to Pipe Weld Regions," and "Crack Growth of Alloy 182 Weld Metal in PWR Environments (PWR MRP-21)" as part of the assessment of the cracking in the "A" reactor coolant pipe weld. The NRC staff is currently reviewing WCAP-15615 and required additional information to continue with its review. The staff submitted a request for additional information (RAI) on December 28, 2000. The weld repair completion is tentatively scheduled for January 6, 2001, and the final PT and RT is tentatively scheduled for January 10, 2001. These dates are tentative because there is an indication in the root of the weld on the ID and the licensee is working to remove this indication. The public meeting scheduled for January 4, 2001, has been changed to January 18, 2001. This public meeting will serve as a forum for the licensee to explain to the public why it can safely restart Summer. The NRC staff does not currently plan on making a presentation, however, questions will be taken. The Special Inspection Team exit meeting will also be a public meeting. It will be scheduled after the weld repair is completed and prior to plant restart. An inspection report will be issued 30 days after the exit meeting. Dresden, Units 2 and 3 and Quad Cities, Units 1 and 2 Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) submitted an application dated December 27, 2000, for extended power uprate (EPU) amendments for Dresden, Units 2 and 3 and Quad Cities, Units 1 and 2. ComEd requested approval of the amendments by the beginning of the Fall 2001 refueling outage at Dresden, Unit 2. It requested the implementation of the EPU in October 2001 for Dresden, Unit 2; February 2002 for Quad Cities Unit 2; September 2002 for Dresden, Unit 3; and October 2002 for Quad Cities, Unit 1. The proposed changes would allow all four units to operate at an uprated power level of 2957 megawatts thermal (MWt). This is approximately 17 percent above the current licensed power level (2527 MWt) for the Dresden units and 17.8 percent above the current licensed power level (2511 MWt) for the Quad Cities units. The EPU amendment is similar to those approved for Monticello (6.3 percent) and Hatch (8 percent) although ComEd is requesting a higher percentage increase in power.
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility Environmental Report By letter dated December 19, 2000, Duke Cogema Stone & Webster submitted the environmental report (ER) for the mixed oxide (MOX) fuel fabrication facility that the Department of Energy intends to construct at Savannah River. The NRC will use the report in preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) as part of the MOX fuel fabrication facility licensing process. NRC will begin its review of the ER and plans to hold public scoping meetings as part of the EIS process after receipt of the construction authorization application. The construction authorization application and associated safety assessment will be submitted for staff review by February 28, 2001. Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. Managers Meeting with the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards and Chairman Meserve On January 3, 2001, the Chairman of the Board, the President, and two Vice Presidents of Nuclear Fuel Services (NFS) met with senior managers from the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS) and the Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards (FCSS) at the NRC's Headquarters. The NFS officials requested this proprietary meeting to discuss future business ventures. After the meeting with NMSS and FCSS, the NFS officials briefly met with Chairman Meserve. Conference Call with the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Device Evaluation and Radiological Health On January 3, 2001, staff members from the Division of Industrial
and Medical Nuclear Safety and the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's
Molycorp Withdraws Amendment Request for Restricted Release In a letter dated January 3, 2001, Molycorp, Inc., informed the staff that it is withdrawing its license amendment request dated July 14, 2000, to dispose of decommissioning waste on site at its Washington, PA, facility under the restricted release provisions of the License Termination Rule (LTR) (10 CFR 20, Subpart E). Molycorp had submitted its decommissioning plan (DP) in two parts. Part 1 of the DP consisted of Molycorp's plan to remediate the currently contaminated portions of the Washington site to the unrestricted release criteria in the Site Decommissioning Management Plan Action Plan, as authorized by the LTR. The staff approved the Part 1 DP in August 2000. Part 2 of the DP consisted of Molycorp's plans to dispose of the waste, generated by the Part 1 remediation, in an onsite disposal cell and terminate the license under the restricted release provisions of the LTR. While Molycorp will continue to decommission the Washington facility under its previously approved Part 1 DP, it will now dispose of the material offsite and will ultimately seek a unrestricted release of the site. The previously planned public meeting in Washington, PA, on January 25, 2001, to discuss the staff's plans to review this amendment request will not be held. The staff is considering a public meeting at a later date to discuss the process for unrestricted release. Molycorp has committed to provide a detailed schedule of planned decommissioning activities within 60 days.
Incident Response Operations Cooper Direct Access Lines (DAL) Test On January 4, 2001, the Office of Incident Response Operations (IRO) and the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) staff participated in the test and acceptance of FTS 2001 direct access lines at the Cooper Nuclear Station. This marks the first successful transition of NRC Emergency Telecommunication System circuits to FTS 2001. Preliminary Notifications
Office of Administration Contract Award The Center Review Group completed its assessment of the contractor's performance under contract NRC-02-97-009, "Operation of the Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses," for the nineteenth performance evaluation period (September 27, 1999, through September 29, 2000). Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) received a high excellent rating (97%). The total award fee to be awarded to SwRI for contract performance during this period is $794,216. Acquisition Training On January 10, 2001, the Division of Contracts and Property Management will conduct "Overview," a mandatory Acquisition for Certification and Training Program module. This all-day module serves as the primer for other workshops in the acquisition training program. The workshop familiarizes participants with the entire NRC acquisition process including Federal Acquisition Regulation applicability, commercial contracts, and DOE laboratory interagency agreements. On January 11, 2001, the Division of Contracts and Property Management will present a mandatory Acquisition for Certification and Training Program module entitled "Developing the Independent Government Cost Estimate." This half-day module focuses on the importance of establishing an independent Government cost estimate, the mechanics of the process and components which can be used in its development. Rulemaking Activity Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance - January 4, 2001; 66 FR 708 (Final rule) (10 CFR Part 5) This final rule amends the regulations to include a list of the types of Federal financial assistance activities administered by the NRC under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, as amended (Title IX).
Chief Information Officer Freedom of Information and Privacy Act Requests received during the Period of December 29, 2000 through January 4, 2001:
Office of Human Resources
Office of Public Affairs Media Interest Science magazine is planning an article on nuclear energy and other power sources for electrical generation. The History Channel is planning a feature on the Three Mile Island accident for its "Week in History" series. Region I reports continuing media interest in the Indian Point-2 restart. The CBS affiliate WJ-TV in Jackson, Mississippi, is planning a feature story on the Grand Gulf nuclear reactor. There has been continuing news coverage of the energy crisis in California.
Office of International Programs Emergency Notification System at IAEA The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has initiated its ENAC (Emergency Notification and Assistance Convention) web-site for all Contact Points under the Early Notification and the Assistance Conventions for official reporting and dissemination of information concerning world-wide nuclear accidents. The IAEA appreciated the speed and flexibility of NRC's Y2K early warning system (YEWS), and thus incorporated the YEWS concept to replace the previous, much slower system based on fax dissemination and telephone confirmation for accident related information. The ENAC system is password-protected so that only official information from authorized sources can be entered. The IAEA is also working on a companion, more informal exchange system with chat space and INES (International Nuclear Event Scale) reporting capability.
Office of the Secretary
Commission Correspondence
Federal Register Notices Issued
Region I Frankford Arsenal On January 3, 2001, a meeting was held in the Region I Office between representatives for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACE), Baltimore District, and Regional Staff to discuss strategy for the evaluation and remediation of any residual radioactive contamination at the Frankford Arsenal site. Representatives from the Pennsylvania Departments of Radiation Protection and Environmental Clean-Up, U.S. EPA Region III, the Army Materiel Command, and contractors supporting the Corps of Engineers were also in attendance. The Frankford Arsenal site is located in Northeast Philadelphia and was licensed by the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in 1961 to possess and use unlimited quantities of depleted uranium (DU) for use in artillery rounds. Byproduct material was also used for developmental purposes. Tritium optical devices and radium for watches were also used at this location. Remediation was conducted at the site prior to the NRC terminating the license in 1981. The site was identified through an Oak Ridge Laboratory (ORNL) review of previously terminated licenses as having no record of a termination or confirmatory survey. The site is privately-owned and has been developed for industrial office space usage. The ACE indicated that funds have been dedicated for performing a Site Historical Assessment (SHA) and a Site Scoping Survey. The SHA is expected to be completed by Spring 2001 with the scoping survey to be completed by the end of this fiscal year. It was acknowledged by the ACE that the Department of Defense is the responsible party for environmental clean-up at this site. If the results of the scoping survey indicate remediation will be necessary, clean-up activities are expected to begin in FY2003. Region I will monitor the activities at this formerly-licensed site.
Region II Duke Energy Corporation - Oconee Unit 1 - (Update of December 8 Item) As part of a routine examination for potential leaks during the early part of refueling outages, the licensee discovered boron accumulation near eight thermocouple penetration nozzles and one control rod drive mechanism nozzle in the reactor vessel head in late November 2000. During the end of December 2000 and the first week of January 2001, the licensee completed repair of the reactor head thermocouple nozzle indications by removing the nozzles, and inserting plugs and/or cover plates and welding in place in the reactor vessel head. The licensee also completed repair of the control rod drive mechanism nozzle crack. The licensee has submitted ASME code relief requests associated with the non-destructive examinations and type filler material used in some of the repairs for NRC review.
Region III Region III Hosts Fire Protection Workshop Region III hosted a two day Fire Protection Workshop for the NRC staff January 3-4, 2001. The workshop was attended by 22 people from Headquarters and regional offices. The purpose of the workshop was to discuss lessons learned about the new fire protection inspection procedure and to review developing changes in fire protection research, inspection findings and inspection results. This was the first such workshop ever held and participants recommended periodic workshops be held in the future on this topic. Regional Administrator Presents Reactor Operator Certificates On January 3, 2001, the Region III Regional Administrator presented license certificates to four newly licensed reactor operators and five newly licensed senior reactor operators. The operators were administered the NRC licensing examination at the Braidwood Nuclear Power Plant in Braceville, Illinois, in October 2000 and were issued licenses effective November 28, 2000. The certificate presentation took place in Rockdale, Illinois.
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Center for Device Evaluation and Radiological Health (CDRH) participated
in a conference call to discuss mutual items of interest associated with
medical devices containing byproduct material. The discussion focused
on CDRH's recent approval of two intravascular brachytherapy (IVB) devices;
FDA accepted labeling; FDA post market surveillance programs; the NRC's
development of licensing guidance; and both agencies' review of emerging
technologies. The NRC's Regions have already received a number of requests
from limited, specific medical use licensees to obtain approval for the
approved IVB devices. Regulatory processes and issues were discussed and
both staffs agreed that more frequent and early sharing of information
on emerging technologies would be beneficial from both agencies' regulatory
perspective.