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INFORMATION REPORT SECY-03-0082 May 22, 2003
Contact: B. Smith, OEDO
Items of Interest Week Ending May 16, 2003 Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station On May 9, 2003, the NRC issued a license amendment to Entergy authorizing an increase in the maximum licensed power level for Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. The amendment increases the maximum steady state power level by 1.5 percent from 1998 megawatts thermal (MWt) to 2028 MWt. The increased power level is based on the installation of flow measurement instrumentation that results in improved feedwater flow measurement accuracy. Entergy plans to implement the increased power level within 60 days. Updated Regulatory Guide 1.178 The NRC plans to issue updated versions of Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.178, "An Approach for Plant-Specific Risk-Informed Decision Making Inservice Inspection of Piping," and Standard Review Plan Section (SRP) 3.9.8, "Standard Review Plan for the Trial Use For the Review of Risk-Informed Inservice Inspection of Piping." This is the first update of the RG and SRP since the original versions were issued for trial use in September 1998. The staff presented the updated versions and discussed the proposed changes in a presentation on May 8, 2003, to the full committee of the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safety (ACRS). ACRS will issue a letter with its recommendations concerning the proposed updates. Staff Issues Robinson License Renewal Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Public Comment On Wednesday, May 7, 2003, the staff issued the draft of Supplement 13 to NUREG-1437, "Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants, Supplement 13, Regarding H.B. Robinson Steam Electric Plant, Unit No. 2," for public comment. This supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) includes the staff's preliminary analysis that considers and weighs the environmental effects of the proposed action, the environmental impacts of alternatives to the proposed action, and mitigative measures available for reducing or avoiding adverse impacts. It also includes the staff's preliminary recommendation regarding the proposed action: that the Commission determine that the adverse environmental impacts of license renewal for Robinson are not so great that preserving the option of license renewal for energy planning decision makers would be unreasonable. A 75-day public comment period is scheduled to begin on or about May 16, 2003, with the Notice of Filing of the draft SEIS with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (comment period will end on July 30, 2003). The staff has scheduled public meetings on June 25, 2003, in Hartsville, South Carolina, to present its analyses and to accept public comments on the draft SEIS. Industry Initiating Event Performance Indicator Staff members from NRR and the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research briefed the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) on the Industry Initiating Event Performance Indicator (IIEPI) at a joint subcommittee meeting on May 7, 2003. The purpose of the briefing was to obtain feedback from the ACRS on the IIEPI concept, which may be implemented within 1-2 years as an industry indicator for the NRC's Industry Trends Program. The IIEPI is a new indicator of industry performance in the initiating events cornerstone. It is more risk-informed than the current set of indicators which are derived from the plant-level performance indicators in the Reactor Oversight Process. The IIEPI consists of a risk-weighted index of the most risk-significant initiating events for operating power reactors (nine initiating events for BWRs and ten for PWRs). The ACRS commented on the development of IIEPI and did not identify significant concerns. The staff anticipates that it will address ACRS feedback and conduct a public workshop on the IIEPI this summer. The staff will then brief the full ACRS this fall to obtain written feedback on the IIEPI.
Items of Interest Week Ending May 16, 2003 Meeting with Duke Cogema Stone & Webster to Discuss Integrated Safety Analysis Methodology On May 8, 2003, the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS) staff met with Duke Cogema Stone & Webster (DCS) to discuss DCS' plan to perform its Integrated Safety Analysis (ISA) of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility. Performing an ISA is required by 10 CFR 70.62 and is an integral part of DCS' license application process for its possession and use application. The NMSS staff found DCS' approach to be acceptable at the high level at which it was presented. The NMSS staff concluded, however, that follow-up meetings are necessary to discuss topics such as format and content of the ISA Summary, level of detail to be included in the ISA Summary, and more explanation of how DCS intends to implement its previous ISA commitments. The NMSS staff also concluded that the timing of such follow-up meetings would be dependent upon when DCS plans to submit its possession and use license application and that these meetings would not be held until that date is determined. Louisiana Energy Services Announces Leadership Changes On May 13, 2003, Louisiana Energy Services (LES) announced that George Dials resigned as President and will be replaced by Pat Upson, the current President of Urenco. Jay West, the former Deputy Mayor of Nashville, Tennessee, will become LES' lead local official. No further information was provided on siting the proposed gas centrifuge facility or submittal dates for a license application. U.S. Enrichment Corporation, Inc. On April 9, 2003, NRC published a Federal Register notice (FRN) offering the opportunity for a hearing on the U.S. Enrichment Corporation's Lead Cascade application. Petitions were required to be submitted to NRC within 30 days of the FRN. No petitions for a hearing were received by NRC within the allotted time period. Meeting with the State of Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects On May 8, 2003, staff from the Spent Fuel Project Office (SFPO) and their contractors met with staff from the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects and their contractors to discuss SFPO's analysis of the Baltimore tunnel fire event and the impact this event could have had on a spent fuel transportation cask. Presentations were made by NRC contractors responsible for different areas of review of the Baltimore tunnel fire and included staff from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratories. Details of contractor efforts in fire modeling, materials analysis, and spent fuel cask thermal modeling were discussed in the presentations. Several questions, and significant discussion, focused on the staff's approach. The meeting provided the opportunity for the staff to clarify in detail the actions taken to reach the conclusion that the Baltimore tunnel fire event would not have resulted in a release of radioactive material to the environment had the spent fuel transportation cask analyzed been involved in the event.
Items of Interest Week Ending May 16, 2003 TOPOFF2 Exercise Update During the week of May 12 - 16, 2003, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) participated in the full-scale exercise activities associated with TOPOFF2, the second Congressionally-mandated, national-level exercise involving weapons of mass destruction. Commissioner Merrifield led the NRC's exercise participation and served as the agency's "top official" for TOPOFF2. Headquarters, Region III, and Region IV staff participated in exercise activities that included staffing of the Headquarters Operations Center response teams, limited staffing of Region III and IV Incident Response Centers, and participation by Region IV and Headquarters representatives at the Seattle Joint Operations Center. NRC's participation focused on simulated terrorist threats to licensee facilities, a radiological dispersal device detonation in Seattle, a highway shipment of radioactive material in the Pacific Northwest, and the effect of a bio-terrorism event in Chicago. NRC conducted a series of internal critiques to capture "lessons learned" - opportunities to enhance the agency's emergency response capabilities - and participated in Federal interagency critiques on May 16, 2003. Preliminary Notifications
Office of Administration Items of Interest Week Ending May 16, 2003 Source Material Reporting Under International Agreements; Confirmation of Effective Date (Parts 40 and 150) A document confirming the effective date of October 1, 2003, for a direct final rule that requires licensees to report the receipt or transfer of source material controlled under any of the various international Agreements for Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation was published in the Federal Register on May 12, 2003 (68 FR 25281). Risk-Informed Categorization and Treatment of Structures, Systems, and Components for Nuclear Power Reactors (Part 50) A proposed rule that would provide an alternative approach for establishing the requirements for the treatment of structures, systems, and components (SSCs) for nuclear power reactors using a risk-informed method of categorizing SSCs according to their safety significance was published in the Federal Register on May 16, 2003 (68 FR 26551). The proposed rule would allow licensees to remove SSCs of low safety significance from the scope of certain identified requirements. For SSCs of low safety significance, licensees would not be required to provide increased assurance, beyond normal industrial practices, that SSCs perform their design basis function. The proposed rule would also revise requirements for SSCs of greater safety significance. The comment period for this action closes July 30, 2003. Contract Award As a result of a competitive negotiated procurement, a task order type contract no. NRC-04-03-048 was awarded to Purdue University on May 7, 2003, for Thermal Hydraulic Research.
Items of Interest Week Ending May 16, 2003 NRC Receives the National Archives and Records Administration's (NARA) Archivist's Achievement Award in Records Management The NRC received the 2003 Archivist's Achievement Award in Records Management on May 13, 2003, at NARA's annual Records Administration Conference. The award is in recognition of NRC's work on the development and implementation of the Agency-wide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) as an electronic records management system. ADAMS is the first enterprise wide electronic records management system to receive NARA approval. As a result, OCIO staff have been deeply involved in sharing lessons learned with other agencies who are currently exploring the development and deployment of electronic records management systems. The OCIO staff have demonstrated ADAMS to several agencies and have made presentations to senior management at other Federal agencies and at Federal and industry conferences and symposia. The OCIO staff continue to work very closely with NARA as it develops policies and procedures governing the development and implementation of electronic records management systems and the transfer of electronic records to NARA for permanent storage. Freedom of Information and Privacy Act Requests received during the period of >May 9 through May 15, 2003:
Items of Interest Week Ending May 16, 2003
Items of Interest Week Ending May 16, 2003 Media Interest The Office of Public Affairs (OPA) supported the TOPOFF 2 national terrorism exercise, which was covered by print and broadcast media. Interviews were conducted by the "Virtual News Network" (VNN) with Commissioner Merrifield, Carl Paperiello, and William Beecher. NBC Nightly News and Associated Press featured GAO's report on Department of Energy's failure to track and recover radioactive sources that could be used in a "dirty bomb." Fox 5 TV (Washington) conducted an interview about moisture density gauges and their potential use in dirty bombs. Budget cuts and layoffs at the Yucca Mountain project made headlines, as did the continuing differences between NRC and Nevada over waste transportation safety issues. The OIG's probe of alleged NRC staff influence on the Baltimore tunnel fire study was reported in Nevada papers.
Items of Interest Week Ending May 16, 2003 OECD/NEA Director-General Luis Echavarri, and Deputy Director-General Carol Kessler made their annual visit to the U.S. NRC on Friday, May 16, 2003. The visitors met with the Chairman, Commissioners, Executive Director of Operations, the Director of the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, the Director of the Office of International Programs, and the Deputy Director of the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards. The main topics of interest for Mr. Echavarri included the revision process for the NEA Strategic Plan, the Yucca Mountain, and current issues with the Japanese regulators.
Items of Interest Week Ending May 16, 2003
Commission Correspondence
Federal Register Notices Issued
Region I Items of Interest Week Ending May 16, 2003 Agency Decommissioning Counterpart Meeting Region I hosted a Counterpart Meeting of NRC Regional and Headquarters staff and management involved in decommissioning in Buffalo, NY, May 13-14, 2003. Representatives from all of the Regions, the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, and the Office of the General Counsel attended, as did representatives of the Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste and the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education. Technical, procedural, budgetary, and legal issues were discussed, with outstanding issues and action items being assigned for closure. The attendees toured the nearby West Valley Demonstration Project on the afternoon of May 14 to review decontamination and decommissioning operations.
Items of Interest Week Ending May 16, 2003 Duke Energy Corporation - Full Scale McGuire Nuclear Exercise On May 12-15, 2003, the Station Liaison Officer participated as a member of the Federal Emergency Management Agency Regional Assistance Committee in the full scale McGuire nuclear exercise. The exercise involved officials from the State of North Carolina and the applicable local governments. The Committee's findings were presented during a public exit that included media coverage on May 15. Transportation Accident Involving a Reactor Vessel Head On May 14, 2003, a vehicle, transporting the old reactor vessel head from the Unit 1 reactor at the North Anna nuclear power plant, was involved in an accident in the State of Kansas. The vehicle was in route to the Envirocare facility in the State of Utah. The Offices of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, Public Affairs, Region II and Region IV coordinated the NRC response to the accident on May 15 - 16, 2003.
Items of Interest Week Ending May 16, 2003 Proposed Rule Signed by EDO On May 9, 2003, the Executive Director for Operations approved a proposed rule that revises 10 CFR Part 110. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) proposes to amend its regulations to issue a general license for the import of major components of utilization facilities for end-use at NRC-licensed reactors. The amendment is necessary to facilitate imports of major components of domestic nuclear reactors in furtherance of protection of public health and safety and will also reduce unnecessary regulatory burden related to the maintenance of NRC-licensed reactors.
Items of Interest Week Ending May 16, 2003
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