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SECY-03-0193

November 6, 2003

Contact: L. Roche, OEDO

Enclosure A

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Items of Interest
Week Ending October 31, 2003

Circumferential Crack in Thermal Sleeve of High Pressure Injection Nozzle at Crystal River Plant

During an inspection on October 27, 2003, at its Crystal River (CR-3) Plant, the licensee found a circumferential crack in the thermal sleeve of one of the four (HPI) nozzles that feeds into the 28-inch cold leg of the reactor coolant system (RCS) between the "A" reactor coolant pump (RCP) and the reactor vessel. The crack is located about 6-1/2 inches from the end of the thermal sleeve. The thermal sleeve where the crack was found is at the end of a 2-inch diameter pipe that is used during normal operations for adding makeup water to the RCS. The other three nozzles are used only during testing of the HPI system.

The licensee had targeted the CR-3 thermal sleeve area for inspection during the current refueling outage because axial cracking has been found in the tip of the thermal sleeve at other plants. Prior to the outage, the CR-3 plant completed an analysis to justify delaying any required repairs in case they found indications similar to those discovered at other plants. However, the crack discovered at CR-3 is circumferential, and further up in the nozzle than had been anticipated.

The thermal sleeve where the crack was found had been replaced in 1982 after cracking was found in the original thermal sleeve. The other three thermal sleeves have also been replaced. One was replaced in 1994 and two others were replaced in 1996.

The repairs, expected to take about 4 days, were initiated on October 28, 2003.

Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station Activities

Public Meeting

On October 21, 2003, a public meeting was held to discuss the licensee's modification of the high pressure injection (HPI) pumps. The pumps are currently being modified by a vendor in an offsite location. The licensee is planning for installation and in-situ testing of the pumps in November. The HPI pump modification is a Restart Checklist item and is currently under review by NRR.

2.206 Petition

The licensee submitted a letter dated October 20, 2003, conveying its response to the 2.206 petition from Greenpeace regarding the licensee's commitments in response to the 50.54(f) design basis letter. The petition acknowledgment letter was issued by the NRC on October 7, 2003, and the staff is now performing its review of the immediate action request portion of the petition.

Review of ACR-700 CATHENA Computer Code

During October 20-24, 2003, staff from the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation and the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES) conducted an evaluation of the CATHENA computer code as part of the Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) ACR-700 preapplication review. The review was performed at the AECL main office at Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. CATHENA is the applicant's principal thermal and hydraulic code that will be used for the ACR-700 safety analysis. The review increased the NRC staff's understanding of the CATHENA code and provided information to enable the staff to run CATHENA for the ACR-700 preapplication. AECL is expected to document the methodology on how the code will be used for design basis safety analysis and to present additional detail concerning the plant response.

Meeting with Finnish Regulator on Reactor Licensing Issues

On October 23, 2003, NRR staff met with two representatives from the Finnish regulator, STUK. NRR and STUK representatives discussed NRC's review activities in the following areas: codes and testing, severe accidents, passive safety systems, and construction inspection. The NRC staff described their experience with the 10 CFR Part 52 licensing process and STUK described the process it will use to license the fifth reactor in Finland. The STUK representatives also discussed some of the preliminary high-level issues that STUK is reviewing for Framatome ANP's EPR-1600 (a large pressurized water reactor). The issues involve low power and shutdown accidents, mid-loop operations, severe accident design and management strategy (certain severe accidents are considered part of design basis accidents in Finland), long term post accident cooling, and high burnup fuel and core design.

The STUK representatives indicated that by early next year they may be interested in further exchanges of information with the NRC particularly in the areas of mid-loop operations, test data that can validate codes, and any publicly available information regarding the impact of air craft crashes.

Monthly Mitigating Systems Performance Index (MSPI) and Reactor Oversight Process (ROP) Public Meeting

On October 22-23, 2003, the Division of Inspection Program Management staff hosted the subject meeting. During the October 22 meeting, the participants discussed the MSPI pilot program and ongoing research activities of the MSPI pilot results, adequacy of Probabilistic Risk Analysis issues for MSPI, and benchmarking activities between the process for MSPI and the Significance Determination Process. The staff stated that the most challenging hurdle for implementing the MSPI was the inspection program burden of performing the temporary instruction for the initial full implementation, as well as the longer term burden of performing the Performance Indicator verification as part of the baseline inspection program. The staff continues to assess the impact of this burden on the ROP.

During the October 23 meeting, the participants discussed proposed inspection manual chapter and inspection procedure revisions, as well as a revision to the draft steam generator tube integrity SDP and changes to the fire protection inspection procedures.

Outreach to Bridgeport CT, Regional Planning Agency

On October 29, 2003, NRR staff provided an emergency preparedness presentation to the Greater Bridgeport Regional Planning Agency in response to a request by Congressman Shay from Connecticut. The Regional Planning Agency is developing their emergency plan to address 9/11 issues and area coordination concerns. In this regard, they were interested in the insight that the NRC has regarding emergency planning in the post 9/11 environment. In particular, their concerns were focused on Indian Point, and to a lesser degree on the Millstone Station. The staff also addressed concerns about exposure to radioactive materials and environmental and health effects. The Chairperson of the Regional Planning Agency expressed appreciation and stated that Agency members have a better understanding of the radiological issues they may confront in the future.

Enclosure B

Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards
Items of Interest
Week Ending October 31, 2003

NRC Yucca Mountain On-site Representatives' Presentation at Sun City, Las Vegas

On October 23, 2003, NRC's on-site representatives for the Yucca Mountain project gave an invited presentation at a neighborhood meeting on the Yucca Mountain program that was held for residents of the Sun City community in Las Vegas, Nevada. The on-site representatives presentation covered NRC's role in pre-license application oversight, license application review, and license application adjudication for a proposed Yucca Mountain repository. Members of the staff from the Department of Energy, Bechtel-SAIC, and a nuclear utility also made presentations. They discussed site characterization, repository design, license application, transportation, and the importance of a repository to the commercial nuclear utility industry. In addition, the former governor of Nevada, Robert List, spoke on the potential benefits of a Yucca Mountain repository to the State of Nevada. About 55 Sun City residents attended the meeting.

DOE Meeting with West Valley Regulators

On October 28, 2003, the Department of Energy (DOE) met with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the New York State Department of Health, the Environmental Protection Agency, and NRC, to discuss DOE's proposed schedule for completion of the West Valley Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The meeting was successful in promoting a constructive dialogue among agencies on the scope and content of the EIS. DOE intends to issue a revised schedule in the next few weeks, based on agencies' input at this meeting. NYSERDA reiterated its preferred alternative, which is to have unrestricted release of the North Plateau, and for the NRC-licensed disposal area and State-licensed disposal area in the South Plateau to remain under license or permit. DOE also provided further clarity on its preferred alternative, which calls for additional decontamination and removal of structures above-grade on the North Plateau. In addition, DOE and NYSERDA expressed interest in initiating a dialogue with NRC on the scope and content of their respective decommissioning plans.

IAEA Technical Meeting - Security Guidance Vienna, Austria

On October 20-24, 2003, staff from the Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response and the Spent Fuel Project Office participated in an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) "Technical Meeting to Address Guidance for Security in the Transport of Radioactive Material" (TM-25898) at IAEA Headquarters, in Vienna, Austria. Forty-two representatives from 23 other Member States, and representatives from international modal, safety and standards organizations, and by IAEA consultants attended this meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to produce a revised version of the IAEA Technical Document (TECDOC), "Security in the Transport of Radioactive Material - Interim Guidance for Comment." U.S. participants presented domestic views on integrating transport security and safety measures. The Secretariat indicated that a revised version of the TECDOC would be prepared, undergo review within IAEA, and subsequently be distributed to Member States for comment.

Meeting with General Nuclear Systems, Inc. on CONSTOR Cask Design

On October 23, 2003, staff from the Spent Fuel Project Office met with General Nuclear Systems, Inc. (GNSI), so GNSI could present an overview of a new storage and transport cask design called CONSTOR. CONSTOR can hold 32-PWR or 69-BWR spent fuel assemblies and is made of concrete and steel. The applicant plans to submit the application for storage in July 2005 and the application for transport in May 2006 to NRC.

Issuance of Environmental Assessment for the Diablo Canyon Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation

On October 24, 2003, the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards issued its Environmental Assessment (EA) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) related to the construction and operation of the Diablo Canyon Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI). The staff concluded that there are no significant radiological or non-radiological impacts associated with the proposed action, and that issuance of a license for the interim storage of spent nuclear fuel at the Diablo Canyon ISFSI will have no significant impact on the quality of the human environment. On October 27, 2003, NRC issued a press release to announce the issuance of the EA. On October 30, 2003, a Notice of Issuance of the EA and FONSI was published in the Federal Register. The staff expects to complete its safety review of the ISFSI license application by December 31, 2003.

Enclosure C

Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research
Items of Interest
Week Ending October 31, 2003

Nuclear Safety Research Conference (NSRC) Washington, DC

On October 20-22, 2003, the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES) sponsored its annual Nuclear Safety Research Conference (NSRC) at the Marriott at Metro Center in Washington, DC. This year's conference was attended by over 400 persons, with representation from 21 different countries.

Technical sessions were held on advanced reactors, decommissioning, behavior of spent fuel in dry casks, high burnup fuel behavior during reactor accidents, and operating experience evaluations, as well as three panels on risk-informed regulation and realistic conservatism, knowledge management, and the present status and future directions of materials degradation. Guest speakers and panelists included NRC Chairman Nils J. Diaz, NRC Commissioners Edward McGaffigan and Jeffrey S. Merrifield along with representatives from organizations, industries, government, the research community and public interest groups in the United States and abroad.

Daily Poster Sessions on a variety of topics, including fire modeling, reactivity initiated accident, debris impact on PWR sump performance, digital feedwater system reliability assessment, emerging technology, 10CFR50.61, and the Package Performance Study were held and provided attendees an opportunity to review additional technical information and discuss this information with the authors.

Germany's PKL Experiments on Boron Dilution Completed

A test series at the Primärkreislauf (PKL) facility in Germany has been completed as part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) sponsored Senior Experts on Thermal Hydraulics (SETH) program. The NRC is a participant in the SETH agreement. The PKL experiments provide a database for boron dilution accidents and other events under shutdown conditions. The PKL facility is a full-height PWR configuration with all of the relevant primary and secondary side safety systems. These tests at PKL include small break loss of coolant accidents as well as mid-loop operational transients where condensation occurs in the steam generator and a slug of de-borated water is subsequently transferred to the reactor vessel. Real time continuous monitoring of the boron dilution in the cold leg provides a complete description of boron dilution for flow entering the reactor vessel. These tests provide a valuable database for the validation of system codes such as TRACE which is used to analyze postulated accident conditions in PWRs to support licensing activities.

22nd Code Application and Maintenance Program (CAMP) Meeting Baltimore, MD

On October 23-24, 2003, the 22nd CAMP Meeting was held in Baltimore, MD. A total of 40 participants were present including representatives from 15 member countries, representatives of the industry, and NRC staff. The first day of the meeting was devoted to presentations describing the development and assessment status of the NRC's consolidated thermal-hydraulics (TH) code TRACE and its graphical user interface SNAP. The second day's agenda consisted of reports from the member countries and the Technical Program Committee meeting. Member countries making presentations on their usage of NRC TH codes were Croatia, Japan, Belgium, Korea and Switzerland.

Discussion as to the role of the CAMP member countries with respect to the assessment of the NRC TH codes resulted in an agreement to develop a more coordinated approach where the NRC would develop an assessment matrix and CAMP member countries would select cases to analyze. This coordinated assessment approach will significantly expand the range of assessments available to the NRC and thereby improve the quality of the NRC's TH codes.

RES Management and Staff Visited the Transportation Technology Center in Pueblo, CO

RES management participated at the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) 2003 Licensing Forum in a panel entitled "Licensing Implications of Technical Issues. RES's specific discussion was on the "Assessment of debris Accumulation on pressurized water reactor (PWR) Sump Performance," with the focus on the activities related to that issue.

Low Dose Radiation Research Workshop Washington, DC

During October 27-29, 2003, the RES staff participated in the DOE-sponsored "Low Dose Radiation Research" workshop in Washington, DC. The purpose of the workshop was to facilitate discussion and scientific collaboration amongst the investigators funded by the DOE Low Dose Radiation Research program. DOE is funding basic research studies to determine the biological responses induced by radiation exposures at doses of 10 cGy and below. These studies are focused on DNA damage and repair, cell originated vs. radiation-induced effects, adaptive responses to radiation exposure, bystander effects, genomic instability and genetic susceptibility to radiation exposure. The major advance in the last year has been the establishment of four microbeam facilities in the US. The facilities can irradiate individual cells with soft x-rays, alpha particles, or electrons so investigators can examine local and regional responses to low dose radiation exposures. The major challenge for the DOE program is standardizing experimental methodologies between investigators. The signal-to-noise ratio is very small for most of the biological endpoints under investigation. This is resulting in problems with experimental reproducibility and in some cases contradictory results between different laboratories. Several laboratories are reporting success in reproducibly assessing biological responses to radiation exposures as low as 0.5 cGy. Although these exposures still are well above many of the environmental exposures of regulatory interest, these exposures are orders of magnitude below those studied just five years ago. Data from this research program will be used to develop biologically-based risk models as well as provide a technical basis for future DOE decisions on site cleanup and decommissioning.

Enclosure D

Nuclear Security and Incident Response
Items of Interest
Week Ending October 31, 2003

Meetings Between NRC Staff, Industry Representatives and Other Stakeholders Regarding Security Force Work Control Orders

The NRC staff conducted two open meetings with industry personnel and other stakeholders, to discuss proposed Orders and Compensatory Measures (CMs) for security force work-hour controls at the Honeywell facility and the gaseous diffusion plants on October 30, 2003, and October 31, 2003, respectively. The meetings were well attended, productive, and beneficial for both the NRC staff and stakeholders. The exchange between NRC staff and stakeholders yielded a variety of constructive comments and proposals to the subject Orders and CMs that will be evaluated by the staff. Based on the number and types of changes that are eventually adopted, the staff will make recommendations as to whether a second meeting would be appropriate.

Enclosure F

Office of Administration
Items of Interest
Week Ending October 31, 2003

Ohio Citizens for Responsible Energy, Inc.; Denial of Petition for Rulemaking (PRM-9-2)

On October 28, 2003, the Federal Register Notice (68 FR 61374) published a document that denies a petition for rulemaking submitted by the Ohio Citizens for Responsible Energy, Inc. (PRM-9-2). The petitioner requested that the NRC amend its regulations implementing the Freedom of Information Act to provide for public access to licensee-held documents, subject to limited exceptions, and to include appeal procedures. The NRC is denying the petition because the additional recordkeeping and reporting requirements proposed by the petitioner are not necessary to protect public health and safety or to ensure effective public participation in NRC adjudicatory hearings on licensee actions.

List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: Standardized NUHOMS® -24P, -52B, and 61BT, Revision; Withdrawal of Direct Final Rule (AH26 - Part 72)

On October 30, 2003, the Federal Register Notice (68 FR 61735) published a withdrawal of a direct final rule that would have revised the Standardized NUHOMS -24P, -52B, and 61BT cask.

Contract Award

On October 22, 2003, Delivery Order No. DR-02-04-012, entitled, "General License Tracking System" was competitively awarded to Force 3 under the General Services Administration's Federal Supply Schedule. This delivery order requires the contractor to provide efficient and accurate collection, analysis, entry, and dissemination of general license information. The period of performance is twenty-four months with a one-year option. The total estimated cost of this order is $2,330,665, inclusive of the option. The streamlining initiatives included setting a deadline for proposer's questions and using electronic transmittal and coordination of the statement of work.

Enclosure G

Chief Information Officer
Items of Interest
Week Ending October 31, 2003

Integrated Personnel Security System (IPSS) Accepted Into Production

The NRC Data Center now monitors and operates IPSS. NRC's Security Branch and guard force access this 3-tier web application through a web browser. IPSS is a new system that consolidates functions of the old Personnel Security (PERSEC) modules, the Drug Testing system, the Temporary Badge System, the Classified Visits system and the Badging system.

Classified Electronic Document Repository System (CEDRS) and Secure LAN Project Meeting Held

The OCIO's computer security staff met with staff from the Space and Naval Warfare (SPAWAR) Systems Center, Charleston, South Carolina to discuss security technical support for the NRC classified electronic document repository system (CEDRS) and secure LAN project. The NRC has an interagency agreement in place with SPAWAR to provide NRC with support for operations and maintenance of classified IT systems in the Sensitive Compartmentalized Information Facility (SCIF). SPAWAR and their support contractor will assist NRC with security planning efforts, to include requirements gathering, security plan development, business case development, and analysis of alternative approaches for the project.

Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act Requests received during the period of October 24 through October 30, 2003:

Enclosure I

Office of Human Resources
Items of Interest
Week Ending October 31, 2003

Enclosure M

Office of Public Affairs
Items of Interest
Week Ending October 31, 2003

Media Interest

Scientific concerns about the stability of tunnels and storage casks at the proposed Yucca Mountain high level waste repository.

CBS' "60 Minutes" program aired a segment on Yucca Mountain and the controversy over transportation routes to carry high-level waste to the repository once it opens. The piece generated wide coverage in regional media outlets.

NRR Director Jim Dyer was interviewed by the Cleveland Plain Dealer regarding the Inspector General's report on NRC oversight of the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant.

Local opposition to license renewal for the Oyster Creek nuclear plant in New Jersey.

Enclosure O

Office of the Secretary
Items of Interest
Week Ending October 31, 2003

Commission Correspondence

1. Letter to Congressman Markey, Congressman Dingell, and David Walker (GAO), dated October 23, 2003, express the Commission's concerns regarding GAO's report "Oversight of Security at Commercial Nuclear Power Plants Needs to be Strengthened" (GAO-03-752).

2. Letter to David Lochbaum, Union of Concerned Scientist, dated October 20, 2003, responds to votes of no confidence in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

3. Letter to Congressman Tierney, dated October 20, 2003, provides responses to letters received from the C-10 Research and Education Foundation.

Federal Register Notices Issued

1. Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards - Revised Meeting Notice

2. Draft Policy Statement on the Treatment of Environmental Justice Matters in NRC Regulatory and Licensing Actions.

3. CFC Logistics, Inc.- Notice of Hearing.

Enclosure P

Region I
Items of Interest
Week Ending October 31, 2003

Meeting to Discuss Safety Light Corporation

On October 29, 2003, staff and management of the Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region I met with representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to discuss the Safety Light Corporation facility in Bloomsburg, PA. Representatives from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection were also in attendance. The purpose of the meeting was to provide an historical overview to the EPA representatives concerning licensed activities conducted at the Bloomsburg facility.

Enclosure P

Region II
Items of Interest
Week Ending October 31, 2003

Virginia Electric and Power Company - North Anna Nuclear Plant Visit

On October 30, 2003, the Regional Administrator, accompanied by Dr. Travers, Executive Director for Operations and William F. Kane, Deputy Executive Director for Homeland Protection and Preparedness, visited the North Anna Nuclear Plant in Mineral, VA. The purpose of the visit was to tour the facility and to meet with licensee management and the resident inspectors.

Gas Centrifuge Diffusion Training in Oak Ridge, Tennessee

On October 29, 2003, the Deputy Regional Administrator and other staff members from the Division of Fuel Facility Inspection attended the Gas Centrifuge Training in Oak Ridge, TN.

Senior Resident Inspector Counterpart Meeting

On October 28-29, 2003, the Division of Reactor Projects hosted the Senior Resident Inspector Counterpart meeting. Discussion topics included Managing Resources in an "N" Environment, Human Capital Management, Communicating for Effectiveness, Reactor Oversight Process Issues and Problem Identification and Resolution Program Changes.

Enclosure P

Region IV
Items of Interest
Week Ending October 31, 2003

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (Diablo Canyon Power Plant) Special Inspection Exit Meeting

On October 28, 2003, Region IV conducted a special inspection exit meeting with representatives of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company. During this Category 1 meeting, the special inspection team leader discussed the results of the special inspection that was conducted to review the circumstances associated with multiple failures of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant safety-related battery chargers. The public was given the opportunity to ask questions of the NRC staff before the meeting was concluded.

Regional Administrator Visit to Cooper Nuclear Station

On October 30, 2003, the Regional Administrator toured Cooper Nuclear Station and met with licensee management. Topics discussed included the licensee's plans and programs to improve performance.

Enclosure R

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