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INFORMATION REPORT SECY-06-0108 May 12, 2006
Contact: R. Taylor, OEDO Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) NRC and Materials Reliability Program (MRP) Meeting On May 3, 2006, the Division of Component Integrity and the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research staff met with representatives of the industry's MRP to discuss progress in developing inspection and evaluation (I&E) guidelines for the management of age-related degradation in pressurized water reactor internals. The I&E guidelines are being developed to assist licensees in meeting aging management program commitments made in license renewal applications. Important discussions at the meeting included: (1) a confirmation that the MRP's I&E guidelines are not expected to be completed until 2008, (2) a recommendation by the staff that licensees that are committed to submitting an AMP for staff review and approval prior to 2008 should be proactively contacting the staff to discuss the plan to meet their commitments, and (3) an acknowledgment by the MRP representatives that the MRP I&E guidelines may be submitted as topical reports for staff review and approval, which would break with the precedent of MRP reports being submitted for information only. Staff Conducts an Environmental Site Audit at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station The Division of License Renewal staff and its contractors conducted an environmental site audit at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station from May 1 through May 5, 2006. The audit is being conducted to perform the environmental review of the license renewal application. The staff plans to conduct business activities as codified in 10 CFR Part 51 and interface with officials in State and local government agencies to obtain related information. The draft supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) is scheduled to be published in December 2006 and the final SEIS is scheduled to be published in July 2007. Clinton Early Site Permit (ESP) Final Safety Evaluation Report (SER) Issued as NUREG On May 1, 2006, the staff issued its SER for the Clinton ESP application as NUREG-1844. Exelon Generation Company, LLC, submitted the application on September 25, 2003. Meeting with UniStar-Constellation to discuss Combined License (COL) pre-application activities On May 2, 2006, the staff held a public meeting with UniStar Nuclear to discuss early the potential submittal of portions of their Combined License COL application. UniStar discussed its interest in the early submittal of its Quality Assurance Program, Security and Emergency Plans, and information necessary to support limited work authorizations. The COL application is scheduled to be submitted in June 2008, but UniStar would like to start submitting this information in the 3rd quarter of 2006. The staff and UniStar agreed that this partial submittal approach may raise legal and/or policy issues. The UniStar and NRC staff plan to continue a dialogue to resolve any identified issues associated with this approach. Sources Sought for Technical Assistance with New Reactors On March 29, 2006, the New Reactor Infrastructure Planning Branch posted a sources sought notice on the FedBizOpps website. The listing, "Technical Assistance for New Reactor Licensing Application Reviews for Reactor Design Certifications, Early Site Permits (ESPs), Combined Construction and Operating License (COL) Applications, and New Reactor Pre-application Activities," provides references to the details associated with agency needs in FY 2007 and FY 2008. Forty-five responses from commercial vendors and laboratories were received by the due date of April 28th. These sources are being evaluated to identify specific capabilities and potential conflicts of interest. Regulatory Guide 1.201 (Risk-Informed Categorization of Structures, Systems, and Components) In March 2006, the Nuclear Energy Institute provided comments on the recently issued Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.201 indicating that some of the staff regulatory positions could be misunderstood. In response to these comments, the Division of Risk Assessment staff prepared a revision to the regulatory guide and held a public meeting on April 19, 2006, to discuss these revisions. The public meeting was very productive in gaining understanding of the NRC staff positions and the industry concerns. As a result of these discussions, three additional changes were made to Revision 1 of RG 1.201 to further enhance and clarify the regulatory guide. The revised regulatory guide was uploaded onto the NRC's regulatory guide website on May 1, 2006. Publication in the Federal Register is expected by May 5, 2006. Ultrasonic Flow Meter (UFM) On April 28, 2006, the NRC staff from the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation and the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research met with representatives of Westinghouse to discuss issues related to the application of a Westinghouse proprietary UFM system used for measurement uncertainty recapture power uprates (MURs). Since the approval of the Westinghouse UFM system, there have been several operational occurrences that have raised questions with its specified accuracy. During the meeting, Westinghouse responded to staff requests for additional information and provided additional data to support the claimed accuracy. The staff is evaluating this additional information to determine whether the NRC should continue to accept this device for MURs and for power recovery applications. Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS) Pre-Application Meeting with AREVA NP, Inc. On May 3, 2006, representatives from AREVA NP, Inc., met with staff from the Spent Fuel Project Office (SFPO) to discuss their proposed design and testing protocol for a new transportation package for unirradiated pressurized water reactor fuel assemblies. The new transportation package, identified as Model No. MAP, will replace the current fleet of transportation packages that will be phased out by October 1, 2008. AREVA plans to submit an application for package approval in December 2006. Duratek, Inc. Special Package Authorization On April 27, 2006, staff issued a Special Package Authorization to Duratek, Inc., for the La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor Pressure Vessel transport package. The package is authorized to transport an irradiated steel reactor pressure vessel and internal components from the La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor to Barnwell, SC. The application was approved under the requirements of 10 CFR 71.41(d) for a one-time only shipment. The applicant demonstrated that requisite standards of safety were met, and that the overall level of safety in transport was equivalent to a standard package approval. Meeting with Westinghouse Electric Company On April 27, 2006, representatives from Westinghouse Electric Company met with SFPO staff members. Westinghouse provided the staff a status overview of the various models in its transport packaging fleet. Westinghouse also provided the staff with a tentative schedule of when it plans to submit future requests over the next several years. Staff Attends Yucca Mountain Site Visit and Field Orientation From April 27-29, 2006, Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses (CNWRA) staff conducted a site visit and field orientation of Yucca Mountain and vicinity for CNWRA and NRC staff new to the NRC high-level waste program. The site visit introduced new staff to the scale of the underground operations, geology, hydrology, geophysics, volcanic history, erosion processes, deposition processes, local environment, land uses, and the cultural setting. The experience gained from this trip will help new staff to conduct pre-license application activities, and is one of the training requirements to qualify as an NRC reviewer of a potential Yucca Mountain license application. Staff Attends Nye County Workshop on Horizontal Well Drilling On April 26, 2006, NRC and CNWRA staff attended a public workshop meeting in Furnace Creek, CA. At this workshop, the Nuclear Waste Repository Project Office for Nye County, NV, discussed possible locations for its first horizontal well. The proposed well is intended to improve aquifer characterization and monitoring near Yucca Mountain, NV, and is expected to be drilled this calendar year. Staff Attends Devil's Hole Workshop On April 26-28, 2006, NRC and CNWRA staff attended the 2006 Devil's Hole Workshop in Furnace Creek, CA. Presentations at this meeting included information related to the Death Valley Regional Ground Water Flow System, and the geology, hydrology, and hydro-geology of the surrounding area. Sealed Sources and Devices Workshop Between April 24-28, 2006, Division of Industrial and Medical Nuclear Safety staff conducted a workshop to train Agreement State personnel on the registration process for sealed sources and devices (SSDs). Twenty-one Agreement State staff from 10 States attended the workshop. NRC has been conducting such training workshops on a periodic basis since 1995. This year's session was held in Atlanta, GA. The presentations were given by NRC's SSD team and one invited lecturer from the State of Ohio. In addition to attending lectures and performing case work exercises, the participants also visited the fabrication facilities of two SSD suppliers and received a demonstration of portable gauges from a representative of the major gauge manufacturer. Feedback from the participants was very positive. List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: NUHOMS® HD Addition On May 2, 2006, a final rule entitled "List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: NUHOMS® HD Addition" was published in the Federal Register (71 FR 25740). The final rule adds the Transnuclear, Inc., NUHOMS® HD cask system to the list of approved spent fuel storage casks in 10 CFR 72.214, by adding Certificate of Compliance (CoC) 1030. This system is an improved version of the Standardized NUHOMS® System described in CoC 1004 and has been optimized for high thermal loads, limited space, and radiation shielding performance. The final rule is effective July 17, 2006. Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES) 9th Semiannual Meeting of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Piping Failure Data Exchange (OPDE) Program On April 20 and 21, 2006, staff attended the subject meeting to present the status of recent U.S. efforts in this area. Representatives from Canada, Germany, Japan, Korea, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland also participated. The purpose of the OPDE Program is to assemble a database of relatively rare, light-water-reactor (LWR) piping failures and precursor events. These operating experience data are used to develop realistic, pipe failure estimates that can be utilized by OPDE members to improve the safety of their LWRs. Spring Meeting of the Third International Steam Generator Tube Integrity Program (ISG-TIP) On April 26-27, 2006, the staff held the subject meeting, attended by representatives from Canada, Korea, and the United States. This international program provides a forum for discussing ongoing research in order to minimize duplication of effort. Participants made presentations on non-destructive examination, tube integrity analysis, and steam generator corrosion research. Additionally, the participants discussed the closure of the current 5-year program and what research may be conducted if a fourth ISG-TIP is pursued. The research findings from this program are expected to be useful in the NRC staff's evaluations of licensees' non-destructive examination results and in the staff's review of burst and leakage models used by the industry. 23rd International Common-Cause Failure Data Exchange Project (ICDE) Steering Group Meeting On April 25-27, 2006, staff attended the subject meeting to review progress to date and discuss future activities, including: (1) updating the common-cause failure (CCF) event data for the six components currently in the ICDE database; (2) updating CCF analyses and insights for several components with emphasis on inspection and maintenance applications; and (3) adding several components for data collection (control rod drive assemblies, level-measurement devices, and heat exchangers). The results from this effort are compared to U.S. events to provide insights for use by staff during inspections. Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response (NSIR) Preliminary Notifications
Office of Administration (ADM) Approaches to Risk-Informed and Performance-Based Requirements for Nuclear Power Reactors (AH81 - Parts 50 and 53) On May 4, 2006, the NRC published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register (71 FR 26267) soliciting public comment on the potential modification of its approach to developing risk-informed and performance-based requirements applicable to nuclear power reactors. The NRC is considering an approach that, in addition to the effort to revise some specific regulations, would establish a comprehensive set of risk-informed and performance-based requirements applicable for all nuclear power technologies as an alternative to current requirements. The comment period for this action expires December 29, 2006. Office of Information Services (OIS) OIS Participation at Spring Meeting of the Nuclear Information and Records Management Association's Regulations and Information Management Business Unit (RIMBU) OIS staff attended the Spring 2006 RIMBU meeting held in San Diego, California. This two-day meeting focused on the collaborative efforts being made by RIMBU members (including NRC representatives) to update technical guidance to the industry on managing quality assurance (QA) records in electronic form. These guidance documents have previously been endorsed by the NRC as an acceptable strategy for licensees to manage QA records. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Privacy Act Requests Received During the Period of April 28 through May 4, 2006:
Office of Human Resources (HR)
Office of Public Affairs (OPA) The Office of Public Affairs (OPA) received significant media inquiries on the following: The NRC's renewal of operating licenses for the Browns Ferry nuclear plant. Vermont Yankee's completion of its 20-percent power uprate. Other Public Affairs Items: OPA Region II staff assisted at the Chairman's appearance at Browns Ferry for the license renewal signing ceremony. OPA regional staff assisted at several end of cycle meetings for nuclear plants.
Office of the Secretary (SECY)
Commission Correspondence
Federal Register Notices Issued
Region II (RII) Chairman Nils J. Diaz Visits the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant On May 4, 2006, Chairman Diaz, the Executive Director for Operations and the Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, accompanied by the Deputy Regional Administrator, visited the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant for a site tour, meeting with licensee management and a licensing renewal signing ceremony for Units 1, 2 and 3. Reactor Oversight Process (ROP) Annual Assessment Meeting On May 2, 2006, the Region II Staff conducted the NRC ROP Annual Assessment Meeting for the Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant. Participants included Tennessee Valley Authority representatives and Region II staff. There was no public or media interest. Region III (RIII) Operator Licensing Workshop On May 3-4, 2006, Region III hosted a two-day operator licensing workshop for Region III licensees to discuss recent issues, lessons learned, and good practices for licensed operator examination preparation and simulator fidelity. The workshop attendees included training managers and staff from Region III facilities, the Region III operating license staff, and representatives from the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. Region IV (RIV) Comanche Peak Annual Assessment Public Meeting On May 1, 2006, the staff conducted a Category 1 public meeting in Glen Rose, Texas, to discuss Comanche Peak's safety performance for 2005. Participants included TXU Energy's officials and Region IV staff. The county judges from Somervell and Hood Counties also attended the meeting along with several other members of the public. Public Meeting Conducted with San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station On May 2, 2006, the staff conducted a Category 1 public meeting in Arlington, Texas to discuss the safety conscious work environment at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. Topics included the results of the licensee's safety culture survey and improvement initiatives. Public Meeting with Callaway On Safety Performance On May 4, 2006, the staff conducted a Category 1 public meeting in Jefferson City, Missouri, to discuss Callaway Plant's safety performance for 2005. Participants included AmerenUE officials and Region IV staff. Approximately 25 people attended the presentation, including representatives from the state of Missouri, and a television station reporter. Office of Congressional Affairs (OCA)
Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS)/
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