ML19224C684
| ML19224C684 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 05/23/1979 |
| From: | Rehm T NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19224C685 | List: |
| References | |
| WIR-790518, NUDOCS 7907060050 | |
| Download: ML19224C684 (50) | |
Text
Ok May 23, 1979 For:
The Cocmissioners From:
T. A. Rehin, Assistant to the Executive Director for Operations
Subject:
WEEKLY IMORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING MAY 18, 1979 A summary of key events is included as a convenience to those Commissioners who may prefer a condensed version of this report.
Contents Enclosure Administration A
Nuclear Reactor Regulation B
Standards Development C
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards D
Inspection and Enforcement E
Nuclear Re';ulatory Research F*
Executive Legal Director G
International Programs H
State Programs I
Management and Program Analysis J
Controller K
Items Approved by the Conriission M**
Calendar of Speaking Engagements N
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T. ". Rehm, Assistant to the Executive Director for Operations
Contact:
T. A. Rehm 49-27731 "No inout this week
- Deleted frca Commissioners and PDR copy
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- n 7 907 0 6 TSci
SUMMARY
OF KEY EVENTS Week Ending May 18, 1979 Salem Unit No.1 A number of spent fuel assemblies have been found to have grid damage. A full-core off load is in progress to fully assess the number of affected assemblies. Twenty assemblies have been identified to date with about 1/2 of the 193 assembly core unloaded.
The damage observed has ranged from small chips and scratches to torn grid straps. Restart is expected to be delayed from June 15 to at least July 8,1979.
Vermont Yankee Bargaining unit employees (which includes plant operators) went out on strike at 12:01 A.M. May 15,1979.
plant operation has continued with staffing from licensed non bargaining unit t gloyees (17 available). An I&E inspector was dispatched to the site tne morning of May 15, 1979.
Fort St. Vrain All refueling operations have been completed. The steam piping is being connected to the steam generators and the PCRV is " buttoned up" and is expected to be repressurized b May 24. A vacuum is expected to be pulled on the turbines by May 28.
Millstone Unit No. 2 The NRC staff accepted the Northeast Nuclear Energy Company's reanalysis method used for design calculations. NRC issued Safety Evaluation for Amendment No. 52 which authorizer Cycle 3 operation of Millstone Unit 2.
Orders on Babcock & Wilcox Plants In compliance with the Commission's confirmatory orders, cll operating plants designed by the Babcock & Wilcox Company are current 1/ shutdown with the exception of Oconee, Unit No. I which will likely be shutdown on May 19.
Meetina with epa on Clean Air Act According to epa, their accroach for implementing the Clean Air Act anti-cipates (1) listing radioactive materials as hazardous pollutants 1n?
Summary of Key Events in ^ Jgust 1979, (2) issuing an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking in Sr ember 1979, (3) issuance of first proposed Clean Air Act standards in Fev uary 1980, and (4) finalizing aii NRC/ EPA interagency agreement in February 1980 on implementation of the Act.
To develop dose limits for various categories of materials licensees, EPA requesteo that NRC provide information on numbers and types of 'icensees, control technology in use, airborne emissions, and whether emissions are ALARA.
Occupatior.al Exposure Standard Changes NMSS staff recently proposed new and more restrictive maximum permissible concentration (fiPC) values than are presently used by NMSS in fuel cycle facilities. An assessment is being made of the possible technical and economic impacts on FC plant operations.
TMI Action Plan To respond to requests from the Commission and the interim directors cf the Commission's TMI investigation group, MPA is coordinating an extensive up-date of the TMI Action Plan.
The update is due to the EDO on May 25.
Task Force on Ocerational Data Analysis and Evaluation On May 15 the Task Force issued a final report that outlines options for more intensive analysis of operational data and describes crganizational impacts of each option.
FY 1980 Budget
'..e mark from the House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Energy cnd Water Development reflects a $20 million reduction from NRC's request dnd requires accommodation of $5.3 million in initiatives specified by the House Authorization Subcommittee on Energy and Environment. An appeal to the Senate of this mark is in process.
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0FFICE OF ADMINISTRATION Week Ending May 18, 1)79 ADMINISTRATION OF THE FREEDOM 0F INFORMATION ACT STATUS OF REOUESTS Initial Appeal of Request Initial Decision Received 218 17 Granted 103 2
Denied 31 5
Pecding 84 10 ACTIONS THIS WEEK Received John W. Sullivan Requests documents for 1952-1956 concerri'g Metals (79-174) and Controls Corporation.
Lucille Parkerson, Requests the final contract award amounts.of Mt. Sinai Kinetic Research, Inc.
and George Washington University contracts, and the (79-175) availability of the final reports on these contracts.
(An individual requesting Requests documents pertaining to the issuance of information about himself) his Operator license.
(79-176)
(An individual requesting Requests documents pertaining to the issuance of infomation aucut himself) his Operator license.
(79-177)
Doreen L. Nepom, Requests a detailed listin9 of releases of Atto rney-At-Law transu anium series particulates from the Trojan (79-178)
Nuclear Plant during 1978 and 1979.
Severly T. Elkins, Requests all information relating to the Three Milton High School Mile Island accident.
(79-179)
Lawrence Walter Skinner Requests information regarding the proposed reactors (79-180) to be located near Green River, Utah.
Betsy Hauser, Requests records pertaining to nuclear plant operc+or The Lorain Journal training c'd testing for the 27 licensed operators (79-181) at Davis-P _se, information on where the tests are conducted, and the types ar.d constructior of tre simulaters used.
CONTACT:
J. M. Felton
'O( }l3 492-72i1 ENCLCSURE A
2 Received, Cont'd Robert Schakne, Requests the identities of reactor operators at CBS News Three Mile Island, and tests and test scores for (79-182) four named operators.
Robert W. Riley, Requests documents relating to injuries suffered Handmaker, Weber & Meyer by a named individual at Oak Ridge, TN in 1954.
(79-183)
Ginger Rutland, Requests documents compiled by Mechanical Engineering XRON TV, Chronicle Broadcasting Branch and Materials Engineering Branch for Company IE Bulletins 78-12,78-12A, and 78-12B and informatior (79-184) regarding atypical weld materials in B&W reactors.
John E. Bonine, Requests documents relating to policies on waiver University of Oregon of searcn and copying fees under the FOIA.
(79-185)
Thoras R. Asher/ Matthew B. Bogin Requests documents regarding export of a reactor Law Offices and components to the Philippines.
(79-186)
Robert E. Taylor, Requests all transcripts of interviews with operators The Philadelphia Bulletin and management personnel at the Three Mile Island (79-187) plant from March 28 through March 31.
Francis John Kreysa, Requests all drawings and specifications of a Neutron Products, Inc.
cobalt-60 teletherapy unit, model number Eldorado 60, (79-188) manufactured by Atomic Energy of Canada, Limited.
Granted Ellyn R. Weiss, In response to a request for records concerning Sheldon, Harmon, Roisman Task Action Plans A-40 and A-41, documents written and Weiss, on behalf of by H.R. Denton and Carl Stepp, records concerning UCS seismic issues, and inspection reports for the (79-86)
Beaver Valley units, made available the requested documents in the PDR.
Carol S. Perlmutter In response to a request for dccuments regarding (79-93) the promulgation and possible future revisions of Regulatory Guide 1.3, Revision 2, and Regulatory Guide 1.4, Revision 2, made available 16 documents.
William A. Webb, In response to a request for a copy of the non-Rolf Jensen & Associates, Inc.
proprietcry portion of the Basic Ordering Agreement (79-130)
NRC-03-78-131, made available this documen.
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ENCLCSURE A
3 Granted, Cont'd Clif ton E. Curtis, In response to a referral from the DOE of five Jarnes N. Barnes, documcnts relating to the export of special nuclear Center for Law and Social material to India, informed the requester that the Policy documents were previously identified and responded (79-136) to m their request to NRC on the same subject.
Harold May In response to a request for a copy of WASH-1400, (79-153) sent a copy of this report, the Lewis Report, and the Policy Statement issued by the Comission on January 18, 1979.
James W. Ashley, In response to a request for a copy of all files in Attorney-At-Law the NRC indexed or maintained under the name of (79-157)
David Dir.smore Comey (deceased), informed the requester of the correspondence in the DACS system.
James DeLillo In response to a request for information on TM (79-163) 5-6115-230-10 HOL-GAR Model CE 600 - A/C E/G equipment, infonned the requester the NRC has no records subject to this request.
(An individual requesting In response to a request for information on exposure infonation) to radiation by (a member of her family), informed (79-166) the requester this request has been referred to the DOE.
Coral Rose Ryan, In respunse to a request for a copy of " Spent Fuel Mothers & Others Mobilizing Heatup Following Loss of Water Curing Storage",
for Survival (SAND-77-1371), made available a copy of the document (79-173)
(An individual requesting In response to a request for documents pertaining information t. bout himself) to the issuance of his operator license, sent (79-176) this information to the requester.
(An individual requesting In response to a request for documents pertaining information about himself) to the issuance of his operator license, sent this (79-177) information to the requester.
Ocnied Kathleen M. Ragan, In response to a request for a copy of the winning Kinetic Research, Inc.
technical proposal fct Contract NRC 02-79-037, (79-132)
" Study of ALARA for Radiopharmaceutical Manufacturers denied p1 rticns of the technical prccesal containing confidential business (proprietary) infomation.
A. Kranish, THE CCMMISSICN DENIED CN APPEAL two cccumente relan Trends publisning, Inc.
to tne ECO testimony in their entirety, pcrtions c' (78-A-20-78-60) one cocument, and released one cocumer.t.
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p ENCLOSURE A
4 DIVISION OF CONTRACTS Week Ending May if', 1979 PENDING COMPETITIVE REQUIREMEriTS RFP RS-r1Rii-79-155 Title - Buckling Behavior of Steel Containmant Shalls Description - The objective of this progran is to develop a current staff position on buckling of steel containment shells for NRC review of applicant designs.
Period of Performance - Two years Sponsor - Office of Nuclear Reactor Regul e. ion Status - Solicitation being developed PROPOSALS UNDER EVALUATION 1.
RFP RS-NMS-79-026 Title - Preparation of an EIS to Guide and Support Development of a Regulation for Management and Disposal of Low-Level Waste (LLW)
Description - The contractor shall first review the existing informatinn on the management and disposal of LLW, assess the alternatives, and develop a methodology and schedule for the preparation of a DEIS. The contractor shall then nrepare both the DEIS and the FEIS and be prepared to support the same with public testimony.
Period of Performance - Thirty-three months Sponsor - Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Status - Commission Action Paper concurrence process started May 14, 1979.
2.
RFP RS-NMS-79-050 Title - Enhancement of the Nuclear Materials Management and Safeguards System Description - The project will provide for the implementation of previously deveicoed recormendations concerning data inconsistencies discove.ed ir. the buclear Materials Management and Safeguards System (NMMSS), as well as providing improvements to other portions of NMMSS.
Period of Performanc.e - Eight months Sponsor - Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Status - RFP issued en May 14, 1979, proposals are due on June 15, 1979.
3.
RFP RS-NRR-79-134 Title - Tecring Stacility Analyses for Light Water Reactor Pi;ing Description - The centractor shall perform elastic-plastic tearing stability analyses fer LWR Diping using various anticipated and postu-lated flow si:es and stress ccnditiens.
The NRC will use tne results of tnis tragram to ceterine i# unstable ductile crack extension will cccur fer the anticipatec and pcstulated flow and stress conditicns for LWR cicing.
Period of Perfor.ance - Cne and cne-haif years Sponsor - Office of Nuclear React r Regulation Status - Final selection approved on May 15,1:79, ENCLOSURE a q g,;
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RFP RS-NRR-79-ll8 Title - Engineering Support for Operating Reactor Licensing Actions Description - The NRC is seeking assistance with its review and evaluation of pending operating reactor licensing actions.
Assistance is needed to:
(1) review licensee submittal, (2) perform compar-ative evaluations relative to established regulatory guides, (3) provide a report documenting conclusions reached and (4) provide a definition of additional information needed to complete the action.
Period of Performance - Th ee to five years Sponeor - Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Status - Synopsis forwarded to Commerce Business Daily advising potential offerors that issue date for RFP is anticipated to be on or about May 29,1979.
5.
RFP RS-0IE-79-261 Title - General and Refresher Courses in Concrete Technology and Codes Descriptien - This technical assistance is required by the Office of Inspection and Enforcenent to provide NRC personnel the detailed training in concrete technology and the applicable codes neces-sary to permit them to conduct in-depth inspections at NRC licensed facilities under construction or modification.
Period of Performance - Eighteen months Sponsor - Office of Inspection and Enfcrcement Status - RFP closed and proposals received on May 17, 1979.
CONTRACT AWARDS 1.
RFP RS-ADM-79-375 Title - System Maintenance Programming Description - This requirement was set aside for a minority business under Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act.
The contractor shall provide services to accomplish corrections, changes, and en-hancement recuired to support selected NRC administrative, financial, and management reporting systems, Period of Performance - One year Sponsor - Office of Administration Status - A Labor Hour contract was executed with SBA and Rehab Group, Inc.,
an eligible 8(a) minority concern, in the amount of $98,135.00 on May 1, 1979.
2.
RFP RS-ACh-79-400 Title - Transcrioticn of Three Mile Island Tapes Descriptien - Transcription of a;croximately 2,075 30-minute cassettes of recorcings of incoming and cut;cing teleoncne conversations at tne Incident Rescense Center during the first # cur cays of the TMI incident.
Pericd of Performance - Fifteen work cays
$consor - Office of Acministration Status - Centract awarded to Neal R. Grcss and Cc.. Inc., Fixed Price requ re-ment, in tne amcunt of 577,538.60, executed on May 17, 157c, effective May 13, '.979.
ENCLCSURE A o r, /
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OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION WEEKLY ITEMS OF INTEREST (Week Ending Hay 18, 1979)
Salem Unit No.1 On May 15,1979, Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G) advised us that in the process of reloading Salem Unit No. I for Cycle 2 operation, a number of spent fuel assemblies have been found to have grid damage.
Salem has 17 x 17 Westinghouse fuel assemblies.
A full-ccre off load is in progress to fully assess the number of affected assemblies.
Twen ty assemblies have been identified to date with about 1/2 of the 193 assembly core unloaded.
The damage observed has ranged from small chips and scratches to torn grid straps.
It is not known if the damage occurred during insertion or removal of the assemblies.
Westinghouse is assisting PSE&G in evaluating the damage and the impact on the Cycle 2 reload.
Restart is expected to be delayed from June 15 to at least July 8,1979.
Vermont Yankee Bargaining unit employees (which includes plant operators) went out on strike at 12:01 A.M. May 15,1979.
Plant operation has continued with staffing from licensed non bargaining unit employees (17 available).
The organization structure is in accordance with existing Technical Specifications and has previously been approved by tne licensee's onsite and offsite safety committees.
Operating personnel are presently observing 8 hour9.259259e-5 days <br />0.00222 hours <br />1.322751e-5 weeks <br />3.044e-6 months <br /> shif t schedules.
At the time of the strike no major maintenance was in progress.
A Dicket line has been set up, An I&E inspector was dispatched to the site the morning of May 15, 1979.
Fort St. Vrain All refueling operations have been completed.
The steam piping is being connected to the steem generators and the PCRV is " buttoned up" and is expected to be repressurized by May 24.
A vacuum is expected to be pulled on the turbines by May 28.
During testing of snubbers, PSCo discovered that due to improper tes'_;ng procedures, some snubbers were found inoperable.
The procedure was corrected and Region IV cermitted retesting.
FSV has several 1 1/2 inch snubbers that are too small to be machine tested by PSCo.
These were sent to Wiley Labs for testing.
Consultation with ITT resulted in an alternate testing crocedure where full imculse lcad is not olaced cr the snubbers.
A leak has been disccveret in the belicws Of the steam ciping to the steam generator and the entire coucling assembly has oeen reDiacec wit, a scare. The leaking belicws will be cismantled and examined to cetermine the cause of tne crack in the celicws.
4.,
g,e ENCLOSURE B Bio Rock Point Following the discovery of a small primary system leak on April 20, 1979 (reported in Significant Developments April 27,1979), Consumers Power Company (CPCo) informed the staff that a noise was detected when one recirculation pump was turned on and that they would investigate
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the source of the noise while shutcown for the primary coolant system leak repair.
A noise monitoring program was initiated to determine the source ofWhen the noise with the following symptcms and oossible explanations.
the il recirculaticn pump is running with the #2 pump off but not isolated the noise is extremely icud.
With the #1 pump running and
- 2 isolated there is no noise.
With both al and #2 running there is no noise.
A speculated source of the noise is that the old #2 pump diffuser may have a broken bolt allowing it to rattle.
New diffusces were installed by divers in 1964 without removal of the old dift' users.
To verify the source of the noise and make necessary repairs, CPCo is planning to ccmpletely off load the ccre, remove the channels, blades, supoort tubes, and other internals to alicw viewing the diffusers. The duration of the cutage has not been estimated.
Installation of the new diffusers in 1964 required a 50-week outage.
CPCo expects to have fully analyzed and repaired the small leak within 6 to 7 weeks.
A well attended news conference was held at Big Rock Point cn May 0, 1979, concerning the leak and the noise in the vessel.
Erunswick Units 1 and 2 A meeting was held with representatives frca Carolina Pcwer and Light Company (CP&L), General Electric (GE) and United Engineers and Constructors (UELC) in Eethesca, Maryland on May 16, 1979.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the resul s of seismic piping stress reanalysis done for Brunswick Steam Electric Plant (ESEP)
Units 1 and 2 in connection with IE Eulietin 79-07.
As a result of the meeting, the NRC staff recuested additional information be prcvided by '*onday, May 21, 1979.
The information will be crovided at a meeting on Mcnday, ir'
'i I
i ENCLCSURE 3
. Millstone Unit No. 2 In Northeast Nuclear Energy Company's (NNECO's) response to I&E Sulletin 79-07 for Milistone Unit 2, they state that although the algebraic combination scheme of multiple earthcuake excitation response was never used in the original design calculations, such algebraic summation echnicges were used "in-house" for six ar,aivses for minor modificaticms using the ADLPIPE code.
NNECO performed reanalyses of the six systems using the 1977 version of ADLPIPE Revision 18 which contains the Regulatory Guide 1.92 option regarding intermodal and intramodal methods of ccmbination.
This reanalysis method was found acceptable by tne staff as documented in the May 12, 1979 Safety Evaluation for A endment No. 52 whi.ch authorizes Cycle 3 operation of Millstone Unit 2.
CEA Guide Tube Sleeves On May 16,1979, Baltimore Gas & Electric Ccmpany (BG&E) notified the staff tnat some Calvert Cliffs, Unit No.1 CEA guide tube sleeves, previously installed in fuel assemblies to prevent guide tube wear, were now free to move a small amount (approximately 0.25 inches) when a force of about 20 psi was applied during the pull test portion of their examination program.
The problem seems to relate to an inadequate crimp between the sleeve and the guide tube at the bottom of the sleeve.
Calvert Cliffs, Unit I was the first CE faciiity where sleeves wara installed in the guide tubes in 1979.
c gyj Eefore the sleeving of subsequent CE facilities (Millstone 2,
%wrg in St. Lucie, Maine Yankee anc then Calvert Cliffs Unit 2) improvements were mace in the sleeving methods and prccedures.
CE has determined T9 bv extensive testing at the three shutdown (for reload) facilities I' W (Calver: Cliffs Unit 1, Millstone 2 and St. Lucie) that the " loose
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sleeve" problem exists only in irrediated fuel assembiies sleeved hij in 1975 with the original methods and procedures.
Thus, the orcblem uma exists only at the Calvert Cliffs Uni: 1 facili y.
The staff has
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revised the information submitted bv CE and acrees with their 1
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canciusicn.
BG&E is scheduled to orovide a detailed analvsis
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Calvert Clif's Unit i cn May 22, 1979.
related to repair for f
Orders on Babcock & Wilcox Plants NM LK.n3 cr Confirmatory Orders have been issued by the Ccm.ission for all coeratin 0 _2 plants designed by the Salcock & Wilcox Ccapany ex eo Three Mile Islan %u.ig Units N s. 1 and 2.
The Orders recuire the reactors c be shutd wn k.nd tending c: role:icn of analyses, mcdificaticns ard changes to procedures Oc far:rer recuce the lidlihccd cf an event such as cccurred at T~ee 22
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n:icue c:eri: ice arc res:ar: cf J-:: : af:er ::e-5:e trainin; is : m:le:ed ENCLOSURE E
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t 0FFILE OF STANDARDS DEVELOPMENT IMPORTANT EVENTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING MAY 18, 1979 1.
Interagency Task Ferce on Ionizing Radiation: Messrs. Minogue Goller and Purple, SD, attended a meeting of the subject Task Force on May 15, 1979.
F. Peter Libassi, General Counsel for HEW and Chairman of the Task For:e announced that he was leaving HEW on June 1 and hoped to have all Task Force reports completed by then.
The individual work group reports (6 volumes) are now being finalized to reflect public and agency comments. A seventh volume will be a compendium of all public comments raceived plus a summary of them.
A summary report of aoproximately 150 pages is also being finalized which will be sent from the Task Force to the heads of all participating agencies.
An Executive Summary type report of about 20-25 pages will also be prepared.
This report wi;' be sent to the White House by the heads of the participating agencies.
A schef11e es developed for the preparation and review of both of these final reports, with a targeted completion in the first week of June.
The Task Force acknowledged the fluidity of the current situation regarding radiation matters, particularly the large number of recent Congressional initiatives. It was decided that the Task Force should not ettempt to react to this changing scene, but rather should identify an "as of" date of about May 1979 in their repcrts and bring its effort to a close.
[R. A. Purple]
2.
Meeting with EPA on Clean Air Act: On May 11,1979, members of the NRC and EPA tecnnical and legal staff met at EPA to discuss implementation of the Clean Air Act (CAA) for non-fuel cycle facilities.
NRC ep esentatives were E. Conti, J. Kastner, J. Axelrad, and J. Hickey.
The EPA approach for implementing the CAA anticipates (1) listing radioactive materials M hazardous pollutants in August 1979, (2) issuing an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking in September 1979, (3) issuance of first proposed C'ean Air Act standards in February 1980 and (*) finalizing an NRC/ EPA interagency agreement in February 1980 on implementation of the Act.
EPA plans to develop dose limits for various categories of T.aterials licensees.
They recuested that NRC provide infnemation en numbers anc tyces of licensees, ccntrol tecnncioev in use, air crn_ emissions, and whetner emissions are
~
Dr. Xastner stated that NRL did not have all the arr,or aticn; how{/er, ne are working to provide EPA with wnat data are available.
ine possibil..y of EPA c0nducting a research project cr sending a questionnaire to licensees to obtain additional data was discussed.
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ENCLOSURE C
2-Todd Josephs, an EPA attorney, discussed EPA's carcinogen policy, which is currently under development and will affect Clean Air Act implementation for all carcinogens including radioactive materials.
It is anticipated that the policy will require the use of best available control technology.
The NRC representation emphasized the need to begin work on the interagency agreement, and identified the advanced notice of proposed relemaking as the vehicle for resolution of many Clean Air Act issues.
We requested that NRC receive an early draft of the advanced notice as soon as available.
[E. Cont']
2.
E. C. Wenzinger, J. L. Milhoan and S. D. Richardson of the Reactor Systems Standards Branch of .. Office of Standards Development accompanied bary Bennett and other Rese'.rch engineers on a tour of Singer Company's Nuciear Power Plant Simula' or Manufacturing Facility at ;'iver Spring, Maryland on May 14, 1979.
The purpose cf the tour was to become better acquainted with the capabilities of simuistors for use in operator training.
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NCLOSURE C
OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY AND SAFEGUARDS Items of Interest Week Ending May 18, 1979 Oconee-McGuire Safeguards Testimony Draft testimony on the sabotage risk oT spent fuel shipments between Oconee and McGuire has been prepared and is being circulated for comment.
Draft Sandia Study This office, in coord".ation with the Office of International Programs, has ccamented on_ the draf t Sandia St' dy, "An Evaluation of Physical Security Alternatives for International Shipments of Special Nuclear Materials." The study, sponsored by the Arms Control Disamanent Agency (ACDA), compares various physical security transportation systems for international SNM shipments.
Coments on " Fixed Site Phvsical Protection Ucarade Rule Guidance Compendium" The deadline for receipt of written comments on the draft " Fixed Site Physical Protection Upgrade Rule Guidance Compendium" has pa'ssed and we have received no substantive written coments. We are presently incorporating coments received at the guidance seminar held in March and completing guidance in areas where only a sampling was provided in the draft version.
Reports on Radon Releases from Uranium Mininc and Milling Advance copies of the interim reports, on Batte11e's research on radon releases from open pit and underground uranium mining, NUREG/CR-627 and 628, have been received. The finished copy of the NUS Corporation's technical report on the Table S-3 value for radon releases from uranium mining and milling, NUREG/CR-0805, has been prepared for printing and is now undergoing final review by the s ta ff.
Occucational Exoosure Standard Chances Occupational Health Standards Branch recently proposed new and more restrictive maximu permissible concentration (MPC). values than are presently used by NMSS in fuel cycle facilities.
The staff is studying the calculational methods supporting these new MPC values and is making an assessment of the possible technical and econcaic impacts cn FC plant operatient,.
,nf ENCLOSURE D
Items of Interest 2
FC Emergency Response Grouc -
Inputs relative to a FC Emergency Response Group were prepared for the program appraisal review and for updating of the Three Mile Island Action Plan. A preliminary draft of the FC Incident Respor.se Planning report has been prepared.
Meeting with EPA re Hazardous Waste Disoosal Regulation low-Level Waste Licensing Branch staff personnel will meet with representatives of EPA on May 17, 1979, to discuss the impacts of the recently proposed EPA Hazardous Waste Disposal Regulation on low-level waste regulation develcpment and hazardous waste research efforts currently underway at EPA.
Representatives from EPA will also include staff from Radiation Programs.
New Mexico State Hearings A representative of the Uranium Recovery Licensing Branch will participate in hear.ings on May 17-18, 1979, on the state of New Mexico propcsed radiation protection regulations which include tailings management.
The discussion will involve. the recently issued Generic Envircnmental Impact Statement on Uranium Milling (Draft).
Meetino with Reoresentative from NAS, U.S. National Committee on Rock Mechanics On May 16, 1979, Waste Management staff met with the Executive Secretary for the U.S. National Ccanittee on P ck Mechanics of the National Academy of Sciances to discuss cctivities 3nd capabilities of the Committee.
The Committee has unique expertise that can rt; ibly be applied to developing criteria for a HLW repository.
NRC/ DOE Meetino on Reculatory Criteria The NRC meeting with DOE on r,egulatory criteria to be presented by the Waste Panagement staff on May 22 has been postponed.
>g-ENCLOSURE D
OFFICE OF INSPECTION AND ENFORCEMENT Items of Interest Week Ending May 18, 1979 1.
Preliminary Noti fications relating to the following actions were dispatched during the past week:
a.
PNO-79-67AN Three Mile Island Unit 2 - Nuclear :nciaent at Three Mile Island Unit 2 - This Preliminary Notification was issued to provide updated status information regarding the incident.
b.
PNO-79-107 Brunswick Unit 1 - Effluent Release Exceeding Regulatory Limit - For a 5-1/2 hour period on May 8 and 9,1979, gaseous particulate activity was discharged from Unit 1 at 3.7 times the instantaneous release rate permitted by the Technical Spe ci fi ca tions. The total activity released was 12 millicuries.
(Closed) c.
PNO-79-108 Point Beach Units 1 and 2 - Loss of Communication System - While conducting a hydrostatic test of the plant fire system, a fitting broke resulting in a loss of fire system pressure and actuation of the emergency diesel fire pump. Actuation of the diesel fire pump apparently caused a water hammer cracking a sprinkler line in a roo.n containing plant communications equipment.
The communications equipment was wetted and caused to be inoperable for a periou of two hours.
The fire system has been retu: red to no rmal.
(Closed) d.
PNO-79-109 Trojan - Alleged Operator Laxness - Media Interest -
The licensee informed the resident inspector that a copy of internal corr spor. ;nce related to watch standing practices was in the posses-sion of a newspaper in Salem, Oregon.
The resident inspector re-viqwed the letter as well as the licensee's response to the individual and determined that the problems identified represent isolated instances over at least a two-year period and involved no apparent i tems o' noncompliance.
It was requested that the licensee invite the alieger to discuss these or other concerns with the inspector.
(Closed) e.
PNO-79-110 Salem Unit 1 - Fuel Assembly Grid Strap Damage - During the current refueling outage, the licensee observed damage to grid straps on 13 irradia ted fuel assemblies.
In order to assess the situation, the licensee elec'.ed to trans fer the remaining spent fuel elements te the spent fuel poc1 where an inspection of all assemblies will be condttted by the licensee and fuel vendor (Westic ghouse).
As a minimum, the return to service date will be delayed to the firr.
week of July.
(Closed)
O b 5 [' 1 ENCLCSURE E
f.
PNO-79-ill Vermont Yankee - Strike - On May 15, local 300 c f the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers went on str' ke and established a picket line at the outside entrance gate to tha #acil-ity. The strike effect is a loss of 12 Auxiliary Operatiors and six Control Room Operators. Senior Reactor Operators (SR0s) are not on strike.
The plant remains at 100% power.
(Closed) 9 PNO-79-ll2 Farley Units 1 and 2 - Release to Unrestricted Area Onsi te - On May 14, 1979, the licensee discovered that three of five sinks in the Equipment Decontamination Room drained to the Unit 2 floor drain rather than the Unit 1 chemical drain tank as shown in plant drawings. The Unit 2 floor drain tank has been discharged to two onsite ponds in series.
It is estimated that about 1800 gallons of water have been drained from the sinks during the past two months the sinks have been in use. No release from the site has occurred.
Use of the sinks has been discontinued.
(Closed) h.
PNO-79 ll3 Hartsville Units 1 and 2; Phipps Bend Unit 2; Yellow Creek Unit 2 - Change to Construction Schedule at Three TYA Nuclear Plants - The licensee announced on May 15 that adjustments are planned to the construction schedules for the four units that will result in the building of each of the plants in sequence rather than all at the same time. These adjustments will result in delays for individual generating units. Media interest is expected due to potential significant impact on employment in the area.
(Closed) 1.
PNO-79-ll4 D. C. Cook Unit 1 - Extended Plant Shutdown - The licensee plans to extend the current refueling outage Sy 15-20 days to correct a potential misfit between two source holder assemblies and the reactor upper grid plate.
The plant has jus t comp'oted refueling and the reactor head has been installed. The licensee ?lans to remove the head and correct this misfit problem.
(Closed) j.
PRS-79-42A Surry Units 1 and 2 - Apparent Damage to New Fuel Assemblies - The licensee has increased security at the Fuel Building of this site as well as at the North Anna Power Station.
The 1;cen-see reported another vandalism involving damage to cr. oscilloscope located in an unlocked portective case and stored in the locked South Annex building, which is located outside the protected area.
Investigation of this additional act of vandalism has been initiated by the licensee.
(Closed) k.
PNS-78 48 Surry Unit 1 and 2 - Bcmb Threat - The licensee conducted a search of the facilities th negative results.
(Closed)
?Gr ENCLOSURE E
JFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE LEGAL DIRECTOR ITEMS OF INTEREST FOR THE WEEK ENDING MAY 18, 1979 Seabrook Station, Units 1 and 2 On May 2,1979, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit announced the result of its review of the EPA Administrators' approval of once-through cooling for the Seabrook site and upheld his decision that cooling towers are not required.
S:2acoast Anti-Pollution League v. Castle, F.2d (No. 78-1339). On May 14, 1979, tne Appeal Soard (?L AB-548T,--
in view of the First Circuits' decision, stated its intention to suspend further consideration of the alternate site issue and in the event Supreme Court review of that decision is not sought or is denied to issue an order terminating exploration of the alternate site issue on the ground of mootness. The Appeal Board granted the parties 30 days within which to object to its intended course of action.
South Texas Project, Units 1 and 2 On consideration of an appeal from the Licensing Board's decision (LBP-79-10) granting the petitions for leave to intervene filad by two organizations, Citizens Concerned About Nuclear Power (CCANP) and Citizens for Equitable Utilities (CEU), the Appeal Board issued a decision on May 18,1979 ( ALAB-549) affirming the Licensing Board determination thct each organization, in its representative capacity, met the interest recuirements of 10 CFR 52.714 Of particular not :, in the decision, the Appeal Board held that both organizations could gain standing in a representative capacity for a single member residing within :he geographic zone of interest, tien though, as was the case with CCANP, the Srganiza-tion's headquarters is located a substantial distance fr om the site.
ENCLCSJRE G i'
ITEMS OF INTEREST OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS WEEK ENDING MAY 18, 1979 INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION THI BRIEFINGS FOR FOREIGN VISITORS IP has completed arrangements for the May 21-22 briefings on Pil and the May 23 field trip to Middletown, which have been scheduled for the large influx of foreign technical experts at NRC fallowing the AIF conference.
To date, 48 visitors representing 14 countries and one international organization have confirmed their intention to participate.
BRIEFING OF US SCIENCE ATTACHES The Director and Deputy Director of IP carticipated in the annual orientation meeting of Science Attaches stationed at U.S. embassies overseas conducted by the Department of State May 16-23.
The IP discussion on May 18 included topics in the areas of nonproli feration an. nuclear exports, interna-tional safeguards, internatiora t safety cooperation, and information vissemination on the TMI accident.
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ENCLOSURE H
0FFICE OF STATE PROGRAMS ITEMS OF INTEREST WEEK ENDING MAY 18, 1979 Program Development The New York 3 tate Assembly has formed a committee to study the safety of..uclear generating units in New York.
The biparti;am committee has visited the Indian Point Site and plans visits to other facilities in the State. They intend to hold hearings and do staff studies on alternate energy sources including coal, natural gas and hydroelectric power.
Staff participated in a meeting on radioactive material transportation legislation at Sandia's Transportation Technology Center. OSP is in the process of getting access to the data base being developed at ORNL and Sandia.
On Monday, May 14, Tom Elsasser met with Marshall Rock, Staff Assistant from the Pennsylvania House Select Committee on Three Mile Island to discuss the ccomittee's work and the information and documentation it will need for its investigation.
On Wednesday, May 16, Tom Elsasser attended a meeting between NRC and various State and it al officials concerning discharges from Three Mile Island to the Susquehanna River. The meeting was held in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
On May 18,1979, Washington State Energy Officials were briefed on the chronology and status of TMI accident on March 28, 1919. Officials from both Washington legislature and the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council we. e briefed by Region V staff members in Walnut Creek.
1G{
, '> 1 ENCLOSURE I
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND PROGRAM ANALYSIS Items of Interest Week Ending May 18,1979 TMI Action Plan To respond to requests from the Commission and the interim directors of the Commission's TMI investigation group, MPA is coordinating an extensive update of the TMI Action Plan.
Office updates were due to MPA on May 17.
The updated listing of TMI-related actions is due to the EDO on May 25.
Effect of Proposed Legislation Prepared for EDO a meno to the Commission indicating plants impacted by proposed bills that would impose moritoria on CP and OL actions.
Task Force on Operational Data Analysis and Evaluation Participated in the Task Force effort which issued a final report on May 15, 1979 to the EDO.
Report outlines options for more intensive analysis of operational data and describes organizational impacts of each cption.
Analysis of Subsidence Data at North Anna At the request of I&E analyzed data on North Anna structure settlement to test agreement between sets of measurements given by two teams of surveyors.
Profiles on Reactor Goerators Compiled statistical prof-le of experience, age and education of licensed reactor operators based on a sample of 12 reactors.
Results included in Denton memo to Commission.
PA0 en Piping Design Deficiencies Sent Proposed Abnormal Occurence on Piping Design Defic ;'ncies to Federal Reoister.
NUREG-0482 Orcupational Radiation Exposure at Light Water Cooled Power Reactors, Annual Report, 1977 (NUREG-Ca82) was published and distributed.
OO' i
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ENCLDSURE J
Office of the Controller Items of Interest Week Ending May 18, 1979 FY 19 80 Budget The mark from the House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development was received.
This mark is a $20 million reduction from NRC's request as well as requiring accommodation of $5.3 million in initiatives specified by the House Authorization Subcommittee on Energy and Environment.
An appeal to the Senate of this mark is in process.
Budget Manual A draft of Manual Chapter 1301 and Appendix (Budget Policies and Practices) was circulated to all NRC offices for formal comment.
Enclosure J
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P
CALENDAR OF SIGNIFICANT EVENTS For Two Week Period Endina June 4, 1979 May 22 Com..nche Peak - Prehearing conference May 24 Pilgrim 2 - Public hearing to resume May 24-25 LaSalle 1 & 2 - Meeting with applicant to continue discussion of open items i-i
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- -' 9 ENCLCSURE L
.t, CALENDAR OF SP2AKING ENGAGEMENTS MAY 21 Radioactive Waste Management for Nuclear Power Reactors -
Rules, Regulations and Standards - Alexancria, VA - 1. C.
Roberts 22 Washington Section of the American Water Resources Association, Pasco, WA, Robert T. Jaske - The Mighty Columbia, Is it an Inexhaustible Resource?
23 Annual Records Management Conference of the National Archives, Fredericksburg, VA - Automation of Records Management at NRC -
R. Stephen Scott JUNE 3-8 American Nuclear Society Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA - Status of Pertinent Regulations and Regulatory Guides for Indeoendent Soent Fuel Storage Installations - Russell E. L. Stanford 4-15 Lecture the IE Insoectors on Concrete and Other Structural Defects Exoerienced in Nuclear Power Plant Construction -
L. L. Beratan nGf
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ENCLCSURE N r