ML20058P098
| ML20058P098 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 12/16/1993 |
| From: | Blaha J NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO) |
| To: | |
| References | |
| SECY-93-345, WIR-931210, NUDOCS 9312230064 | |
| Download: ML20058P098 (10) | |
Text
f0( f bl P
L i-f December 16, 1993-For:
The Commissioners from:
James L. Blaha, Assistant for Operations, Office of the EDO
Subject:
WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING DECEMBER 10, 1993 Contents Enclosure Nuclear Reactor Regulation A
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards B
Nuclear Regulatory Research C
Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data D
General Counsel E*
Administration F
Information Resources Management G
Controller H*
Personnel 1
Small & Disadvantaged Business Utilization & Civil Rights J*
Enforcement K
Consolidation L
State Programs M
Policy Planning N*
Public Affairs 0*
International Programs P
Congressional Affairs Q
Regional Offices R
Executive Director for Operations S*
Meeting Notices T
- No input this week.
20n139 ames L. Blaha Assistant for Operations, OEDO
Contact:
W. Dean, OED0 504-1726 g)'
0 93122 _30064 931216 WEEKLYINFDREPT PDR
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Items of Interest Week Ending December 10, 1993 Yankee Rowe - Interference With Steam Generator Shioment The Citizens Awareness Network (CAN) has been joined by Greenpeace in protesting the removal of steam generators (SG's) from the plant. At about t
8:45 a.m. on December 7,1993, the two groups used a converted school bus to block the road used to transport the SG's to the rail siding. The demonstrators handcuffed themselves to the bus. The protest was terminated when the state police had the bus towed away. There were no injuries or i
property damage.
South Texas Pro.iect. Units 1 and 2 - ORAT Starts The NRC Operational Readiness Assessment Team started its first week of inspection on December 6, 1993.
Prior to this, the licensee completed an independent self-assessment (known as the Operational Readiness Oversight i
Team), which consisted of 21 man-days of plant observations, interviews, and document reviews. The licensee concluded that management practices, in-plant operations, resources, equipment and processes are improving and will support a late-January 1994 start-up. However, the licensee determined that the corrective action program and operating experience review program should receive immediate attention. Another self-assessment period is scheduled for mid-December.
i Surry Units 1 & 2 - Conoressional Aide Tour On Tuesday, December 7,1993, Virginia Electric and Power Company conducted a
-f tour of their Surry facility for congressional staff members. The tour included 28 congressional aides, eight utility lobbyists, and six members of the American Nuclear Energy Council. The tour was hosted by Mr. W. L.
Stewart, Senior Vice President - Nuclear.
Susouchanna - Assessment of Postulated Loss of SFP Coolinq s
S. Jones of the Plant Systems Branch (SPLB), G. Kelly of the Probability Safety Assessment Branch (SPSB), and J. Shea of Projects visited the i
Susquehanna site and Pennsylvania Power and Light Company (PP&L) headquarters to assess the capability to restore spent fuel pool (SFP) cooling following a' q
design basis accident and to evaluate the plant's capability to withstand a t
boiling SFP.
On December 1, 1993, PP&L presented to the staff members its i
position regarding the loss of SFP cooling events postulated in a 10 CFR Part 21 report submitted to the NRC on November 27, 1992. The licensee maintains that a loss of SFP cooling following a LOCA is outside the licensing -
basis for Susquehanna. However,.PP&L has performed numerous analyses in an effort to demonstrate that SFP cooling can be restored in most instances following a LOCA (assuming a Regulatory Guide 1.3 source term), and, for those cases where SFP cooling cannot.be restored, the effects of a boiling SFP are acceptable.
On December 2, the staff members walked down structures,. systems and components involved in the postulated loss of SFP cooling events or l
DECEMBER 10, 1993 ENCLOSURE A i
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credit ed by PP&L in mitigating the effects of a loss of SFP cooling. On De: ember 3, S. Jones reviewed certain analyses credited by the licensee in resolving issues related to loss of SFP cooling events. The licensee is developing additional analyses, which the staff intends to review at a later i
date.
In a letter dated November 29, 1993, the BWR Owners' Group (BWROG) described their plans to address the loss of SFP cooling issue. The BWROG recently allocated funding for a generic safety assessment of the issue.
The BWROG intends to submit this assessment to the NRC in early February 1994.
Thermo-Laa On November 30, 1993, Frank Miraali Ashok Thadani, and Steve West briefed Congressional Staff from the Sut v
- ee on Oversight and Investigation or the status of the staff review c. J.:
3ermo-Lag issue.
Severe Accident Manaaement Guideline (SAMG) l On December 8,1993, staff from the Plant Systems Branch (M. Rubin and R. Palla) and NRC contractors (Idaho National Engineering Laboratory and Pacific Northwest Laboratories) met with representatives of the PWR owners groups to provide comments on the Severe Accioent Management Guideline (SAMG) documents submitted by each owners group. The comments were grouped into two i
categories, namely, areas requiring improvement prior to SAMG implementation, 1
and suggested improvements.
Improvements are required in:
areas containing l
insufficient guidance to ensure proper SAMG implementation by individual utilities; areas in which strategies for significant action are lacking; and, areas in which, if the guidelines are followed, plant damage condition could be further degraded. Suggested improvements apply to areas in which if changes were implemented, SAMG quality would be enhanced. An internal coordination meeting between the NRC staff and its contractors was held on December 7, prior to the meeting with the owners groups.
Discussion on Draft Inspection Procedure for Review of Implementation of the Maintenance Rule Members of the Licensee Performance and Quality Evaluation Branch (RPEB) met with regional representatives on December 7,1993, to discuss the draft NRC inspection procedure for reviewing the implementation of the maintenance rule t
Gary Zech, Richard Correia, Tom Foley and Chuck Petrone (RPEB) addressed comments from Jerry Blake (R-ll), Mark Ring (R-llI),
Wayne Shafer (R-III), Art Howell (R-IV) and Paul Narbut (R-V). Since the maintenance rule was issued in July 1991, the regional representatives have interacted with staff from the Reliability and Maintenance Section of RPEB on many. issues, including:
revisions to maintenance inspection procedures; the regulatory guide for the maintenance rule (RG 1.160); review and comment on tP NUMARC guidelines for'the implementation of the maintenance rule- (NUMARC 9b W); and a public workshop on the interim maintenance inspection procedure.
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DECEMBER 10, 1993 ENCLOSURE A
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3 The-draft maintenance rule inspection procedure will be the subject of a i
public workshop on March 31, 1994.. The Regional representatives and RPEB l
staff will be participating during workshop presentations and question and 1
answer sessions.
Following the workshop, RPEB will conduct pilot inspections to verify and validate the draft procedure.
i Meetina with BWROG and WOG on Response Time Testina Technical Specification Felief
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On December 6, 1993, the Instrumentation and Controls Branch (HICB) met with the BWR and Westinghouse Owners Groups to discuss their responses to the issues raised by the staff concerning the' 0wners Groups' proposal to eliminate the technical specification requirement to conduct response time testing (RTT) of instrumentation. The BWROG presented its proposed revised topical report and discussed how safety significance of RTT has been addressed by comparing the technical specification system actuation response time to a delayed actuation time which has been shown by analysis to still ensure acceptable accident mitigation capability. The BWROG demonstrated that significant margin exists between the technical specification response time and the analysis time.
The WOG presented a similar discussion on its approach. The BWROG plans to submit the revised topical report in January,- and the WOG plans to make its initial topical report submittal in February.
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DECEMBER 10, 1993 ENCLOSURE A'
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Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Items of Interest Week Ending December 10. 1993 Coordination of Material Control & Accountino Supoort to Ukraine A Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff member, together with representatives from the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense, represented the i
U.S. at a meeting in Stockholm, Sweden on November 29-30, 1993, for coordination of material control and accounting and physical protection support activities for. Ukraine.
In addition to the U.S., there were representatives from Sweden, Finland, Germany, Japan, Hungary, and the International Atomic Energy Agency. Dr. Steinberg of Ukraine was also a participant. Dr. Steinberg urged member states to coordinate their activities to the extent possible in the interest of minimizing the burdens on limited Ukraine staff resources. The representatives agreed on a coordination plan that is responsive to this request.
Technical Assistance to Aareement States The Sealed Source Safety Section will be providing training and technical assistance to State of Louisiana employees on December 13-17, 1993. The i
training will be conducted in Louisiana, and will address the evaluation process and the areas to be covered during a techaical review. A site visit to a radiography equipment manufacturer is planned for discussion on how a request for registration should be filed and equipment performance standards.
The Sealed Source Safety Section will also assist the State in improving a
control over the Omnitron devices being distributed by a Texas facility.
Site Selected For North Carolina Low-level Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility On December 8,1993, the North Carolina low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Authority selected a site in Wake County, North Carolina, as the preferred site for the State's low-level radioactive waste (LLW) disposal facility.
The Authority arrived at its decision after its prime contractor,' Chem-Nuclear Systems, Inc., certified that both the Wake County site and a site in Richmond County, meet all criteria for licensing a LLW disposal facility.
License review for.the Wake County site is scheduled to take about 15 months. North Carolina authorities say that once a license is issued, the facility will be constructed and ready for operation in January 1996. This site is to serve the Southeast Compact after operations at the Barnwell, South Carolina facility are. discontinued at the end of 1995 3
U.S. District Court. District of Nebraska. Rules in Favor of Central Compact-l and US Ecolooy in Second Community Consent Lawsuit On December 3, 1993, the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska granted a joint motion for summary judgment filed by the Central Interstate
-l Low-Level Radioactive Waste Commission and US Ecology, defendants in a lawsuit filed by the State of Nebraska.
In August, US Ecology revised the boundaries j
of the proposed low-level waste (LLW) disposal site in Boyd County. While the i
location of the site remained the same under the revised application, the size j
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1 of the site had been reduced from 320 acres to 110 acres. The plaintiffs argued that this was a new site which did not have the required " community consent." The' Court held that the reduction in the size of the site proposed i
by US Ecology had no bearing on the substantive issue of community consent.
The Court stated that "the site is 0, the same land identified in the first license application.
The issue of community consent remains the same." The lawsuit was the second to be filed by the State of Nebraska addressing the.
demonstration of community consent.
In October of this year, the same Court had ruled in favor of the Central Commission and US Ecology in the first lawsuit, filed in January 1993, concerning the original site in Boyd County, Nebraska.
DOE /NRC Meetina on Exploratory Studies Facility i
On December 8, 1993, Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff from the Division of High-Level Waste Management met with representatives of the U.S. Department of 1
Energy (D0E) to discuss concerns related to the Yucca Mountain Exploratory Studies Facility (ESF) design and design control process.
This ESF meeting was the first in a series of bi-monthly meetings in which DOE will keep the staff informed of the status of ESF activities.
The meetings were initiated i
following an August 20, 1993, letter to DOE in which the NRC staff expressed concerns with DOE's ESF design, design control process, and technical inputs to design decisions.
Based on DOE's response of November 18, discussions.at j
the December 8 meeting, and previous DOE /NRC interactions, it appears that DOE has a process in place to resolve the staff's concerns, and is making progress toward resolution of those concerns.
In addition to the bi-monthly meetings, DOE plans to provide the staff with predecisional design packages two weeks in advance of any ESF design reviews.
Prior to receipt of the August 20 letter from NRC, DOE had identified design process deficiencies in an audit of its Waste Management System Management and Operating Contractor (M&O) and had taken steps to correct those deficiencies.
DOE plans to conduct a follow-up i
audit of its M&O in April 1994. The NRC staff will observe that audit to determine its effectiveness.
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b Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Items of Interest Week Ending December 10, 1993
" Risk Assessment Model Review Workshoo" t
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has initiated preparation of a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for Environmental Restoration and Waste Management activities within the DOE Complex. The PEIS is part of a process that will establish a consistent, integrated national approach to managing Environmental Restoration and Waste Management activities at DOE's more than 10,000 hazardous waste sites. The NRC is a cooperating agency on the PEIS, and in support of that role, NRC staff attended a national workshop for evaluating and selecting computer models that will be used as part of the human health risk assessment methodology proposed for assessing risks associated with remediation and waste management activities across the DOE complex.
Contact:
Christine Daily, RPHEB/DRE/RES (301) 492-3999 Public Workshop on the Form and Content of Desian Certification Rules f
On November 23, 1993, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission conducted a public workshop on the form and content of rules which will provide standard design certification for evolutionary and advanced light water reactor designs. The NRC announced its intention to hold this workshop in a' Federal Register Notice dated October 13, 1993 (58 FR 53002).
Forty-seven individuals (representing the NRC, utilities, vendors, and other interested organizations) participated in this workshop.
Participants indicated that they plan to submit their official comments on the NRC proposals in response to an advance notice of proposed rulemaking on the same subject.
Contact:
Harry Tovmassian, RDB/DRA/RES (301) 492-3634 1
praft Staff Evaluation _ Report Reaardina Individual Plant Examination (IPET Submittal for Niacara Mohawk's Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station. Unit 2 RES has completed its review and issued a draft staff evaluation report on the
-Niagara Mohawk Nine Mile Unit 2 (NMP2) IPE process. The licensee estimated the mean core damage frequency (from only internal events) at 3.lE-5/yr. The IPE did not identify any severe accident vulnerabilities with respect to core damage or containment failure.
However, the licensee has identified one hardware modification and five procedural enhancements (intended to reduce the probability of human errorr) for which credit had been taken in the IPE.
These improvements are to be implemented by the end of 1993. The licensee plans to maintain a "living" PRA program that will continue to identify
' improvements which can benefit the plant.
DECEMBER 10. 1993 ENCLOSURE C U
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2 FARO (Fuel Coolant Interaction Test)
The FAR0 test facility at the Safety Technology Institute of the Jcint Research Center (JRC) of the European Communities '(EC) at Ispra, Italy, is being used to investigate key phenomena related to the penetration of molten core material into a water-filled lower head plenum.
The experimental facility is larger in scale than any earlier test facility and it u:es prototypic melt compositions, water depth, and pressures.
The main objective is to investigate the melt jet fragmentation and quenching and the corresponding fast vapor generation as well as the investigation of the early thermal load and possible erosion of a steel plate simulating RPV-bottom.
The FARO project is jointly sponsored by the EC and the USNRC.
i EPRI is also involved via NRC.
The base case test was successfully performed on December 2, 1993, with about 150 kg of melt. The melt composed of 76% of U0,19% Zr0, and 5% Zr 3
in weight. The mass of water was 600 kg at 263*C and SMPa (725 psi).
A meeting is being held on December 13-14, 1993, at JRC, to discuss in detail t
the test results and future tests. Dr. F. Eltawila of AEB is attending this meeting.
Results of this test will be reported on as soon as they become avail able.
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Office for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data Items of Interest Week Ending December 10, 1993 Diaanostic Evaluation and Incident Investiaation Branch roEllB)
On December 8, 1993, a meeting was held at Commonwealth Edison (CECO) headquarters office in Downers Grove, Illinois to discuss the Quad Cities F
Diagnostic Evaluation report. The meeting was attended by the Quad Cities Diagnostic Evaluation Team (DET) Manager, the Region III Deputy Regional Administrator, AE0D and EDO office representatives and representatives from the Quad Cities and corporate organization, including the Chief of Nuclear Operations for CECO.
The meeting was held in response to the licensee's request to have an opportunity to discuss and more clearly understand the DET report findings und observations. The information provided was to support-the accuracy and completeness of the licensee's response to the DET report.
Topics discussed included Quad Cities' performance in root cause analysis, work control processes, deferred outage work, design basis documentation, their management plan and corrective actions.
Incident Response Branch (IRB)
During the week of December 6 to.'0, IRB staff completed meetings with the Ukrainian Delegation on Lisbon Initiative Priorities 11.
This was the first Working Group Meeting to develop an imergency Response System in the Ukraine.
A Memorandum of Meeting was completnd highlighting the activities planned for this initiative. The next phase of this initiative will-be conducted during the second and third quarters of 1994 in Kiev, Ukraine.
During the week of December 6 to 10, the Response Technical Manual-93 (RTM-93) was published and distributed.
RTM-93 includes changes in the areas of airborne monitoring and incorporates lessons learned from exercises conducted at Fort Calhoun and fremont, Washington.
Reactor Operations Analysis Branch (ROAB)
As part of Lisbon Initiative, Ukrainian Priority 12, Incident Reporting System, AE0D's Reactor Operations Analysis staff participated in the first Working Group meeting with representatives of the Ukrainian State Committee for Nuclear and Radiation Safety (SCNRS) from November 29 through December 7, 1993.
A series of information exchange briefings was conducted. A memorandum of meetirg was signed by representatives of both organizations. The memorandum documented agreements for NRC to provide assistance to SCNRS in improving exir ting incident reporting system and experience feedback mechanism, provide on the job training and computer equipment.
It is anticipated that training of Ukrainian specialists will begin during the first calendar quarter of 1994.
Preliminary Notifications a.
PNO-I-93-066, Boston Edison Co. (Pilgrim 2), Demonstration During Pilgrim Exercise.
DECEMBER 10, 1993 ENCLOSURE D
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PNO-I-93-066A, Boston Edison Co. (Pilgrim 1), Demonstration During Pilgrim Exercise.
c.
PNO-I-93-067, Yankee Atomic Electric Co. (Yankee Rowe 1), Demonstration At Yankee Rowe.
d.
.PNO-I-93-068, Public Service Electric & Gas Co. (Salem 1,2 ), ALC0 Emergency Diesel Generator Cylinder Liner Cracking.
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PN0-II-93-068, Tennessee Valley. Authority (Sequoyah 2).Sequoyah Unit' 2 Reactor Trip.
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PND-III-93-66, Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company (Perry Nuclear Power Station), Shutdown To Replace Pump Seal.
g.
Washington Public Power Supply System (Washington Nuclear 2), Unusual Event Declared Due to a Chemical Spill.
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DECEMBER 10, 1993 ENCLOSURE D
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Office of Administration Items of Interest Week Ending December 10, 1993 l
i Contract Awardi An 8(a) contract was awarded to Multimax, Inc. on November 22,.1993 entitled'
" Seismic Data Analysis and Event Selection." The contractor _ shall establish -
procedures, formats and integrate software from publicly-available sources to allow the NRC to process, analyze and archive the data on NRC workstations.
The contractor shall review the ccmputing requirements _of these workstations to determine if they require additional hardware accessories to enable them to run the integrated software. Research conducted under this effort shall take into account both state-of-the-art and the direction of current research. The contract was awarded for $100,000 and the period of performance is for two years.
A contract was awarded to Readmore, Inc., on December 2, 1993 entitled
" Library Subscription Agent." The NRC Library currently subscribes to approximately 1,000 serial titles, both domestic and foreign. Most are scientific in nature, but general magazines are received as well as legal
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journals.
Subscriptions to these journals are necessary to provide current information on subjects of interest to NRC staff in performing their duties.
i Because of.the large number of titles involved, the services of a subscription agent are required.
The contract was awarded for $250,000 with a one year period of performance.
Sionificant FOIA Reauests Received by the NRC - For 5-Day Period of December 3
- December 9. 1993 Request for the name and phone number of the person or group responsible for j
the evaluation of electronic forms within the NRC.
(Cheryl Shier, Enable Software, F01A-93-629)
Request for copies of the meeting summaries of the public meetings held i
between ABB CE Nuclear Fuel and Regions 111, IV and V during calendar year 1993.
(Michael O'Mealia, F01A-93-630)
Request for a copy of the draft NUREG entitled, " Status of Codes and Standards Referenced in Regulatory Documents."
(Michael O'Mealia, F01A-93-631)
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Request for copies of the nonproprietary version of the Annual fuel Performance reports or summaries submitted by B&W ABB-CE, Exxon, ANF, Siemens, GE and Westinghouse for the years 1986 through 1992.
(Michael O'Mealia, FOIA-93-632) j Request for a copy of the Agency Procurement Request which corresponds to DPA Case No. _ KMA-94-0015. - (Linda Heineman,' Federal Sources, Inc., F01A-93-633)
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Request for copies of all correspondence to and from Congressman John Dingell since 1980.
(Jock Friedly, F01A-93-634) t.
DECEMBER 10, 1993 ENCLOSURE F i
Lj Request for records which are related to the purchase, licensing, use, dissemination, marketing or sale of a computer sof tware product known as PROMIS, between 1982.-and 1992.
(William Hamilton, INSLAW, Inc...F01A-93-635) r Request for copies of the winning proposal and contract for solicitation No.
U ADM-94-141. -(Colleen Campbell, Microform, Inc., F01A-93-636) j
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i Office of Information Resources Management Items of Interest i
Week Ending December 10, 1993 ExDedited Paoerwork Reduction Act Review for the Final Rule. "10 CFR Part 26: Modifications to Fitness-For-Duty Proaram Reauirements" The Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation requested the Office of Information Resources Management's (IRM) assistance in expediting Office of' Management and Budget (OMB) approval of a final rule that will allow licensees, contractors and vendors to reduce the number of employees tested for drug or alcohol use.
IRM accelerated its review of the OMB clearance package and hand-delivered the final package to OMB with a note requesting expedited review. OMB completed its review and provided next day approval of the information collections.. 0MB was able to accelerate its review because the information collections had been reviewed and approved by OMB at the proposed rule stage and the final rulemaking would reduce the paperwork burden even further.
Sexual Harassment Hotline The Telecommunications Branch set up a special 800 number hotline to handle sexual harassment _ calls. The hotline will ring on an Office of Personnel (0P) employee's desk during work hours.
After work hours, a voice mailbox on the Agency's 0CTel Voice Mail System answers the hotline and prompts the caller to
. leave a message or, if an emergency, to press a key to immediately transfer to the OP sexual harassment counseling contractor.
NARA Reviews Draft Yellow Announcement on Procedures for Handlina E-Mail Records F
On December 2, 1993, (IRM) provided the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) a copy of the draft _ Yellow Announcement, " Procedures for Handling E-Mail Records," for their review and comment.
NARA was asked.
specifically to provide comments on proposed staff guidance that.would require the inclusion of the employee's name in addition to the ID code in the "To" block.
NARA will provide IRM its comments during the week of December 12, 1993.
Also, NARA is planning to issue guidance on E-Mail records to all Federal agencies around February 1994.
Computer Security Activities On December 3, 1993, the Codes and Standards Section was notified by the IRM help desk that a virus was reported on a personal computer located in the Maryland National. Bank' Building. Using F-prot, McAfee, and the IBM VIRSCAN software programs, it was determi_ned that the machine was infected with the -
FORM virus. The F-Prot software was used to remove the virus from the machine and to restore the master boot sector to its original location. Several floppy disks were checked and 'also disinfected. The virus was transmitted on a floppy disk from one of the Regional off. ices. The Regional office was contacted and informed of the virus problem.
DECEMBER 10, 1993 ENCLOSURE G
New NRC Form i
IRM designed'NRC Form 30, " Request for Administrative Services," for an Office i
of Administration (ADM) task group. The new form combines several existing '
administrative services' forms in support of the President's reinventing government initiative. The first draft of the form was submitted to ADM on December 6, 1993.
The task group reviewed the form on December 9, 1993.
IRM i
is currently revising the form to incorporate changes recommended by the. task' group.
Network Manaaement Meetings were conducted for regional resource management staff on November 30 and December 1, 1993. Representatives from all five Regions and-the Technical Training Center attended.
Topics discussed included:
(1) the Network Control Center's organizational structure, (2) 'the Agency Upgrade of Technology for Office Systems standard, (3).Lecal Area Network Administrator responsibilities, (4) Network monitoring tools, (5) new software products / releases such as Netware 4.0, NetShield and Wordperfect Office 4.0, (6) Regional issues, and (7) future network and automation plans.
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DECEMBER 10, 1993 ENCLOSURE G-
Office of Personnel Items of Interest Week Ending December 10, 1993 Office of Personnel Manaaement (0PM) Interaaency Advisory Group Meetina Attended On December 8, 1993, Peter Goldman, Associate Director for Training and Development, and Eileen Mason, Chief, Organizational Development and Training, attended the OPM Interagency Advisory Group, Committee on Development and Training meeting. The Committee discussed its future role, particularly as it relates to changes foreseen in human resources development.
EE0 Commission Meetina Held On December 7,1993, a briefing was held to inform the Commission on the status of the Agency's EE0 Program.
Participating in this briefing were Chairman Selin; Commissioner Rogers; Commissioner de Planque; ED0 James Taylor: Paul Bird, Director, OF; Vandy Miller, Director, SBCR; EE0 Advisory Committee and NTEU representatives; Dr. Murley, Director, NRR; Ed Halman, Director, DCPM/ADM; and James Milhoan, Regional Administrator, Region IV.
Following the formal briefing, the EE0 counselors were recognized. A reception honoring the counselors was held following the briefing.
i In-House SES Orientation I
On December 7,1993, the Office of Personnel held the NRC's third in-house SES orientation. New Senior Executives participating in the orientation. included 1
William Beecher, Director, OPA; Arnold Levin, Deputy Director, IRM; Johns Jaudon, RII; Geoffrey Grant, RIII; and William Borchardt, NRR. The participants met with several groups of senior managers and received approximately two hours of training in areas of interest to executives.
c OPM Focus Group on Cot lunication Options for Benefits Information On December 10, 1993, Recruitment, Incentive, and Benefits staff served on a focus group with benefits specialists from nine other agencies to advise the Office of Personnel Management on communication options regarding benefits information, including courses via satellite and computer bulletin boards.
Arrivals None Departureg BLANTON, Jimmy PROGRAM ASSISTANT (PFT)
IRM BOYLE, William GE0 TECHNICAL ENGINEER (PFT)
NMSS CROSS, Angela PURCHASING ASSISTANT (0PFT)
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T Office of Enforcement Items of Interest Week Ending December 10, 1993 Sianificant Enforcement Actions By EN 93-85 dated August 27, 1993, the Commission was notified of the intent I
of OE to issue a Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty in the amount of $12,000 to Edwards Pipeline Testing, Inc., Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The action was based on a violation involving repetitive willful failures to perform quarterly audits on radiography personnel. The licensee responded to the Notice in a letter dated September 28, 1993. After careful consideration of the licensee's response, the staff concluded that the violation did occur and an Order Imposing a Civil Penalty in the amount of $12,000 was issued ~
December 6, 1993.
(EN 93-085A)
A Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty in the amount of $25,000 was issued on December 7, 1993, to Entergy Operations Inc.
(Waterford 3). This action is based on two violations associated with the inoperability of one of the two trains of containment spray due to a header isolation valve that was unable to open upon demand when high differential pressure existed across the valve.
(EN 93-119)
Civil Penalty Paid Hahnemann University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania paid the Civil Penalties in the amount of $6,250.
This action was based on two Severity Level III violations. The first violation involved a substantial failure to implement the Quality Management Program, as required by 10 CFR 35.32, in that written policies and procedures were not adequately established. This led to written directives not being prepared, or prepared improperly, prior to administration of radioactive material.
The second Severity Level III violation involved _the failure of the RSO to ensure certain specific requirements were met, thereby representing a breakdown in the control of licensed activities at the facility.
(EA 93-249)
DECEMBER 10, 1993 ENCLOSURE K
Office of the Controller Items of Interest Week Ending October 10, 1993 T
Fiscal Year 1993 Fees Collected
-l Public Law 102-377 appropriated $540,000,000 to the NRC for FY 1993, of which
$21,100,000 was derived from the Nuclear Waste Fund. Approximately 98 percent
($507,072,406) of the remaining _ $518,900,000 was collected through fees and annual charges.
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OCTOBER 15, 1993-ENCLOSURE H
Office of State Programs Items of Interest Week Ending December 10, 1993 Special Tonics in Health Physics The Office of State Programs sponsored a special topics health physics training course on December 6-10, 1993 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The course was conducted by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education.
The class consisted of twenty students from State radiation control programs.
Northwest LLW Compact Meetina Dean Kunihiro, Region V State Liaison Officer, attended the Northwest Low-Level Waste Compact Committee meeting on December 7, 1993, in Portland, Oregon. The Committee disapproved a request from the Dow Chemical Company to dispose,.at the Envirocare facility, approximately 450 tons of C-14 contaminated soil.
The contamination resulted from a study which used a soil fumigant labeled with C-14.
TLe study had been approved by the NRC. The basis for denial was the Compact's
' i ex! sting import ban on all LLW from the State of Michigan. The Compact Committee also did not approve the Saxton Nuclear Experimental Corporation's request to dispose approximately 40,000 cu.ft. of decommissioning wastes from a research reactor facility located at Saxton, Pennsylvania.
The denial was based on a resolution, passed by the Compact in 1991, which allows the Envirocare facility to accept, for disposal, only "non-reactor wastes".
PEC1 Workina Group Meetina Maria Lopez-Otin, Federal Liaison, attended the monthly meeting of the Private Enterprise / Government Interactions (PEGI) working group.
This was the first meeting since the annual conference and the group spent much time discussing the
" lessons learned" from the workshop and the drafting of an executive summary.
Those interested in the summary may contact Ms. Lopez-Otin.
PEGI will be involved in conducting two smaller workshops on specific topics in-the coming year. The TVA representative expressed an interest in having a session on energy and its impact on global change.
In addition to the follow-up work to the conference, PEGI was briefed by Richard G. Johnson, of the Aspen Global Change Institute. The Aspen Global Change Institute is in the process of establishing a council of industry representatives and scientists with the objective of facilitating their dialogue and obtaining their perspective regarding global change issues. Mr. Johnson had been an associate director at OSTP from 1983.to 1987 and was able to provide a historical perspective on the global change issue i
and the creation of the Committee on Earth and Environmental Science (CEES).
NCSL State Federal Assembly Mindy Landau, State Programs, attended the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) State Federal Assembly on December 9-10, 1993 in Washington, DC. The NCSL Committees on Environment and Energy held joint sessions on retail wheeling of electricity; renewable energy; alternative transportation fuels and Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 implementation.
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f DECEMBER 10, 1993 ENCLOSURE M
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Office of International Programs Items of Interest Week Ending December 10, 1993
)
Slovenian Information Exchance and Cooperation Arranaement Commissioner forrest Remick signed an Information Exchange and Cooperation Arrangement with Slovenia on December 6 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. A similar arrangement, which NRC had signed with Yugoslavia in 1985, had expired. Most of the cooperation taking place under the old arrangement had been with what.
i is now Slovenia because the one Westinghouse PWR in former Yugoslavia is located there.
Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration Director Miroslav Gregoric signed the arrangement for his side.
U.S. Ambassador Allan Wendt attended the ceremony.
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f DECEMBER 10, 1993 ENCLOSURE P
Region I Items of Interest Week Ending December 10, 1993 1.
Pilarim Full Participation Emeraency Preparedness Exercise On Tuesday, December 7, 1993, the Boston Edison Company held an Emergency Preparedness Exercise at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station.
Preliminary findings indicated adequate licensee emergency response performance with two weaknesses noted. Off-site emergency response was observed and is being evaluated by FEMA; preliminary off-site findings-are not yet available. During the exercise, approximately 30 off-duty Plymouth, MA, fire and police department personnel, along with Greenpeace representatives, demonstrated in Plymouth.
They alleged that the licensee's emergency plan is inadequate. During the demonstration, a " stink bomb" was set off in or adjacent to the building housing the Plymouth Emergency Operations Center and the exercise Media Center.
These events had no impact on the conduct of the exercise.
NRC Region I personnel participated in the exercise with a full complement of Site Team and Base Team players. NRC Headquarters did not participate.
2.
New York Power Authority Late last week, the Governor of New York, Mario Cuomo, announced that he was nominating Tom Young, the current Mayor of Syracuse, for one of five seats on.the Power Authority's Board of Directors.
If.the nomination is confirmed by the New York State Senate, Governor Cuomo said he would ask the Board of Directors to appoint Mayor Young chairman.
3.
Salem Generatino Station. Unit 2 On December 3,1993, the Salem station noted water leaking from the 2C emergency diesel generator water jacket.
Investigation disclosed that the leak resulted from a total separation of the cylinder liner around the circumference.
The cylinder liner sets in the engine block and mechanically seats at the top end. A crack emanating from the seating area progressed 360 degrees around the circumference of'the liner.
Additionally, three radial cracks were noted displaced at approximately 120 degree intervals. The cause of the failure has not been determined.
Tear down of the engine identified 'two other cylinders with similar cracks.
The engines are Alco 18 cylinder models and the liners were supplied by Canadian Allied Diesel Company. The Canadian liners were recently installed in a March 1993 outage. Although other Canadian liners have been supplied to other nuclear facilities, none have been installed cxcept for the Salem engines. Metallurgical evaluations are being performed by the licensee.
' DECEMBER 10, 1993 ENCLOSURE R
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Region II Items of Interest Week Ending December 10, 1993 1.
Alco Corooration - Stolen Moisture / Density Gauce l
On the morning of December 8,1993, the licensee notified Region 11 of the theft of a portable moisture / density gauge on the evening of December 7, 1993. The gauge contains approximately 10 millicuries of cesium-137 and 50 millicuries of americium-241 in sealed sources. The licensee indicated that, after finishing tests in a construction site near Bayamon, Puerto Rico, a licensee technician placed the locked l
transport package which contained the gauge in the licensee's vehicle along with other valuable equipment, locked the vehicle and proceeded to do other things. When the technician approached the vehicle to leave the site, the technician noted that the vehicle had been vandalized and i
i the package containing the gauge was missing. Licensee management indicated they were aggressively pursuing the recovery of the gauge and have notified the police and FBI, are searching the area surrounding the construction site and placing announcements in the local media. The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico was notified.
t 2.
Charleston Area Medical Center - Brachytherany Misadministration On December 9, 1993, a licensee representative informed Region II of a t
misadministration from brachytherapy sources that took place during the night of December 6-7, 1993. At approximately 1:00 p.m. on December 6, i
1993, two Cesium 137 sources of a total of 60 millicuries were inserted via vaginal applicator into _the patient. At approximately 10:00 p.m.
I that evening the patient' experienced bowel problems and was assisted by two nursing assistants. During this process, the girdle that assists in t
holding the sources in place was removed and then replaced. The licensee's physicist believes, at this point in time, that the sources were dislodged at that time and relocated to.the left thigh area under-the girdle.
The nursing assistants wore film badges during this i
activity. At 8:30 a.m. on December 7, 1993, a nurse observed the sources outside the patient. The sources were reinserted into the patient at 1:00 p.m. on December 7, 1993 and the treatment was completed.
The licensee has estimated the dose to the thigh to be 1100 rads assuming that,the sources remained on the thigh for ten hours. The licensee indicated that the patient was notified of the incident and i
that there have been no adverse effects noticed on the patient.
q Region II will perform a special inspection to review the circumstances surrounding the event.
Region 11 is obtaining-services of medical consultant to aid in review of the event. The State of West Virginia was notified.
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Carolina Power and Licht Company (CP&l) - Robinson
)
A special Augmented Inspection Team from NRC concluded its inquiry into circumstances associated with a November 18, 1993, event at the DECEMBER 10, 1993 ENCLOSURE R i
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4 H.B. Robinson nuclear plant. A meeting was held with. CP&L officials at the plant on' Monday, December 6,~1993.
Members of the public and news--
'l media. personnel were-in attendance.
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DECEMBER 10, 1993 ENCLOSURE R
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Region IV Items of Interest Week Ending December 10, 1993 1.
South Texas Pro.iect Operational Readiness Inspection The NRR Special Inspection Branch' commenced the first week of an ORAT inspection on December 6, 1993, at the South Texas Project. The 9-member team performed an independent assessment of the readiness of the plant to restart and return to power operations. The second portion of the inspection is scheduled for January 5-14,1994.
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DECEMBER 10, 1993 ENCE05URE R I
1 Region V Items of Interest Week Ending December 10, 1993 1
Russian Inspectorate Visitors A three member Russian delegation (plus an interpreter) from GAN, the Russian inspectorate (equivalent of NRC), visited Region V on December 6-8, 1993. The delegation, accompanied by Region V and NRR staff, toured ~
Rancho Seco on December 7. 1903 and discussed decommissioning. On December 8,1993, the delegation plus NRC representatives toured the Aerotest and GE non-power reactors in San Ramon, CA and Pleasanton, CA respectively and discussed non-power reactor regulation.
2.
Chinese National Nuclear Safety Administration Visit A four member delegation of the National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA), People's Republic of China, led by Mr. Huang Qitao, NNSA Director General, visited the Regional Office on December 8, 1993 to discuss the structure and implementation of the NRC inspection program and to visit the Region V Incident Response Center.
3.
WNP-2 Manaaement Meetina-On December 8,1993 the Regional Administrator and the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, met with senior. management and staff.of the Washington Public Power Supply System at the WNP-2 site to discuss l
recent licensee performance and initiatives.
4.
Siemens Meetina The Region Administrator, with RV and NMSS staff, met with Siemens representatives at their fuel fabrication facility in Richland, Washington on December 8, 1993.
The agenda items included the status of:
the licensee's performance improvement plan and the new dry conversion facility. Non-proprietary information portions of the meeting were open to the public.
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i DECEMBER 10, 1993 ENCLOSURE R
s December 10.: 1993.
pg -
NRR Meetino Notice n
12 Docket Attendees /
ll Date/ Time Number location Purpose Applicant NRR Contact EI 12/21/93 None EG&G Idaho, Inc.
To discuss and review EG&G's NRR/EG&G/B&W W. Lyon gg 9:00-5:00 11426 Rockville Pike.
preliminary event trees (301) S}%-3892L us Suite 300 applicable to B&W steam Rockville, MD 20852 generator tube rupture that have been prepared under INEL Job Code L-1696-3, Task 11.
01/05/93 None One White Flint North To discuss generic inspection NRR/BWR0G D. Brinkman 9:00-1:00 Room 4-B-11 guidance and repair criteria.for (301)504-1409 Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) core
.I shrouds and recent cracking of BWR jet pump holddown beams.
01/11/93 None One White Flint North To discuss the status of Reactor NRR/NUMARC D. Mcdonald-9:00-12:00 Room 1-F-7 and 1-F-9 Pressure Vessel-(RPV) Database
(:Kil) 504-1408 and Generic Database Issues.
01/19/94 50-219 One White Flint North To discuss matters relating to NRR/GPUN A. Dromerick 10:00-3:00 Room 1-F-19 water-backed welding of Oyster
(:Kil) E44-3473 Creek safety-related piping.
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Docket Attendees /
ds Date/ Time Number location Purpose Applicant NRC Contact
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12/16-22 N/A Taipai, Taiwan To give a workshop on NRC M. Raddatz All-Day the storage of spent Reps. of Taiwan Atomic 301-504-2571 fuel and attend the Energy Commission Chinese conference Reps. of Taiwan Power on RAD waste 1/4-7 70-36 Combustion Eng, Corp.
NRC/ Contractor visit NRC S. Soong 1000 Prospect Hill Rd.
to review licensee's Combustion Engineering (301)504-2604-Hematite, Missouri Fire Safety Program E'
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December 10, 1993 y
RES Meetina Notices U
Docket Attendees /
1 -..
Date/ Time-Number Location Purpose Applicant NRC Contact 12/14/93 N/A OWFN 2-F-17 To meet-with NUMARC to discuss NRC, NUMARC,
.M.Dey 1:00-4:00 pm-results of their efforts for public Performance-Based Containment Testing Rulemaking 12/17/93 N/A Columbia Participate in Columbia =
B.Sheron B.Sheron University,NYC University Heat Transfer Research Facility Advisory Board meeting 1/13-14/94 N/A Holiday Inn Nuclear Safety Research NSRRC members, G. Sege.
.Bethesda, MD Review Committee meeting NRC staff, public iE
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December 10, 1993 Office of State Procrams Meetina Notices Docket
' Attendees /
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Date/ Time Number location Purpose Anolicant SP Contact.
p 1/10-14/94 NA Nashville, TN Tennessee Radiation State R. Woodruff Control Program Review 1/10-14/94 NA Providence, RI Rhode Island Radiation State C. Gordon Control Program Review P
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December 10,~1993 x
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Region I Meetina Notices j$
Docket Attendees /
Date/ Time Number Location Purpose Applicant NRC Contact
_,e-8 12/20/93
- 50-354 Region I Enforcement Conference Selected NRC Staff White 10:00 a.m.
to discuss the Hope Members and Licensee Creek Motor Operated Valve NRC Team inspec-tion Violation
- THERE IS A DATE CHANGE TO THIS MEETING.
It had previously been scheduled for 12/07/93.
12/20/93 50-317 Lusby, MD SALP Management Meeting Selected NRC Staff Boyle 1:00 p.m.
50-318 Dates covering 03/29/92 Members and Licensee thru.10/09/93 4
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December 10,~1993 Realon II Meetina Notice
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Docket Attendees /
g Date/ time Number location Purpose Appl icant NRC
Contact:
E 12/14/93 50-327 Soddy Daisy, TN SALP Presentation RA, RII Staff, Ebneter
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2:00 p.m.
50-328 TVA - Sequoyah Facility and Licensee 12/15/93 50-325 Southport, NC Public Meeting / Quarterly RA, RII Staff, Ebneter-7:00 p.m 50-324 Press Conference at the Licensee, and w
Brunswick Site news media 12/16/93 50-325 Southport, NC SALP Presentation RA, RII Staff,
- Ebneter-9:00 a.m.
50-324 CPL - Brunswick and Licensee Facility 12/20/93-
'RII Office Regional Awards RA and RII Staff Ebneter Ceremony t
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December'10, 1993 ll Region IV Meetina Nrtice E$
Docket Attendees /
NRC Date/ Time Number location Purpose Applicant.
Contact 8'
w 12/21/93 50-382 Lite Waterford-3 SALP Entergy
.T.Stetka 3:00 1/5/94 50-458 RIV River Bend.Public meeting GSU Gagliardo 2:00 1/6/94 50-458 RIV Enforcement Conference GSU Gagliardo 10:00 P
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