ML20128N985

Weekly Info Rept for Wk Ending 961004

ML20128N985
Person / Time
Issue date:	10/09/1996
From:	Blaha J NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO)
To:
References
SECY-96-216, SECY-96-216-R, WIR-961004, NUDOCS 9610170093
Download: ML20128N985 (19)

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• I initi NUCLEAR REGULATORY WASHINGTON, D. C. 20066 COMMISSION ..... .:..

" I INFORMATION REPORT October 9. 1996 SECY 96-216 Eqr: The Commissioners From: James L. Blaha, Assistant for Operations, Office of the EDO Sub.iect: WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 4, 1996 Contents Enclosure Nuclear Reactor Regulation A Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards B Nuclear Regulatory Research C Ana'sysis and Evaluation of Operational Data D Ger.eral Counsel E*

Administration F Information Resources Management G*

Controller H*

4 Personnel I Small Business & Civil Rights J*

Enforcement K*

State Programs L* ,

Public Affairs M International Programs N Office of the Secretary 0*

Region I P Region II P Region III P*

Region IV P*

Executive Director for Operations Q*

Congressional Affairs R*

• No input this week.

M ames L. Blaha Assistant for Operations, OED0

Contact:

W. Dean, OED0 b9 1 415-1726 -

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WEEKLYINFOREPT PDR l

FINAL NOTICE Internal NRC Recipients:

The Weekly Information Report (WIR) is now included on the NRC's AUTOS LAN by the Office of the Executive Director for Operations (E00) under the Windows icon called AGENCY-WIDE. In order to provide a transition while agency employees become familiar with accessing the WIR on the LAN, hard copies have been distributed to the normal internal distribution list for the past two weeks. The final hard copy distribution to mail internal NRC recipients will l

be the issue for the week ending October 4, 1996. If anyone believes that extenuating circumstances dictate continued receipt of a hard copy, contact i Patricia Anderson (415-1703 or PAA on email). l External Recipients:

The WIR can be accessed directly from the Internet at:

http://www.nrc. gov /NRC/ NEWS / weekly.html Access to the NRC Homepage is through:

http://www.nrc. gov /

The WIR is normally available on the Homepage on the Monday following its preparation. That is, the report for the week ending September 20, 1996, should be available on September 30, 1996. Therefore, access to the WIR through the Homepage is likely to be quicker than by hard copy distribution through the Public Document Room or through the Government Printing Office.

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Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Items of Interest Wetk Ending October 4, 1996 Oconee Nuclear Station Unit 2 - Steam Leak With In.iuries - Vodate On September 24, 1996, when the unit was being restarted, at approximately 60 percent power, a rupture occurred in the No. 2 Moisture Separator Reheater drain line to the feedheaters. As part of the startup evolution, the drain l system was being manually shifted from the condenser to the feedwater system.

The reactor was immediately tripped by the control room operators, which tripped the main turbine. Seven personnel in the area were injured by the steam; four are still in critical but stable condition. The NRC has formed an Augmented Inspection Team to investigate the event. Early indications are that the pipe rupture was caused by a large water hammer that was generated as  !

manual gate valves in the drain path were being opened. A large amount of i asbestos insulation was blown off the piping in the area by the release of the steam.

Preliminary results from the licensee's material labs of the affected section of pipe indicate a 100 percent ductile rupture, due to a single event, l stemming from a pre-existing 1/8 inch weld fabrication flaw. These results are supported by the preliminary findings of thermohydraulic analysis by General Electric Company which indicate that a water hammer event occurred i while aligning the second stage re-heater drain tanks forward to the high pressure feedwater heaters. )

Visual and other non-destructive examinations of similar sections of piping in Units 1 and 3 have resealed a number of deficiencies (e.g., missing weld saddle plates, magnetic particle testing indications in Unit 1 piping, and hanger discrepancies). Accordingly, in order to further evaluate the piping i in Units 1 and 3, the licensee began a sequential shutdown October 3, starting '

with Unit 1. Shutdown of Unit 3 occurred October 4. Duke Power Company plans to make appropriate modifications of the affected piping systems. The modification of each unit will be completed prior to unit restart.

Current licensee plans focus on Unit 2 recovery, which is expected to take approximately 5 weeks. Restart of Unit I will follow Unit 2, and Unit 3 will remain shutdown in a refueling outage which was previously scheduled to start November 1, 1996. The NRC Augmented Inspection Team will have a public exit at Oconee on October 8, 1996.

Braidwood Units 1 and 2 - Grease Hardenina in 480 Volt General Electric Breaker On September 24, 1996, Braidwood Unit l's reactor containment fan cooler breaker "1C" failed to operate during a routine monthly surveillance test.

The breaker, which is a 480 volt Westinghouse model DS206, supplies the power for the low speed operation of the safety-related fan. On September 27, 1996, the licensee replaced the failed breaker with a new breaker and successfully passed the test.

OCTOBER 4, 1996 ENCLOSURE A

During the root cause investigation, the licensee noticed that the breaker's operating mechanism was sluggish and suspected that the failure was due to hardened grease in one of its bushings. (Comed has had problems with hardened grease in General Electric breakers at its Dresden station. The Braidwood personnel were cognizant of this fact.) The licensee has been preforming preventive maintenance on these breakers in accordance with vendor guidelines.

However, the affected bushings are not normally lubricated by the licensee and are sent to the vendor for maintenance. These breakers were purchased about 17 years ago..

The licensee is continuing with its root cause investigation and has contracted with Westinghouse to inspect the other DS206 safety-related breakers. There are approximately 12 safety-related breakers in each Unit at Braidwood. The regional staff is monitoring the licensee's root cause investigation.

Dresden Units 2 and 3 - ISI Entrance Meetina On September 30, 1996, the NRC's Independent Safety Inspection Team held a public entrance meeting at the site. The 20 person inspection team headed by Team Manager Sam Collins and Team Leader Art Howell will be onsite during the periods September 30, 1996 - October 11, 1996 and October 28, 1996 -

November 8, 1996. A public exit is planned for December 12, 1996.

Lasalle Units 1 and 2 - Potential Water Hammer Issue During a recent NRC SSFI conducted at the site, the team identified an issue that could affect the operability of the service water system. The configuration of the RHR SW heat exchanger at LaSalle is such that t'1e top of the U-tube bund'.e is located approximately 31 feet above the normal lake level. This results in an equilibrium pressure of approximately 1.3 psia which corresponds to a saturated temperature range of 110*F to 139'F. The concern is that, during a LOCA, RHR automatically starts in the injection mode and suppression pool water passes through the shell side of the heat ,

exchanger. Service water does not automatically initiate and may not be manually started until 10 minutes after the accident. The suppression pool

. temperature immediately begins to rise and could rise as high as 170*F during the 10 minutes, which is well above the saturation temperature for the equilibrium pressure causing the stationary SW in the heat exchanger tubes to

, form voids. When cold SW begins to flow through the heat exchanger, the voids immediately collapse and would form pressure waves in the tubes that could result in water hammer as they propagate through the system. The licensee has acknowledged that this is a valid concern and is evaluating potential solutions including installation of a keep fill system to raise the equilibrium pressure in the heat exchanger.

Both units were already shutdown when this issue was identified. Unit I had entered a maintenance outage on September 22, 1996, to repair a turbine control valve and has remained shutdown pending resolution of this concern.

Unit 2 is in a refueling outage and is scheduled to restart in mid-November.

OCTOBER 4, 1906 ENCLOSURE A

Region III is following up on the licensee's evaluation and corrective actions. The generic implications of this concern are being reviewed by NRR

'and an Information Notice is being considered.

OCTOBER 4, 1996 ENCLOSURE A

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Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards  !

l Items of Interest Week Ending October 4, 1996 Deoartment of Enerav Foreian Research Reactor Fuel Shioment On September 22, 1996, the Department of Energy completed a shipment of foreign research reactor fuel from Europe and South America to the Savannah River Plant. This is one of the continuing shipments in the campaign to return high enriched fuel to the United States. In support of this, the Spent Fuel Project Office approved the port and rail route for safeguards an( did a one-time approval of the cask.

Confirmatory Action Letter and Insoection of Transoortation and Dry Storaae System Activities at Nuclear Assurance Corooration International. Inc.

The Spent Fuel Project Office conducted two safety team inspections in parallel at Nuclear Assurance Corporation International, Inc. (NAC), in Norcross, Georgia, on September 23-26, 1996. The inspections were conductd to assess 1) design and maintenance activities for transportation packagings; and

2) the design of NAC's dry spent fuel storage system. The teams identified several significant safety findings in both subject areas, such as the use of unqualified vendors for annual maintenance activities and procurement of components important to safety for transportation packagings; lack of control i

of nonconforming items; helium leak testing not performed in accordance with the transportation packaging Certificate of Compliance; missing design calculations; and design analyses and design changes, both for transportation packagings and dry storage systems, not reviewed by an independent l l

verification or approval process. i An exit meeting was held on September 26, 1996, to present the preliminary inspection findings, and recognize NAC's proposed corrective actions for the i safety concerns identified by the teams. A Confirmatory Action Letter was issued by the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards on '.

September 30, 1996, to document the commitments made by NAC at the exit meeting.

International Safeauards for Soent Fuel Storace f On September 16-19, 1996, a meeting of the Technical Coordinating Committee of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA's) Programme for Developing Safeguards Approaches for the Final Disposal of Spent Fuel in Geologic Repositories (SAGOR) was held in Winnipeg, Canada. Results from the initial eight activities of the program were reported by the lead country for each activity, and comments on the previously distributed reports were provided to the authors by the participants. The Canadian Underground Research Laboratory was toured and safeguards-relevant issues of the facility design were discussed. The next meeting of the Committee will be held in Washington, 3 D.C., in' November 1996. The SAGOR Programme is tasked to develop and 4 recommend safeguards approaches to the IAEA for consideration by the IAEA Advisory Group meeting to be held in December 1997.

OCTOBER 4, 1996 ENCLOSURE B 1

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[ Wide-Area Monitorina Steerina Committee Meetina Fuel Cycle Regulatory and International Safeguards Branch staff participated j in a Wide-Area Monitoring (WAM) Steering Committee meeting on September 25, 1996. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss U.S. proposals for an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) study of WAM for detecting undeclared facilities. IAEA financial resources are limited for potential WAM i efforts and are a limiting factor in all U.S. proposals. U.S. proposals will be presented and discussed with other IAEA Member States participating in the study at an international meeting in Helsinki, Finland, in December 1996.

Fissile Materials Disoosition Sub-Interaaency Workina Group Meetina Regulatory and International Safeguards Branch staff participated in the Fissile Materials Disposition Sub-Interagency Working Group meeting held September 24, 1996. The main purpose of the meeting was to receive a briefing on the status of the Plutonium Disposition Study being conducted by the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Office of Fissile Materials Disposition. DOE is scheduled to release the final draft of its Storage and Disposition of Weapons-Usable Fissile Materials Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) in November 1996. This PEIS will identify preferred alternatives for the disposition of excess weapons plutonium. A Record of Decision, which will make a recommendation to the President, will be issued in December 1996.

West Vallev Demonstration Proiect On September 25, 1996, the Fuel Cycle Licensing Branch staff met with representatives from !.he Department of Energy (D0E), New York State Energy  ;

and Research Development Authority (NYSERDA), and New York State Department l l

of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) to discuss the development of '

decommissioning criteria for the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) and underlying 10 CFR Part 50 license. Pceause the WVDP is operated under i

legislative mandate, and the existing Part 50 license is held in abeyance J

during the operation of the WVDP, numerous complicating issues will impact the (

development of criteria. Furtnermore, the unique history of this facility will make decommissioning to unrestricted release criteria an unlikely option because of the immense financial burden. The staff, DOE, NYSERDA, and NYSDEC are currently discussing a process for the decommissioning criteria to be developed that will Le satisfactory to each of the involved parties and that will resolve the complicating issues.

Nuclear Reaulatory Commission Staff Particioates in low-Level Waste Forum Meetina The Low-Level Waste (LLW) Forum, an association of State and LLW compact representatives established to facilitate development of LLW disposal capacity in the U.S., held one of its three annual meetings on September 25-27, 1996, in Austin, Texas. A number of the issues raised at the meeting centered on Texas LLW disposal facilities:

. Texas continues to make progress in the licensing process for its Faskin Ranch site in Hudspeth County. In March of this year, +he State ENCLOSURE 8 OCTOBER 4, 1996

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l Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Items of Interest

' Week Ending October 4, 1996 Meetinas of JCCCNRS Workina Groups 3 and 12 During the week of September 16-19, 1996, a U.S. delegation met with their counterparts from Russia for meetings of the Joint Coordinating Committee for Civilian Nuclear Reactor. Safety (JCCCNRS), Working Group 3, " Radiation Embrittlement, Structure Integrity, and Life Extension of Reactor Pressure Vessels and Supports," and Working Group 12, " Nuclear Power Plant Aging and Life Extension." The U.S. delegation was led by the Electrical, Materials, and Mechanical Engineering Branch, and included representatives from the Department of Energy, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratory.

At the seventh meeting of the Working Group 3 the participants _from the l Russian side included representatives from Kurchatov Institute, Prometey, ECS MAE RDIPE, and Minatom. Both sides reviewed the status of the major activities related to reactor pressure vessels and supports. At the sixth meeting of the Working Group 12 the participants from the Russian side included representatives from RDIPE, Minatom, RISI, RNC KI, and Rosenergoatom.

The U.S. side reviewed the status of thirteen activities of the Working Group 12 on Nuclear Power Plant Aging and Life Extension. l During the joint meetings of the two Working Groups it was agreed to propose to the JCCCNRS co-chairmen that the two Working Groups be combined into a single Working Group to be identified as Working Group 3/12 and titled,

" Aging, Radiation Embrittlement, and Structural Integrity of Nuclear Power ,

Plant Pressure Vessels and Other Components." The combined working group l would address projects in the general areas of reactor pressure vessel embrittlement, component aging, methodology, and codes and standards. Upon approval from the JCCCNRS co-chairmen, specific collaborative projects will be developed. ,

Public Meetina on Draft Reaulatory Guide The Electrical, Materials, and Mechanical Engineering Branch held a public meeting on September 18, 1996, at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Maryland, to discuss (1) the draft regulatory guide on calculational and dosimetry methods for determining pressure vessel fluence, (2) the resolution of public comments from an earlier issuance of the proposed guide, and (3) associated calculational benchmark problems. The benchmark problems were described and will be issued as NUREG/CR-6115,

" Pressure Vessel Fluence Calculation Benchmark Problems and Solutions."

Industry representation included attendees from NEI, Westinghouse, ABB Combustion Engineering, Bechtel, Yankee Atomic Electric Co., GPU, Framatome Technologies, and others. Also in attendance were NRC contractors who participated in development of the regulatory guide. Based on the discussions during this meeting, the staff concluded that only minor technical and editorial revisions were required before the guide could be issued in final form, and will proceed accordingly.

OCTOBER 4, 1996 ENCLOSURE C

I j* regulatory organization issued an environmental and safety analysis that j concluded that there is no unacceptable risk to the public or detrimental 4

I impact on the environment. The State is now preparing for an adjudicatory hearing that is expected to start in May 1997 and end late

, in the year. Thirty-five organizations have asked to participate as

affected parties in the hearing.

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. A new commercial disposal facility for the Department of Energy (D0E) LLW is being considered for a site in Andrews County in West Texas. The facility would be operated by Waste Control Specialists (WCS), a private

, company that holds a permit to build a hazardous waste facility at the ,

< same site. Approaches in which WCS would be a DOE contractor, and not j subject to Nuclear Regulatory Commission or Agreement State licensing, are being explored. One involves DOE asking the State of Texas to be its Agent to review the site and provide regulatory oversight on behalf of DOE, without formal licensing. Envirocare of Utah is currently the only commercial site that is used for disposal of large volume, low-activity

site cleanup waste from DOE facilities.

. During the meeting, Envirocare issued a press release stating that it plans to apply fcr a license with the State of Texas to treat and dispose

of DOE LLW at another site in Andrews County, Texas. -Texas may then have three LLW disposal facilities in the future.

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i NRC and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) risk harmonization efforts 4 were also highlighted. An EPA representative gave a presentation on Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR) VII and issues related to the linear, no threshold hypothesis, and a Forum member discussed the progress and efforts of the Interagency Steering Committee on Radiation Standards.

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Recent1v Issued Publication j Draft Regulatory Guide DG-1012 (Proposed Revision 3 to Regulatory Guide 1.8), l l " Qualification and Training of Personnel for Nuclear Power Plants." Comments j requested by November 15, 1996.

Contact:

1. Schoenfeld (301) 415-6778 Il 1

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Office for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data Items of Interest Week Ending October 4, 1996 Maine Yankee Indeoendent Safety Assessment The Maine Yankee Independent Safety Assessment team's final report was delivered to the Chairman on September 27, 1996. The Team Manager, Team Leader, and the functional area leaders briefed the Chairman on the report on October 2. On October 3, the Team Manager and the Team Leader provided a briefing for the Governor of Maine and the Governor's Citizen Advisory Group in Augusta Maine. The public meeting with the licensee to discuss the team's findings and a meeting with the public to answer questions are scheduled for October 10. A final meeting to brief the Commission is scheduled for October 18, 1996.

Safety Proarams Division Meetina With Chinese Safety Officials On September 30, 1996, the NRC staff met with the Delegation of Nuclear Power Station Safety Regulatory Investigations, People's Republic of China.

Mary S. Wegner participated in the discussion of requirements for offsite power for nuclear plants, the control of the offsite grid, and reporting

{ requirements for nuclear safety-related incidents and electrical disturbances on the grid. Mr. Jose Calvo, Electrical Engineering Branch, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, spoke of the requirements for offsite power and Mary Wegner addressed the operation of the grid. Both answered questions concerning reporting events, and the relationship between the NRC/D0E, the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) and its member councils /

utilities / licensees.

The lack of direct government regulation of the reliability of the electrical

{ industry in the United States as well as the NRC's independence from the Department of Energy were of interest to the visitors. They were referred to the Code of Federal Regulations, Chapter 10 for the regulations which concern "

both the NRC and DOE, and to NERC for more information about that entity.

Reactor Core Isolation Coolina System Reliability Report The fourth in a series of reports on the reliability of risk important systems was issued for review and comment. The draft report evaluates the RCIC

] performance based on operating experience over a seven year period. The unreliability associated with short term operation (<15 min) was 0.044 while for longer term operation (>15 min) it was 0.076. There was a statistically significant improvement in reliability over the seven year period for short term operations while long term operations reliability was relatively constant. There was some indication of improved reliability as a function of the plant's low-power license date, but the trend was not strong. The PRA/IPE based comparisons with operating experience were generally consistent, although several (about 21%) PRA/IPE based values were outside the uncertainty

) intervals calculated from the operating experience. PRA/IPEs tended to either not model multiple system restarts and recirculation modes of operation or modeled these modes using the same probabilities for restart as for initial 0CTOBER 4, 1996 ENCLOSURE D

I start. Unlike the HPCI and EDG studies, the nature of RCIC failures during unplanned demands was generally consistent with the nature of failures observed during testing and other inspection activities.

Trainina on Nuclear Material Events Database (NMED)

AE00 and IRM staff conducted training for the staff of 14 Agreement States and the State of Massachusetts (Massachusetts has a pending application for Agreement State status) on the Windows version of the Nuclear Material Events Database (NMED). The training was held on September 27, 1996 in the Professional Development Center. The training consisted primarily of " hands on" use of the NMED to input material events records. The NMED data structure allows Agreement States to use NMED to maintain a database of both Atomic Energy Act (AEA) and non-AEA events, and selectively send AEA events to NRC's NMED contractor for inclusion in the national (NRC licensee and Agreement States event reports) database. Agreement States also have access to the national database.  :

NRC Evaluation of INP0 Safety System Performance Data l INP0 has provided AE00 with a sample of their Safety System Performance Indicator (SSPI) data for six plants that were selected by NRC. The sample data will be evaluated by AE00 to determine if these data, with some i

additional information, will meet NRC's data needs for PRA and risk-informed applications. . Industry has proposed providing NRC access to the raw data used to compile the SSPI as a voluntary approach instead of submitting data under the proposed reliability data rule.

Preliminary Notifications

a. PN0-I-96-070A, Medi-Physics, Inc., NUCLEAR MEDICINE SHIPPING CONTAINER FOUND NEAR APARTMENT COMPLEX DUMPSTER.

b. PN0-I-96-071, Ins Corp., NUCLEAR LAUNDRY FLOODING. ,

c. PN0-II-96-066, National Naval Medical Center, LOST 1.35 MILLICURIE PALLADIUM-103 SOURCE.

d. PN0-II-96-067, Industrial Laboratories, Inc. (An Agreement State Licensee), STATE INITIATED EMERGENCY ACTIONS TO REMOVE RADI0 ACTIVE INVENTORY.

e. PN0-III-96-036, Commonwealth Edison Co. (La Salle 1), OUTAGE EXTENDED TO EVALUATE POTENTIAL RHR WATER HAMMER ISSUE.

f. PN0-III-96-046C, Perfection Services, LEAKING SOURCES - (THIRD UPDATE).

OCTOBER 4, 1996 ENCLOSURE D

Office of Administration Items of Interest Week Ending October 4, 1996 Procurement Reform On October 3,1996, the Division of Contracts Policy staff and the Financial l Operations Branch, OC, jointly held a conference call with the Regional '

Offices to discuss implementation of the Debt Collection Improvement Act for procurements. The Act streamlines the payment and debt collection processes by prescribing electronic transfer of funds as the mechanism for reimbursing contractors and allowing agencies to automatically deduct debts the contractor owes to the government under other contracts.

Contract Awardi On September 30, 1996, a cost reimbursement contract in the amount of $122,651 was awarded to the University of Texas at Austin. The contract is entitled, )

" Revision of Anchorage Criteria," and the period of performance is l September 9, 1996 through December 29, 1997.  !

On September 25, 1996, a contract was awarded to GE Nuclear Energy entitled,  !

" Boiling Water Reactor Maintenance Training Overview Course." The objective of this contract is to provide NRC Inspectors with the technical training in j the areas of equipment operation and fuel movement during refueling j operations, recirculation pump maintenance, main steam isolation valve maintenance, control rod drive mechanism, and surveillance testing that will help facilitate inspection efforts at BWR licensees during outage periods. 1 The basic contract period of performance is O ptember 25, 1996 through l September 24, 1997, with four one-year options. The total estimated contract 1 price including option years is $1,057,100. 1 On September 24, 1996, a contract was awarded to Shonka Research Associates, )

Inc., under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program entitled, y

" Continued Development of a Detection System for Determining Concentration, 1 Size and Depth of Buried Radioactive Materials." The period of performance of this firm fixed price contract is October 1, 1996 through September 30, 1998, at amount of $129,535.72. [ ,

On September 30, 1996, a contract was awarded to ASCA, Inc., under the SBIR Program entitled, " Extending the Dynamic Flowgraph Methodology to Model Human Performance and Team Effects." The period of performance of this cost-plus-fixed-fee contract is October 1, 1996 through September 30, 1998, at the amount of $174,873.

Three contracts were awarded on September 30, 1996, under RFP No. NRR-96-026 ,

entitled, " Acquisition of Nuclear Architect-Nuclear (AE) Technical Assistance l for Design Inspections." Two cost-plus-fixed-fee (CPFF) type contracts were l awarded to Stone and Webster Engineering Corporation (SWEC): one contract for a Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) Architecture-Engineer (AE) Team, and one for a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) Team. A third CPFF type contract was awarded to Sargent and Lundy (S&L) for a PWR Team. These contractors will provide OCTOBER 4, 1996 ENCLOSURE F

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,o a a five design specialists to perform design inspections to assist the NRC in 3 determining if operating nuclear power plants still meet their original design

i. bases and ensure that plants have been maintained in compliance with their

, original design bases over their lifetime. The period of performance for these contracts will be two years with two one-year options. The estimated i dollar values are as follows:

, SWEC BWR Team - $2,186,227 (excluding options) i SWEC PWR Team - $2,289,661 (excluding options)

S&L PWR Team - $1,845,431 (excluding options)

These competitive procurements were awarded in 2.5 months from receipt of

, request for procurement action.

5 Significant F0IA Requests Received during the 5-Day Period of September 27-l October 3, 1996:

Copies of decir'.ons and orders related to Department of Labor cases arising i under the Ener Reorganization Act from 1990 to present. (M. Hanlon; j National Whistleblower Center; F01A-96-385)

! Copies of communications to/from named individuals / organizations since 10/1/95

related to Houston Light and Power or the South Texas Project. (A. Gutterman j of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius; F01A-96-386) i i Records related to a 12/8/95 sodium accident at Japan's Monju Fast Breeder reactor and travel reports of visits to Japan from 12/8/95 to present.

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} Contract and records related to NRC contract number NRC-03-95-026. (G. Allen; CETROM Consulting Engineering, Inc.; F01A-96-390)

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OCTOBER 4, 1996 ENCLOSURE F i

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Office of Personnel Items of Interest Week Ending October 4, 1996 Review of Senior Level Emoloyees' Performance Aooraisals Completed The Senior Level Review Panel completed its review of Senior Level employees' performance appraisals and award recommendations (for other than Commissioner Assistant Senior Level employees). The Panel's award and pay increase recommendations will be forwarded to the Chairman and the Executive Director for Operations as appropriate for final approval.

Combined Federal Campaian (CFC) Trainina Conducted for NRC Office Coordinators and Keyworkers On October 3, 1996, Henry Rubin and John Quintus, CFC Loaned Executive, conducted CFC training for this year's office coordinators and keyworkers.

This year's CFC kickoff is scheduled for October 10, 1996, at 9:30 a.m. in the 0WFN Commissioners' Conference Room.

Arrivals BLANCHARD, Courtney FUEL FACILITIES INSPECTOR (PFT) RIII FOSTER, Jack REACTOR ENGINEER (PFT) NRR GAUNT, Andrew NUCLEAR ENGINEER (PFT) NMSS Departures JANOSK0, Gary AUDIT MANAGER (PFT) OIG KISHNA, Letisha SUMMER ADMINISTRATIVE INTERN (OPFT) NMSS WILSON, Elizabeth TRAINING TECHNICIAN (OPFT) OIG Retirements BUTCHER, Edward CHIEF, PROB SFTY ASSESSMENT BR (PFT) NRR DUB 0IS, Dennis REACTOR TECHNOLOGY INSTRUCTOR (PFT) AE0D GRIMES, Brian DEP DIR, DIV 0F REACTOR PRGM MGMT (PFT) NRR K0 PECK, John PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER (PFT) OPA LAMBE, William ANTITRUST POLICY ANALYST (PFT) NRR LAVINS, Patricia CUSTOMER SUPPORT SPEC (PFT) IRM LAVINS, Richard FREEDOM 0F INF0/ PRIVACY ACT OFCR (PFT) ADM LIMROTH, David SR REACTOR ENGINEER (PFT) RI MATAKAS, Richard SR INVESTIGATOR (TASK LEADER) (PFT) OI MORRIS, Dewayne ASST CHIEF, ADMIN & CORRES (PFT) OED0 MURPHEY, William SR INTERN'l SFGDS TECH ANALYST (PFT) NMSS ONG, Alicia VISUAL INF0 SPECIALIST (0PFT) ADM ROBERTSON, June TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROJECT MGR (PFT) NRR RUSSELL, William DIRECTOR, NRR (PFT) NRR OCTOBER 4, 1996 ENCLOSURE I

Office of Public Affairs Items of Interest Week Ending October 4, 1996 Media Interest 2

Chairman Jackson was interviewed via telephone by the Wall Street Journal for a story on Millstone and Northeast Utilities.

There was extensive press and television coverage of the Augmented Inspection Team exit meeting at Haddam Neck.

1 The Boston Globe published a series of articles this week on nuclear safety and utility deregulation in New England.

Press Releases l

I Headouarters: I 96-130 NRC Issues Confirmatory Action Letter to NAC of Georgia I 96-131 NRC Staff Proposes $900,000 Fine Against Thermal Science For

Violations of NRC Requirements i 96-132 NRC Proposes to Broaden Scope of Deliberate Misconduct Rule Reaions

i I-96-66 NRC Staff Sends Inspector to INS Facility in Springfield, MA to Look into Weekend Water Spill Note To Editors: NRC to Meet With Connecticut Yankee on October 2 regarding AIT at Haddam Neck Note to Editors: NRC Staff to Hold Meetings with Maine Yankee and the Public on Independent Safety Assessment of Maine Yankee 11-96-82 NRC Schedules Two Meetings at Florida Power Corporation's Crystal River Plant III-96-61 Byron Nuclear Plant Rated " Superior" in Two Areas, " Good" in Two Areas in NRC Performance Assessment IV-96-54 NRC Regional Administrator to Discuss Diablo Canyon at News Conference 4

OCTOBER 4, 1996 ENCLOSURE M s

I Office of International Programs Items of Interest Week Ending October 4, 1996 4

Foreion Visitors Czech Republic A Czech delegation from the State Office for Nuclear Safety, headed by

• Chairman Jan Stuller, was at NRC for a peer review of the safety evaluation status of the Temelin NPP. The Czech participants (including Miroslav Svab, the licensing manager for.Temelin) briefed the NRC participants on the work  !

performed to date in the various areas of evaluation (i.e., fuel, DBA, and I&C), outlined the accomplishments and milestones achieved, the safety issues  !

! reviewed and their disposition status. l l

' Mr. Stuller and Mr. Svab also paid courtesy calls to Chairman Jackson and l l

Commissioners Rogers, Diaz and McGaffigan, i China l Deputy Director General Dian Zhi of China's National Nuclear Safety

Administration (NNSA) visited the Commission on October 3 and 4 where he met

'with the Chairman, Commissioners and technical staff and visited the Emergency

- Operations Center. An item of interest is that Mr. Qiao was a former assignee i to NRC for six months in 1987.

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Region I 1 Items of Interest Week Ending October 4, 1996  ;

j Schott Glass Remediation (Duryea. PA) l On September 30, 1996, a RI inspector observed a portion of the installation

of the liner and drainage system at Schott Glass, an SDMP site located in l j Duyrea, Pennsylvania. The liner installation covers an area of approximately 90,000 square feet. Remaining work includes placement of a vegetative soil j cover over two-thirds of the landfill, asphalt over the remaining third, and a '

{ final radiation survey, in accordance with the licensee's remediation plan,

, which.was approved in June 1996. The licensee hired a third party inspector i for daily site coverage and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental

Protection conducts weekly site visits. Samples of liner and cover materials hne been tested against criteria in-the plan. Future NRC inspections are scheduled for late October and mid-November, when the cover installation is

! expected to be completed.

Enforcement Conferences with Former Employees of Power Inspection. Inc, On October 1 and 2, 1996, Region I held predecisional enforcement conferences with two former employees of Power Inspection, Inc. to discuss apparent i violations identified during a routine inspection conducted on December 2 and

, 3,1993, and subsequent investigation by the NRC Office of Investigation. The i individuals were the former Vice President and RSO and the former Quality l

Control Manager. Issues discussed with these individuals included the  !

falsification of training records and utilization logs and providing i inaccurate and incomplete information to the NRC.

I Special Inspection at INS Corooration On September 30, 1996, INS Corporation notified the NRC that the INS nuclear laundry in Springfield, MA, had been flooded due to failure of a potable water .!

supply valve for one of their washers. INS estimated that 180,000 gallons of l water flowed through the washer, out the back door, through the dock area, and into the storm sewer. The storm sewer' empties into the Dimmock Pond next door. Initial licensee samples of runoff water and the pond identified no activity levels offsite above background. On October 1, Region I dispatched an inspector to the site. Numerous water and soil samples were taken and are being analyzed by Region I. The licensee has agreed to submit a detailed plan l' for additional sampling of Dimmock Pond. Region I and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will observe the sampling, obtain splits of the samples, and perform independent analyses of the water and pond sediment collected. All Region I inspection activities are being closely coordinated with the Commonwealth. An inspector from the Commonwealth accompanied the Region I inspector. The Mayor of Springfield visited the INS facility on October 1, and addressed a group of concerned citizens regarding the spill later the same day.

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o Region II

Items of Interest Week Ending October 4, 1996 Virainia Electric and Power Comoany a

On October 2, a closed Predecisional Enforcement Conference was held involving a VEPC0 shift operations supervisor who apparently violated procedures during an outage.

Strateaic Assessment and Rebaselinina Committee On October 3, members of the Chairman's Strategic Assessment and Rebaselining Committee addressed the Region II staff about the Strategic Assessment

. Committee's progress and discussed the process and answered questions the staff had regarding the Issue Papers.

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