ML20132E165

Weekly Info Rept for Wk Ending 961213

ML20132E165
Person / Time
Issue date:	12/18/1996
From:	Blaha J NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO)
To:
References
SECY-96-257, SECY-96-257-R, WIR-961213, NUDOCS 9612230115
Download: ML20132E165 (22)

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December 18. 1996 SECY 96-257 i

l Egr: The Commissioners i From: James L. Blaha, Assistant for Operations, Office of the ED0 l Sub.iect: WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING DECEMBER 13, 1996 Contents Enclosure l l

Nuclear Reactor Regulation A  !

Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards B l Nuclear Regulatory Research C Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data D General Counsel E*

1 Administraticn F Information Resources Management G*

Controller H 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 l Region III P Region IV P*

Executive Director for Operations Q*

Congressional Affairs R*

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• No input this week.

bk Ofginal signed W James L Bbha James L. Blaha Assistant for Operations, OED0 g\

Contact:

M. Drouin, OEDO 415-1733 g6-/'//

Document Name: C:\WEEKD13.

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9612230115 961218 PDR COMMS NRCC ,~. a Oca 1 W LYINFOREPT PDR J

UNITE 3 ETATES

. ' NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D. C. 20M6 INFORMATION REPORT i

December 18. 1996 SECY 96-257 far:

The Commissioners Ergg: James L. Blaha, Assistant for Operations, Office of the EDO Sub.iect: WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING DECEMBER 13, 1996 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 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.

h James L. Bla a Assistant for Operations, OEDO ,

Contact:

M. Drouin, OEDO 415-1733 ,

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Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Items of Interest Week Ending December 13, 1996 Maine Yankee Maine Yankee (MY) is in hot shutdown.

The licensee initiated a TS-required shutdown on December 5, 1996, due to cable separation issues in the reactor trip breaker control power and the manual reactor trip pushbuttons. These issues were identified as a result of wiring diagram reviews for Generic Letter 96-01, " Testing of Safety-Related Logic Circuits." The licensee expanded its reviews to include completed design changes involving laying of cables to identify any additional cable '

separation issues. In addition, the licensee is correcting a cable separation issue en containment hydrogen monitors which the licensee had previously identified and reported in LER 96-034.

l On December 10, 1996, the licensee conducted a press conference regarding the I issuance of its response to the Independent Safety Assessment (ISA). The licensee indicated that it would spend an additional $27 million in 1997 "on improvements to address a range of physical, operational and procedural weaknesses." The licensee concurred with the two root causes of the ISA, l 1.e., economic pressures to contain costs and lack of a questioning attitude. l The lic.ensee plans to hire up to 50 additional staff, primarily in maintenance and engineering to avoid excessive backlogs. In addition, they will hire an expert team to review each officer and manager, from the president down, to ensure the entire management team has "all the skills to pursue excellence."

The licensee stated that the increased resources will increase their power production cost from 3.5 cents per kilowatt-hour in 1996 to 4.7 cents in 1997.

They expect costs to "begin returning to more traditional levels" in 1998.

The staff is reviewing the licensee's response. Both the licensee and the staff will brief the Commission on ISA follow up activities on January 9,

. 1997.

Arkansas Nuclear One Units 1 and 2 -- Liftina the limitations For Dry Storaae Cask loadina Set by Confirm = tory Action Letter NRC evaluated the licensee's response to Bulletins 96-04 (chemical and galvanic reaction " sue) and 96-02 (heavy loads issue). The licensee delineated their preventive actions to safeguard against potential events similar to the Point Beach event, and evaluations performed to address the hypothetical scenarios as a result of dry cask drop accident. NRC inspected licensee activities, verified procedural improvements, and evaluated their response. After thorough and deliberate considerations of pertinent facts, there appeared no basis to maintain the restrictions estaalished by CAL-96-002 and 96-002a. Therefore, on December 3, 1996, the Region IV lifted the CAL allowing the licensee to begin loading dry casks. On December 4, 1996, the licensee commenced cask loading activities, and completed loading their first dry cask on December 6, 1996.

DECEMBER 13, 1996 ENCLOSURE A

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!' Maintenance Rule Baseline Insoection at Indian Point 3 A maintenance rule baseline inspection was conducted during the week of

! December 9-13, 1996, at the Indian Poitit 3 facility. The inspection team was

made up of Herb Williams (team leader), several Region I inspectors, one PRA 4 specialist (BNL) and support staff from headquarters. Jeff Shackelford, l NRR/DSSA/SPSB, provided PRA inspection support and Frank Talbot and Tom 4

Bergman of the Quality Assurance and Maintenance Branch (HQMB), served as the team staff support members. Richard Correia, Chief of the Reliability and Maintenance Section/HQMB, Glenn'Meyer, Chief of the Maintenance Branch /DRS/ Region I, and Randy Blough, Deputy Director /DRS/ Region I, attended i team briefings with the licensee and the exit meeting on Friday, December 13, 1996.

NOTRUMP AP600 During a telecon with Westinghouse, December 5, 1996, the staff was informed that the Final V&V Report on the NOTRUMP AP600 code would be delayed from the scheduled date of December 17, 1996. Westinghouse has been having trouble with the OSU test calculations and will have to slip the submittal date. This comes two weeks after the schedule was agreed to with the Westinghouse management. No date has been proposed for submittal of the report.

Boraflex Generic Letter Resoonses Responses to Generic Letter 96-04 concerning Boraflex degradation in spent fuel pool storage racks indicate that a number of licensees may be outside of their design basis and outside the requirements of their technical specifications with a margin to criticality of less than 5% assuming no soluble boron in the spent fuel pool water. These licensees will reanalyze their spent fuel racks based on current Boraflex conditions. However, in the interim, temporary TS changes have been proposed by some of these licensees which would allow credit for soluble boron in the pool water with a daily surveillance requirement. The amount of boron required by TS during refueling is generally sufficient to maintain a 5% subcritical margin even for complete loss of Boraflex. The staff is preparing a letter which will be sent to those PWR licensees with storage racks containing Boraflex indicating that where compliance with TS is an issue, interim temporary TS changes are acceptable in the short term; and, that a complete reanalysis must be submitted for staff review with the final TS amendment request.

Byron Unit 1 -- Prooosed Deletion of a Mid-Cycle Steam Generator Inspection Comed submitted on December 2,1996, all of its responses to the staff's RAI on the proposed deletion of a Byron 1 mid-cycle steam generator (SG) tube l inspection. A meeting is scheduled on December 19, 1996, to discuss the  !

staff's evaluation of the documentation to support the licensee's pending l proposal. Byron 1 is authorized to operate until about September 1997 without i a mid-cycle SG inspection. The Byron 1 SGs are scheduled for replacement in February 1998. If the staff denies Comed's pending proposal, Comed will probably conduct the mid-cycle SG inspection in March 1997.

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Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant -- Steam Generator Tube Repair Status The licensee's laser weld repair of Westinghouse hybrid expansion joint (HEJ) I sleeved steam generator (SG) tubes with parent tube indications remains on hold. An analysis of the eddy current testing from the tubes that have already been repaired and of sleeved tube samples that were manufactured to ver;fy the eddy current capability have raised licensee concerns.  !

A number of welds with acceptable ultrasonic testing (UT) results have eddy -

current results showing possible weld indications (PWIs) when tested with the )

mag-bias Plus Point probe. These PWis are not seen when tested with the i Cecco-5 probe. The licensee believes the PWIs, as seen by the mag-bias Plus Point probe, may be caused by weld surface roughness, which has no impact on weld integrity. The licensee is pursi,ing this issue and does not intend to' i resume the welding operations until tSeir concerns are resolved. I The licensee met on-site with Westiaghouse on December 12, 1996, to discuss these concerns. The NRR Project Manager and a representative from RIII attended this meeting. The licensee is also meeting with NRR on December 17, 1 1996, to present the status of their tube repair and their plan to resolve the I concerns.

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DECEMBER 13, 1996 ENCLOSURE A

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] Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards i Items of Interest j Week Ending December 13, 1996 Meetina with State Office of Nuclear Safety

On December 9,1996, Spent Fuel Project Office staff met with the Deputy l Director of the State Office for Nuclear Safety (SONS) from the Czech Republic to discuss issues of mutual concern pertaining to licensing of dry independent t spent fuel storage installations (ISFSI). Staff provided technical background i information from NUREG-1536, " Standard Review Plan for Dry Cask Storage i Systems," and discussed the typical contents of a Certificate of Compliance for a Dual Purpose (transport and storage) cask and operational limits for a dry spent fuel storage facility. Staff also described the inspection program, procedures, and experiences as they related to dry run activities and the commissioning of an ISFSI.

l l In October 1995, the Czech Republic SONS issued a license for a one-year trial i operation of the Dukovany Interim Spent Fuel Storage Facility (ISFSF) which j uses the CASTOR-440/84 dual purpose metal cask technology inside a metal l

building. The approved program for ISFSF trial operation focuses on

monitoring cask and cooling air temperatures, dose rates, and cask l leaktiyhtness. SONS expects to issue the final operating license later this j year.

1 Material Control and Accountina Licensina Workshoo for Kazakstani

! Representatives

} Under the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, the Nuclear Regulatory

Commission conducted a Material Control and Accounting (MC&A) licensing

workshop for representatives of the Atomic Energy Agency of the Republic of Kazakstan (AEARK) and Kazakstani nuclear facilities December 9-13, 1996, at

NRC Headquarters. The goal of the workshop was to enable the attendees to i understand the U.S. process of developing and reviewing MC&A facility plans, and associated regulatory, licensing, inspection, and enforcement issues, to

! assist in the establishment of a domestic safeguards licensing program in Kazakstan.

l i Department of Enerav Press Conference: Strateoies to Reduce Global Nuclear Danaer f

i On December 9, 1996, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced at a press l

conference the release of the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement i i (PEIS) for the storage and disposition of surplus, weapons-usable fissile

materials. Also announced were matters relating to the Environmental Impact

! Statement (EIS) for Pantex, Record of Decision (ROD) for the EIS at the Nevada i Test Site, and the PEIS for the stockpile stewardship and management. The R0D for the plutonium disposition is planned to be announced one month after the announcement of December 9, 1996. Office of Nuclear Material Safety and 1 j Safeguards staff is coordinating a Commission briefing on this subject by DOE. .j l

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! DECEMBER 13, 1996 ENCLOSURE B

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. I Enhancement of International Safeauards j An effort is underway to enhance the effectiveness of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) safeguards program to enable the Agency to detect undeclared nuclear activities. The effort entitled Program 93 + 2, Strengthening the Effectiveness and Improving the Efficiency of the It.EA Safeguards System, is divided into two parts. Part I measures have already been implemented as they were deemed to be within the Agency's existing  ;

statutory authority. Part II measures, however, will require a new legal I instrument to implement. Development of a Protocol to be incorporated into existing safeguards agreements was determined to be the best approach. The U.S. is negotiating to achieve approval of a draft Protocol at the March 1997 IAEA Board of Governors Meeting. To meet this goal, consensus on the text must be achieved within the drafting committee which will meet in January 1997. During November and December 1996, representatives from U.S. Government agencies, including the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, have been actively l negotiating with their counterparts from other countries to resolve major differences before the January 1997 committee meeting.

The most serious outstanding issue is the insistence by some of the Non-nuclear Weapons States that the safeguards requirements contained in the i Protocol be " universally" applied to Nuclear Weapon States, Non-nuclear Weapon States, and nonsignatories of the Nonproliferation Treaty (INFCIRC66 Agreement States). The U.S. has declared that it will apply the new safeguards measures as fully as possible consistent with our obligations under the Nonproliferation Treaty. (NRC staff is currently assessing the potential impact of these measures on NRC licensees.) The other western Nuclear Weapon States have offered to accept only those articles that are consistent with the objectives of their existing safeguards agreements or will strengthen the effectiveness and improve the efficiency of the safeguards system applied to Non-nuclear Weapons States. Russia and China have offered to implement little more than the export control measures of the Protocol.

Deoartment of Enerav to Announce the Availability of 10 CFR Part 960 for Public Comment.

In a September 4, 1996, meeting with the Commission, the Director of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management announced the Department of Energy's (D0E's) plans to update its regulatory framework for evaluating the suitability of Yucca Mountain. Included in those plans was a decision by DOE to revise its siting guidelines currently in 10 CFR Part 960. DOE also indicated that it expected to provide its revised siting guidelines to the Commission sometime before the end of calendar year 1996 and to finalize them sometime before the end of fiscal year 1997. DOE intends to use the revised siting guidelines to support its 1998 viability assessment.

On December 10, 1996, DOE transmitted an announcement to the Office of the Federal Register requesting public comment on its revised siting guidelines.

The public comment period will be 60 days. DOE also plans to conduct a public hearing on the proposed siting guideline revisions in Las Vegas, Nevada, on January 23, 1997.

DECEMBER 13, 1996 ENCLOSURE B

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Disoosal of Cobalt-60 Sources from Advanced Medical Systems. Inc.

On December 3-6, 1996, a total of approximately 48,000 curies of

cobalt-60 was shipped by ChemNuclear Systems, Inc., from Advanced Medical i Systems, Inc. (AMS), Cleveland, Ohio, to Barnwell, South Carolina, for

disposal. AMS has received confirmation from Barnwell that the sources

! arrived safely. The cobalt-60 is in the form of bulk sources (pellets contained in screw-top containers) and sealed sources. For each of the two shipments, the sources were packaged in a lead / steel cylindrical liner, which

..l was then placed inside a type B shipping cask.

j AMS workers, with contract health physics support, packaged the sources. This

involved transferring the sources from storage into the liners, which had j previously been moved into AMS' hot cell, a contaminated, high radiation area.

The total man-rem received by workers was approximately 3200 millirems. The j highest dose to an individual was approximately 900 millirems.

1 The remaining !aventory at AMS' facility consists of approximately 40 curies i of packaged waste held in metal drums and boxes, approximately 4,000 curies of i bulk and sealed sources contained in an inaccessible storage well in the hot j cell, and a 1200 curie sealed source in a source exchange container.

Intearated Materials Performance Evaluation Proaram Annual Trainina

! On December 10, 1996, the Office of State Programs (OSP) and the Office of j Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS), conducted a one-day training session on the Integrated Materials Performance Evaluation Program (IMPEP).

l Representatives from OSP, NMSS, the Regions, eight Agreement States, and the U. S. Food and Drug Administration attended. The training provided background

information, historical perspective, IMPEP philosophy and process sequence, i

performance indicator and criteria used in the evaluation of materials

! programs, and demonstrations of entrance and exit IMPEP team meetings with

regional and Agreement State program managers. Participants were also j provided with the schedule and review assignments for Agreement State and

Regional reviews to be conducted in FY97.

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i DECEMBER 13, 1996 ENCLOSURE B

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e Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research i Items of Interest Week Ending December 13,.1996 Attendance at the Sixth Symoosium on Current Issues Related to Nuclear Power Plant Structures. Eauipment and Pinina - Raleich. NC - December 4-6. 1996 On December 4-6, 1996, several staff members of RES and NRR attended the Sixth Symposium on Current Issues Related to Nuclear Power Plant Structures, l Equipment and Piping. This is a biennial symposium organized'by the North

. Carolina State University, Center for Nuclear Power Plant Structures, Equipment and Piping. '

.The papers presented by NRC and our contractors covered topics of aging, -

license renewal, seismic issues, risk-based inservice inspections, stress corrosion cracking, reactor pressure vessel annealing, and insights from the -i Individual Plant Examination for External Events.

This conference, with its focus on issues directly related to the nuclear industry and mostly attended by practicing engineers, continues to provide a unique forum to exchange information among regulators, researchers, designers and operators.

Trio to Japan. Korea. and Taiwan on Collaborative Proarams Between. November 12 and 22, Dr. Andrew Murphy, Chief of the Structural &

Geological Engineering Branch, RES, visited research organizations in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan to discuss ongoing and future cooperative research projects.

He visited the Nuclear Power Engineering Corporation (NUPEC) in Japan to review the progress on the containment structural test project and the seismic  !

test of a concrete containment model on the Tadotsu shake table, and explore cooperation on the seismic response of other aged / degraded structures to systems,.and components. He visited the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS) in Taejon to discuss the ongoing research programs and the potential for cooperation in the area of the seismic response of aged / degraded structures and components and the Institute for Nuclear Energy Research (INER) in Taiwan to discuss ongoing research programs. INER made a presentation on its static analysis of a cracked BWR core shroud, and agreed to carry out a dynamic analysis.

DECEMBER 13, 1996 ENCLOSURE C

4 Office for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data Items of Interest Week Ending December 13, 1996 Farlev Exercise IRD staff and Region II participated in a full-scale exercise of the Farley Nuclear Power Plant on December 11, 1996. Commissioner McGaffigan headed the Executive Taam and Ellis Merschoff, Director of the Region II Division of Reactor Projects, led the 24 member Site Team. There was full participation by the States of Georgia and Alabama and limited participation by the State of Florida. The objectives included, among others, a challenge of the Executive Team -- Federal, State and International interfaces, particularly during Expanded Activation; a test of the agency's response based on the resident inspector's call through the Operations Center; assessment of the Radiological Assessment Program (RAP)/NRC/ State coordination of DOE resources; and a test of the new Reactor Safety Team video status display.

Safety Proarams Division AE00 staff met with Drs. Dae Wook Chung and Jong Seuk Park of the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety on Tuesday, December 10, to discuss the proposed reliability data reporting rule. AE0D briefed them on the NRC's efforts since 1991 to obtain reliability and availability data, the current statu.c of the proposed rule, industry's proposed voluntary alternative to the rule, and the staff's plans for evaluating the industry approach and providing a recommendation to the Cor.nission.

A draft study of non-power reactor operational experience has been completed. l The study titled "Non-Power Reactor Survey" has been broadly distributed to '

the test and research reactor (TRTR) community for peer review and comment. ,

Consolidated c;c.sensus comments are being sought from TRTR. 1 The survey dealt mainly with the highe powered MTR-fueled and TRIGA-fueled non power reactors, and included visit' to several representative facilities, reviews of operating experience, and reviews of selected facility safety analyses.

Preliminary Notifications (PNs)

a. PN0-1-96-085, Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Co. (Haddam Neck 1), HADDAM NECK NUCLEAR POWER PLANT TO BE RETIRED

b. PNO-I-96-086, Maine Yankee Atomic Power Co., MAINE YANKEE SHUTDOWN DUE TO MANUAL REACTOR TRIP BUTTONS BEING IN0PERABLE (Shutdown Greater than 72 Hours)

c. PNO-I-96-087, Peco Energy Company (Limerick 2), MANUAL REACTOR SCRAM AND SHUTDOWN GREATER THAN 3 DAYS

d. PN0-II-96-082, Duke Power Co. (Catawba 1), EXTENDED SHUTDOWN - CATAWBA UNIT 1 DECEMBER 13, 1996 ENCLOSURE D

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e. PNO-III-96-071, Abb Industrial systems, Inc., TWO SEALED SOURCES MISSING IN INTERNATIONAL SHIPMENT

f. PNO-III-96-072, Advanced Medical Systems, Inc., DISPOSAL 0F COBALT-60 SOURCES FROM ADVANCED MEDICAL SYSTEMS /INC.

g. PNO-IV-96-064, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA Medical Center-West Los l Angeles), TELETHERAPY UNIT MALFUNCTION l

h. PNO-IV-96-064A, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA Medical Center-West Los Angeles), TELETHERAPY UNIT MALFUNCTION - UPDATE l

1. PNO-IV-96-065, Tulsa Gamma Ray, Inc., INDUSTRIAL RADIOGRAPHY OVEREXPOSURE l i

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Office of Administration >

. Items of Interest Week Ending December 13, 1996 1

Procurement Reform Four members of the Division of Contracts procurement staff attended the l National Centract Administration East Coast Conference on December 12-13, '

1996. .This conference included workshops on procurement reform initiatives i such as performance-based service contracting, alternative dispute resolution, i and multiple award task ordering contracts. These workshops provided an 1 opportunity to share and learn best practices to be applied to a wide variety 1 of procurements.

Sianificant FOIA Reauests Received durina the 5-Day Period of December 06 -

December 12. 1996:

Listing of NRC attendees and expense accounting related to the August 1996 utility working conference sponsored by the American Nuclear Society.

(S.Amey; Project on Government Oversight; F01A/PA-96-512)

Correspondence with state of New York' Congressmen for the period 1/1/95 through 12/9/96. (C.Weiser; Gannett News Service; FOIA/PA-96-514)

Records.related to accidents involving the disappearance of radioactive waste for the past 10 years. (Individual; F01A/PA-96-515)

Records regarding the Chairman's December 2, 1996 proposed reorganization.

(P.Hearn; NTEU; F01A/PA-96-517)

Records regarding remediation of sites with terminated NRC or AEC licenses.

(J. Savage of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius; F01A/PA-96-518)

Records related to criteria for protective action for severe accidents.

(B. Shah; Larsen & Toubro Limited; F01A/PA-96-519)

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DECEMBER 13, 1996 ENCLOSURE F

Office of the Controller Items of Interest Week Ending December 13, 1996 GPRA/ Performance Plan Workshoo The Office of the Controller sponsored a GPRA/ Performance Plan Workshop for agency staff. The workshop covered the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA), the NRC Strategic Plan, the NRC Performance Plan required in September l 1997, and the Inspector General's role in GPRA. The workshop included guest speakers from GAO, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA). Chris Mihm, Assistant Director, Federal Management Issues, GAO, has been actively involved with GPRA implementation governmentwide and is currently involved in the GPRA briefings to Congress.*

The Coast Guard and NHTSA are pilots in performance plans and performance

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reports and they shared valuable information about their process and experience.

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I DECEMBER 13, 1996_ ENCLOSURE H

Office of Personnel .

Items of Interest l Week Ending December 13, 1996 l Leadershio Seminar in Oraanizational Performance j

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On December 11-12, 1996, Organizational Development and Training staff, in  !

conjunction with NRR, presented a Leadership Seminar entitled " Monitoring j Utility Organizational Performance." About 20 participants were taught  ;

methods used to diagnose organizational culture and were provided with  !

I techniques for analyzing management and human performance deficiencies. l i

New Course on Merit Staffina Proaram )

1 On December 10-11, 1996, the Organizational Development and Training staff i presented a new course to about 20 managers and personnel management i specialists entitled " Effectively Participating in the Merit Staffing

Program." This course was designed to augment the knowledge and skills i managers have about merit selection so that they can participate more ,

i effectively and provide feedback to candidates for job selections after the '

process has been completed. Several sessions will be offered in 1997.

,i Orientation Proaram for NRC Security Guards On December 11, 1996, in coordination with the Office of Administration, <

Division of Security, a new orientation program for NRC security guards was j held. This half-day program was designed to provide the NRC contract security guard personnel a better understanding of NRC facilities, the duties and responsibilities of guards at various guard posts, and NRC's expectations  ;

related to customer service.

Insoector Seminar in Reaion III i

On December 12, 1996, the Organizational Development and Training staff provided a motivational speaker, Jan Scruggs, for Region III's inspector seminar. Mr. Scruggs, who led the effort to create the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C., provided insights about leadership and dealing with conflict to about 80 regional employees.

Savinas Bonds Caraaian Awards Ceremony On December 13, 1996, Henry Rubin attended the 1996 Federal Savings Bonds

! Campaign Awards Ceremony for Campaign Coordinators. At the ceremony, Attorney 3

General Janet Reno and Treasurer of the United States Mary Ellen Withrow presented awards to outstanding offices.

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DECEMBER 13, 1996 ENCLOSURE I

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Arrivals LOND, Anita MATERIALS ENGINEER (PFT) RES SCHMITT, Sandra SECRETARY (0A) (OPFT) RI

! RittJ.rements CAHILL, Mary HEALTH PHYSICIST (PFT) RI Departures LANCASTER, Kim SR. PERS. EVAL. SPECIALIST (PFT) OP POWERS, Jonathan COMPUTER ASSISTANT (PFT) IRM i

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! Office of State Programs i Items of Interest Week Ending December 13, 1996 l

IMPEP Trainina Session On December 10, 1996, 38 individuals from the Agreement States, NPC Regions, l the Offices of State Programs (OSP) and Nuclear Material Safety ami Safeguards

! (NMSS) participated in a one-day training session on the Integrated Materials l Performance Evaluation Program (IMPEP). The training was conducted by OSP and

NMSS staff to provide backgrount information on the IMPEP program, IMPEP i philosophy and review process. The training included panel discussions of i each performance indicator, review of evaluation criteria, and demonstrations i of exit and entrance IMPEP team meetings. Participants were also provided -

' with the schedule and review assignments for 10 Agreement State and 2 Regional-i reviews to be conducted in FY97.

i National Environmental Justice Advisory Committee Meetina l

i Rosetta Virgilio, Office of State Programs, attended the eighth meeting of the i National Environmental Justice Advisory Committee (NEJAC) Meeting held on i December 10-12, 1996 in Baltimore, Maryland. The NEJAC is a Federal advisory l committee to the U.S. EPA in the area of environmental justice. During the

meeting, Administrator r.arol Browner noted progress in the area of

! environmental justice over the past two years and, in response to NEJAC member i concerns, reiterated President C1Non'.s commitment, along with that of the

] Interagency Workgroup (IWG) % # 7 ntal Justice, to the directives of the l 1 1994 Executive Order No. 128 k ,aring the meeting, the NEJAC passed a 5

resolution requesting that Admi... .rator Browner formally adopt the NEJAC Model Plan for Public Participation and to solicit the other IWG member 2 i agencies to do the same. Handouts from the NEJAC meeting are available for i review by interested parties by contacting Ms. Virgilio at 415-2307. ,

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Office of Public Affairs Items of Interest Week Ending December 13, 1996 School Volunteers Proaram Pat Santiago, OEDO, visited St. Joseph's School and presented information on

, radiation with the aide of the OPA classroom activity, "Your Grandmother's Attic."

Press Releases i Headauarters:

96-180 Reyes to be New NRC Region II Administrator l

96-181 NRC Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste to Meet January 28-30 in Rockville, MD 96-182 NRC Opens Most Enforcement Conferences to Public Observation 96-183 NRC Revises Regulations on Release of Radioactive Materials From Nuclear Facilities96-184 Herschoff, Dyer Named to Top Posts in NRC Region IV d

Reaions:

I-96-79 NRC to Hold Tw) Meetings December 17 in Connecticut on Millstone Nuclear Plant I-96-80 NRC Staff Proposes $180,000 in Fines for Alleged Violations at Salem and Hope Creek Plants i I-96-81 NRC Staff Proposes to Fine RG&E $100,000 for Alleged Violations at Ginna Nuclear Plant 11-96-103 NRC Commissioner Diaz to Visit Crystal River Nuclear Plant i

DECEMBER 13, 1996 ENCLOSURE M

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l Region I Items of Interest ,

Week Ending December 13, 1996 l 4

! DuPont Merck Pharmaceutical Company. North Billerica. MA

. A special inspection was performed on Monday, December 9, 1996 at the DuPont Merck Pharmaceutical Company, North Billerica, Massachusetts, to review the 4 licensee's activities related to a spill that occurred on Sunday, December 1 l which the licensee reported to the NRC on Monday, December 2. When liquid was transferred to a tank that was already_ full, approximately six gallons of liquid spilled onto the roof and subsequently to the macadam and grass outside the building, contaminating an area of approximately_400 square feet with millicurie quantities of molybdenum-99 and technetium-99m. Licensee personnel responded to the spill on Sunday, December 1 within 20 minutes of the spill, and restricted the spill area, performed survey.c collected samples, and began remediation of the areas. Additional samples and surveys were performed the next day to verify that the contamination was confined to the area imediately outside the building. Bioassays results indicated that no intakes occurred for persons involved in the emergency response and workers in the building.

The licensee assembled an investigation team to review the cause and determine corrective actions which included installation of additional monitors and alarms as well as procedural changes. The inspector toured the area, performed confirmatory surveys, reviewed the licensee's actions, and discussed the licensee's plans for preventing a recurrence.

Fort Monmouth (NJ) Site Visit On December 10, 1996, an NRC Region I representative visited the Fort Monmouth (NJ) Evans Area site, which is scheduled for closure under the BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) initiative, in order to better assess the scope of the decontamination activities associated with this project.

Discussions were held between the NRC representative and the Army Material Comand's RSO, the Fort Monmouth RSO, the head of the Army comunications-safety group, and the decommissioning project manager for the Evans Area.

Discussions included the decomissioning schedule, release criteria and survey techniques. A meeting with the State of New Jersey is planned for next month to ensure coordination of NRC and State activities on this project. i Acolied Health Physics. Inc. I An NRC Region I representative accompanied by an attorney from the Department of Justice attended a hearing on December 12, 1996, at 2 PM, at the Federal Building in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to discuss Applied Health Physics, Inc.'s (AHP) re-filing of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. AHP is a NRC licensee located in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania who is authorized to perform radioactive waste brokerage, leak test, and survey meter calibration services for customers. On March 9, 1995, AHP filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and then the case was dismissed in May of 1996 because AHP could not make the minimum monthly payments as ordered by the court. Five months after the dismissal, AHP's bank DECEMBER 13, 1996 ENCLOSURE P a

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. l accounts were levied by the IRS and AHP re-filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The court questioned AHP's President on AHP's financial status and AHP's ability, if any, to pay creditors. The court will render a decision on the matter within the next few weeks. Region I will continue to monitor this Case.

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Region II Items of Interest Week Ending December 13, 1996 Carolina Power and liaht Company - Brunswick Representatives from the Brunswick Nuclear Power Plant in Southport, North Carolina attended a closed Predecisional Enforcement Conference in the Region II Office to discuss maximum thermal power limits. Failure to properly compensate the feedwater temperature inputs to the plant process computer resulted in Brunswick Unit 2 operating at power levels as high as 102 percent during periods when feedwater temperature was less than nominal.

Florida Power and liaht Company - St. Lucie Representatives from the St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant in Juno Beach, Florida attended a closed Predecisional Enforcement Conference in the Region II Office to discuss security emergency planning and operability of nuclear instrumentation. Specifically, an unauthorized person was inappropriately given access to the protected area, automatic and manual call out systems for emergency preparedness were deficient, and the nuclear instrumentation detecters were improperly installed.

Commissioner Diaz visits Reaion II Office and Crystal River Facility Commissioner Nils J. Diaz toured the Regional Office and spoke to the Regional staff on December 11. The Deputy Regional Administrator accompanied Commissioner Diaz and two of his assistants to the Crystal River facility in Crystal River, Florida on December 12 for site familiarization.

Emeraency Exercise - Farley Region II and NRC Headquarters participated in an emergency exercise with the Farley Site. Region 11 participated with a Base Team and a Full Site Team and Headquarters had full participation. In addition to the NRC, the States of Alabama, Georgia, and Florida also participated.

Virainia Electric and Power Company - North Anna On December 2,1996, the Louisa County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a conditional use permit for the North Anna spent fuel dry storage facility. The board met several times before approving the permit. The board placed a seven year term on the permit, as well as 13 other conditions. One condition requires the company to control access to the facility with vehicle barriers. Another condition calls for independent monitoring of the facility by the county if there is ever a problem with a container, as well as twice a year inspections by order of the board.

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! Region III 1 Items of Interest .

1 Week Ending December 13, 1996  !

Independent Safety Insnection - Dresden Nuclear Power Station On December 12, 1996, the Independent Safety Inspection team held an exit  :

- meeting with Commonwealth Edison to discuss the findings of its review of t

i. Dresden Nuclear Power Station's performance.. The overall conclusions of the team were: overall safety performance has improved; improvement is i

incremental and rate varies among areas reviewed; and significant challenges to continued improvement exist.

! The 20-member team was onsite at Dresden September 30-October 11,1996, and -

4 October 28-November 8, 1996. The inspection report will be issued in late ,

i December. l d

Manaaement Chances Announced for Point Beach Nuclear Power Station l On December 9,1996, Wisconsin Electric announced management changes which are i effective immediately. Richard R. Grigg, president and chief operating officer

( of Wisconsin Electric, will assume duties as chief nuclear officer for '

Wisconsin Electric, and Scott A. Patulski, general manager of nuclear j operations, is promoted to site vice president at the Point Beach Nuclear .

. Plant. Mr. Grigg replaces Bob Link, vice president, sclear power, who has  !

l resigned. l l  !

Predecisional Enforcement Conference with H.C. Nuttina Comnany i

On December 9,1996, a predecisional enforcement conference was conducted in i i the Region III Office between management representatives from H.C. Nutting i L Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, and members of the NRC staff. The purpose of the i

! conference was to discuss inspection findings regarding a moisture / density ,

gauge which was damaged at a job site on October 15, 1996. An apparent  !

i violation was discussed concerning the failure to secure from unauthorized -

removal or otherwise maintain constant surveillance and immediate control of

licensed material in an unrestricted area.

I Predecisional Enforcement Conference with Conman Inspection  :

? On December 13, 1996, a predecisional enforcement conference was conducted in

! the Region III Office between management representatives from Conman

Inspection, Itasca, Illinois, and members of the NRC staff. The purpose of l the conference was to discuss findings from an inspection and investigation by i the NRC Office of Investigations. A routine safety inspection evaluated the oversight of radiation safety controls and procedures for the conduct of radiological operations at Conman Inspection's Gary, Indiana field office.  ;

The Office of Investigation conducted an investigation to determine if r i radiography personnel deliberately violated NRC requirements pertaining to

- calibration of survey instruments, wearing of film badges, management 7.ttent. ion to employee concerns about safety, proper use of an exposure device that rasulted in personal radiation exposure, proper use of exposure devices

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in general, and accuracy of records. Six apparent violations were discussed at the conference.

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