ML20138N447

Weekly Info Rept for Wk Ending 970214

ML20138N447
Person / Time
Issue date:	02/19/1997
From:	Blaha J NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO)
To:
References
SECY-97-043, SECY-97-043-R, SECY-97-43, SECY-97-43-R, WIR-970214, NUDOCS 9702270268
Download: ML20138N447 (23)

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February 19. 1997 SECY 97 043 For: The Commissioners From: James L. Blaha, Assistant for Operations. Office of the EDO Sub.iect: WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING FEBRUARY 14, 1997 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 Chief Information Officer G Chief Financial Officer 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 0*

Congressional Affairs R

• No input this week, g ty Jam @

James L. Blaha 210006 Assistant for Operations, OEDO

Contact:

o M. Biamonte. OEDO DN fI Document Name: C:\ WEEK 214. g4 F U~

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-6 UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D. C. 20066 INFORMATION REPORT February 19. 1997 SECY 97-043 Fqt: The Commissioners From: James L. Blaha, Assistant for Operations Office of the EDO Subiect: WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING FEBRUARY 14, 1997 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 Chief Information Officer G Chief Financial Officer 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 0*

Congressional Affairs R

• No input this week.

M ames L. Blaha Assistant for Operations OEDO

Contact:

M. Biamonte, OEDO

i' l Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Items of Interest Week Ending February 14, 1997

f. Risk-Informed; Aoolication-Soecific Reculatory Guides Forwarded To ACR_S On February 7, 1997, the staff forwarded DRAFT versions of the risk-informed, application-specific regulatory guidance documents to the Advisory Committee ,

i on Reactor Safeguards. These regulatory guidance documents cover risk- l 1 informed approaches for graded quality assurance, technical specifications,  ;

]~ and inservice testing.of pumps and valves. <

The staff is continuing to work with the Office of the General Counsel -(0GC) to identify and resolve any legal concerns and is scheduled to brief the ACRS l PRA Subcommittee on February 20 and 21, 1997. Once OGC indicates that they have no legal objection to the risk-informed, a) plication-specific guidance documents, the documents will be forwarded to tie Committee to Review Generic Requirements (CRGR).

CRGR is tentatively scheduled to review the risk-informed. application-specific guidance documents on March 11, 1997 The staff is working with CRGR -

staff to accelerate this review schedule to help ensure that the risk-informed guidance documents will be forwarded to the Commission by March 31, 1997.

Prairie Island Unit 2 --' NDE Indications in B&W Allov 600 Rolled Tube Pluas l During the ongoing inservice inspections of the Prairie Island Unit 2 steam generators, the licensee identified 3 B&W alloy 600 rolled tube plugs with circumferentially-oriented eddy current indications in the lower hard roll transition. Due to the prior history of cracking in other types of alloy 600 tube plugs,-the licensee is planning to remove the plugs for.a root cause determination. To our knowledge this is the first plug inspection using a

~plus point mag-bias probe. Due to the preliminary nature of the information, 1 it is unclear whether or not there are safety significant generic I implications. The staff will continue discussions with the licensee as more '

information becomes available and consider actions as appropriate. On l Thursday, February 13, the licensee provided to the staff an outline of their  !

plans regarding this type of plug.

Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant -- Status of Steam Generator Tube ReDairs

-About 1900 sleeved tubes in the two steam generators at the Kewaunee Nuclear i Plant were repaired using laser weld technology. These repairs were 1erformed on tubes whose sleeves had already been in service several years but lad developed flaw indications in the lower hard roll transition area of the hybrid expansion joint, _Although the NRC has ap3 roved laser weld technology-for installation of new sleeves, the review of tie laser weld repair was on-going at the time leakage was observed during hydrostatic testing.

The laser weld repair process involves (in order):

1. laser welding the sleeve to the tube.

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2. performing ultrasonic testing to verify proper weld fusion between the tube and sleeve.

3. post-weld heat treatment, and

4. eddy current testing (ECT) to identify volumetric. indications or weld cracks and to establish baseline ECT.

At the time of secondary side reflooding, some tubes in the A steam generator were still scheduled for repairs. such as plugging and tube end rerolling in previously plugged tubes. Therefore, some of the tubes in the A steam generator were expected to leak. About 92 of the 1900 repaired tubes (84 in SG A and 8 in SG B) showed indications of leakage when the generators were filled with water.

As noted above, ultrasonic testing is performed prior to post-weld heat l treatment. The licensee is repeating ultrasonic testing of the tubes and has l

-discovered changes in some of the UT signal characteristics. This could ,

indicate that the post-weld heat treatment resulted in weld damage.

l The licensee is conducting a root cause evaluation that will' address l structural, metallurgical, and non-destructive examination issues. The i licensee is preparing to remove five tubes from steam generator A for destructive examination. Tube removal is tentatively scheduled for February 13. These tubes will consist of leaking as well as non-leaking repaired tubes. The plant remains in refueling shutdown during this evolution. No restart date is scheduled. Specialists from the Region III office, in coordination with NRR staff members, have been closely monitoring _

the licensee's activities onsite.

At this time the staff does not believe that the problems encountered in the I laser weld repair are generic to the installation of new laser welded sleeves, it was known from previous experience, including experience at a foreign plant, that unsatisfactory welds may result when the surfaces cannot be cleaned. However, for new laser welded sleeves the surfaces are cleaned prior to welding. Also, there is extensive operating experience with laser welded sleeves. including approximately 17.000 such sleeves at Maine Yankee. None of these laser welds sleeves have been reported to have leaked. The staff will reevaluate this conclusion, as necessary, based on the Kewaunee root cause evaluation.

Salem Nuclear Generatina Station Units 1 and 2 -- Ma.ior Milestones Following are the major milestones. as listed in the NRC Restart Action Plan.

~ and the current schedule of activities to the readiness of Salem. Unit 2 to restart:

NRC approve Salem restart plan - Completed February 13. 1996.

NRC perform. inspections to evaluate the adequacy of Salem restart activities -

underway, being completed to support each' mode.

FEBRUARY 14. 1997 ENCLOSURE A

Management meeting with PSE&G to discuss design / licensing bases and restart issues scheduled March 6, 1997.

PSE&G present the results of its readiness determination in a management meeting with the NRC open to public observation - mid April 1997 (RATI entrance).

NRC conduct a meeting with the public to solicit their input - early April 1997.

NRC conduct a Restart Assessment Team Inspection (RATI) - mid April 1997.

NRC internally reviews results of RATI and makes appropriate recommendation regarding Salem unit restart to NRC Regional Administrator - late April 1997.

If.results are acceptable, NRC will approve PSE&G release from the Confirmatory Action Letter. If further PSE&G action is necessary, communicate it to PSE&G and amend NRC plans, as necessary - mid May 1997.

Oyster Creek On January 31, 1997, the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB), in the proceeding regarding GPUN's amendment application to install the shield plug ,

in the dry storage canister, issued a Memorandum and Order (LBP-97-1) granting Summary Disposition in favor of the licensee, Since the decision is a favorable one, no further action by the Staff is necessary.

Oconee Nuclear Station Units 1. 2. and 3 Unit 2 power has been increased to 100 percent and has been operating normally fcr 9 days.

After being shut down for 131 days, criticality on Unit I was established at 5:28 a.m. on February 12, 1997. The licensee has established a program to continuously monitor shaft displacement (vibration) instruments on-the 1A1 Reactor Coolant Pump following a step increase from < 10 mils to > 40 mils.

This increase occurred while the pump was operating alone and the reactor coolant system stable at approximately 225 psig and 180 F. Balancing the

. shaft on February 8,1997, reduced the vibration to approximately 26 mils, pump but a second balance adjustment attempt was not successful in. reducing the level, which has remained in the 24-26 mil range. After performing an analysis, the limit has been increased from 26 to 28 mils. As long as the vibration is below 28 mils, startup of Unit 1 will continue to 70 percent power. However,

.if level increases to 28 mils, the pump will be shut down and unit operation will continue at reduced power until a maintenance outage can be scheduled. q From ~past experience, it is expected that the vibration will decrease as reactor power is increased- 1 Unit 3 is in day 132 of its end-of-cycle 16 refueling outage. Mode 5 has been

. established. Critical 3ath to startup continues with modifications that are being made to upgrade tle reheater drain system, changes that were completed to Units 1 and 2 pr.ior to startup. These plant modifications appear to have FEBRUARY 14, 1997 ENCLOSURE A

.4 been successful in resolving the water hammer problem that resulted in the shutdown of the three units.

Commonwealth Edison Comoany -- Comed Meetina on the Use of Mixed 0xide Fuels On January 28, 1997, the staff met with Commonwealth Edison Company (Comed),

at Comed's request to discuss its program to dispose of weapons grade plutonium through use as a mixed oxide (MOX) fuel.

The Department of Energy (DOE), as the lead agency, is developing a program for the disposition of weapons grade plutonium. In its Record of Decision issued in January 1997, DOE proposed a " dual track" approach comprised of immobilizing, through vitrification, some of the excess plutonium, and burning the remainder in ccmmercial nuclear reactors ~as MOX. Comed in concert with Duke Power, British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) and Cogema has assembled a project team to develop a plan for the possible use of M0X. The project for Plutonium '

Excess Converted to Electricity (Project PEACE) will consider burning MOX at several of their sites, specifically Byron, Braidwood, LaSalle. Catawba, and McGuire.

If the Project PEACE team is selected as a responder to a DOE request for proposals, scheduled to be issued in 1997, the team pro)oses to evaluate the aerformance of M0X through the use of a lead test assem)1y 3rogram (LTA).

3ased on successful performance of the LTA, M0X fuel would 3e integrated as part of the normal core reloads. Using fuel fabricated in Europe, the earliest LTA placement in a core would occur in late 1999: and assuming a successful test, inclusion of M0X in a reload would occur in late 2003.

The licensees' team stressed that, while weapons grade plutonium has not been used in commercial reactors, there is a considerable amount of data on the use of MOX in Europe obtained from the utilization of reprocessed fuels. MOX was ,

also used as fuel in several U.S. reactors in the 1960s and 1970s. However, '

the team acknowledged that the use of M0X as proposed in Project PEACE will require a license amendment supported by the appropriate safety and accident I analyses.  :

During the meeting both the staff and the Project PEACE team acknowledged that l there are a number of non-technical issues (e.g., political and contractual) that will have to be solved before the project can proceed. The staff i provided questions and comments for those technical areas that it believes 1 i will have to be addressed in any request for a license amendment. At the i conclusion of the meeting it was mutually agreed that as progress occurs on  :

2 the use of M0X, further meetings between the staff and the Project PEACE team l will be beneficial. '

l Stoo Work Orders Issued

On February 7, 1997, Commonwealth Edison issued stop work orders at all six i sites for onsite engineering work that uses corporate Nuclear Engineering l Procedures. An NRC inspector had identified that some of these procedures at 1 LaSalle had not been reviewed by the on-site review group. Based on this 4

finding. Comed iss"ed Tech Alert No. 97-04, " Site Approval and Use of NEPs "

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which reinforced the requirements that apply to the approval and implementation of all safety-related procedures used on site. Although the NEPs had been reviewed and approved by corporate engineering, some NEPs had ,

not received on-site reviews as required by Technical Specifications. The Tech Alert stated that all procedures used to perform work must be reviewed to ]

assure that the required safety evaluations (50.59 or screening), Technical Reviews, and/or Onsite Reviews have been performed. The Tech Alert also 1 directed that work should not be resumed until all Technical Specification required reviews have been completed. According to licensee personnel, no significant discrepancies have been identified during the procedure reviews to date, and the stop work has not caused a major impact on site schedules.

Zion Units 1 and 2 -- Unit 1 Refuelino Outaae Delay and Extended Low Power Ooerations The licensee'has announced that the Unit I refueling outage, which was scheduled to start about April 5.1997, will be delayed until sometime in the l late summer. The unit is currently at about 40% power, where it will remain 1 until May 3, 1997, at which time it will be shutdown for a 21 day maintenance l outage. During this outage, some of the major work the licensee expects to 1 accomplish includes the installation of the rod position indicator '

modification, performance of instrumentation surveillance tests. resolution of the containment coating issue, repair of certain steam leaks. and the elimination of some operator work arounds. The core has about 67 EFPD remaining, which translates into about 167.5 days of operation at 40% power.

If the maintenance outage lasts 21 days, the 167.5 EFPD will last until about August 20, 1997.

The staff informed the licensee that it should consider the effect on plant systems and components of long term operation at reduced power. The resident staff will monitor the licensee's preparations for the maintenance outage.

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1 FEBRUARY 14, 1997 ENCLOSURE A j

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Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Items of Interest Week Ending February 14, 1997 DeDartment of Eneray/ Nuclear Reaulatory Commission Meetino on Level of Desian Detail in a Potential Geoloaic ReDository License ADDlication On February 6, 1997, Division of Waste Management staff met with the Department of Energy (DOE) and its contractors to discuss DOE plans for developing design information on the geologic repository. The DOE design process for the geologic repository is based on a single evolving design to support the Viability Assessment, the Environmental Impact Statement, and a License Application. The design work would be prioritized to provide the necessary level of detail and the products required to support the major 1 programmatic milestones over the next five years. The DOE also discussed the ,

"binning" strategy it will employ in developing the necessary design information. The process being proposed by DOE relies on the extent to which '

there is existing regulatory guidance.

Overall, the process initially classifies geologic re30sitory structures, l systems, and components (SSCs) according to whether t1ey are important to i safety and waste isolation, and then provides further refinement to this classification based on existing regulatory or licensing precedent. DOE intends to focus on those SSCs important to safety and/or waste isolation for which there is little or no regulatory or licensing precedent. Design information on such SSCs will be developed to the highest level of detail in any potential License Application. l Savannah River Site - Residual Wastes On January 27-28, 1997. Division of Naste Management staff met with Department of Energy (DOE) representatives and their contractors at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The meeting was in response to a December 20, 1996.

DOE letter requesting Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff review of DOE's methodology for classifying the residual wastes remaining in 51 high-level waste (HLW) tanks, once the tanks have been ematied. The DOE general ,

methodology uses criteria, specified in a Marc 11993 letter from NRC to DOE, i to classify the residual wastes as " incidental." Since the March 1993 criteria were originally developed for the removal of wastes from HLW tanks, NRC staff will evaluate these criteria to determine their applicability to in-situ disposal, and will provide the results of the evaluation for Commission review.

State of Nevada Letters on Nuclear Reaulatory Commission Hiah-Level Waste Proaram In late January 1997, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission received two letters from the State of Nevada concerning NRC high-level waste (HLW) disposal activities. NRC responses to both letters are being 3repared. In the first letter, dated January 24, 1997, the State requested tlat NRC reconsider recent staffing realignments in the HLW program. The second letter, dated January 27, 1997, raised concerns that NRC staff is attempting to resolve FEBRUARY 14, 1997 ENCLOSURE B

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k, technical issues with DOE during prelicensing consultation. The State is concerned that a " resolved issue" will be excluded from the licensing process or require a higher threshold level before the issue can be reopened for

further consideration. The NRC staff definition of " resolved" in the HLW-

prelicensing consultation arogram simply means that the staff has no further comments or. questions at t11s time, and in no manner precludes the issue from being reviewed again at the time of licensing. The label " resolved" during prelicensing also does not preclude DOE from using an alternative approach in j the actual license application.

! Director's Decision Issued Denyina Petition to Envirocare j By letter dated February 7,1997, the Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards issued a Director's Decision denying a letition filed by i

Dr. Thomas B. Cochran. Director of Nuclear Programs. Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), under 10 CFR 2.206 of the Commission's regulations. In Dr.

Cochran's petition. filed in a letter dated January 8.1997, he requested that

, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission take immediate action to revoke all licenses i held by Envirocare of Utah. Inc. NRDC asserts, as a basis for this request.

i that a December 28. 1996, article in The Salt Lake Tribune re)orted that i between 1987 and 1995. Envirocare's President made secret casi payments to the j Director of the Utah Division of Radiation Control. NRC review of the

petition concluded that no substantial health and safety issues had been

raised regarding Envirocare that would require the immediate action requested 4 by the NRDC. The NRDC did not provide any information in support of its i requests of which the NRC was not already aware. NRC inspections of the

! Envirocare facility have not revealed the existence of extraordinary

circumstances that would warrant immediate sus)ension of the Envirocare i license. Further, NRC staff review of the tecinical basis for its issuance of i the license and subsequent amendments found no evidence of the existence of any substantial health or safety issue that would justify the actions I requested by the NRDC. The NRC will monitor the investigations and actions being conducted by the State of Utah. If NRC receives any specific l information indicating there is a public health or safety concern as a result i of these actions or from any other source, including NRC ongoing Agreement

! State oversight activities (Utah is an Agreement State), NRC will evaluate the j information and take such action as is warranted.

i Meetina with Nuclear Eneray Institute on the Transoort of Radioactive Materials-i On February 7.1997, Spent Fuel Project Office staff and Department of

Transportation (DOT) staff attended a meeting at the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) in Washington, DC to discuss the status of action items from an NEI-

sponsored workshop held March 28, 1996, on regulations for transporting low-specific activity (LSA) material and surface contaminated objects (SCOs). As a result of the workshop, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and DOT are jointly develoaing guidance for shipping LSA material and SCOs, as well as i guidance for slipping large com)onents resulting from decommissioning, such as

aumps and steam generators, (Tle NRC issued Generic Letter [GL 96-07] on i i' Jecember 6. 1996 for. shipping discarded steam generators.) NEI also informed 1 DOT and NRC of their intent to petition 00T to amend its regulations to delay ,

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l- implementation of DOT's radiation protection program for carriers and mandatory use of International System of Measurements (SI) units on shipping j - documents.

Meetina with Holtec International

! On February 10, 1997, Spent Fuel Project Office staff met with representatives of Holtec International. Also attending the meeting were re]resentatives of i Commonwealth Edison. Northern States Power Company, Private r uel Storage.

1 American Electric Power, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, and the j Ibex Group. At the meeting. Holtec described to the staff the changes made in L Revision 4 of the Safety Analysis Report (SAR) and Topical Safety Analysis

. Report (TSAR) for Holtec's HISTAR 100 dual purpose cask system. Extensive i i revisions to the.SAR and TSAR resulted from the staff's request for additional information on Revision 3. The thermal, structural, and criticality areas ,

were subjects of in-depth discussion. l i Idaho National Enaineerina and Environmental Laboratory Site Visit and Nuclear

Reaulatory Commission ParticiDation in Public Meetina On February 6,1997, Spent Fuel Project Office (SFPO) staff was given a site familiarization tour of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental

Laboratory (INEEL) (previously known as the Idaho National Engineering

Laboratory) by the Department of Energy (DOE). The staff visited the proposed

location for a dry-cask independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) that will house the core debris from Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2), as well 1

as the wet storage facility where the fuel is presently stored.

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On the evening of February 6, the SFP0 staff participated in a public meeting

! in Idaho Falls, Idaho, to discuss the TMI-2 ISFSI. DOE staff provided an

{ overview of the project, and NRC staff discussed NRC policies and licensing

procedures. Approximately 30 members of the )ublic attended the meeting.

- Several attendees requested that NRC establisi a local public document room in L Idaho Falls for this project. On February 7, 1997, SFP0 staff members met

with representatives of the State of Idaho's INEEL Oversight Group. Since the

. State is interested in the licensing of the TMI-2 ISFSI. discussion centered 1 on NRC policies for State participation in NRC licensing actions.

Canadian Observation of a Nuclear Reaulatory Commission Safeauards Insoection 4

. On February 3-5, 1997, Regulatory and International Safeguards Branch staff  ;

! accompanied an official from Canada's " Atomic Energy Control Board" (AECB) on

an NRC Regional inspection of the Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant in Florida. l i, The purpose was to observe how specialized NRC performance-based evaluations  ;

augment the NRC Safeguards Regulatory Program. Future plans are for the AECB r official .to return to the U.S. to observe an " Operational _ Safeguards Response Evaluation" later this year. These visits are part of a U.S.-Canadian Bilateral Agreement to strengthen the nuclear safeguards in our> respective countries.

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Meetina on the' International Atomic Enerav Aaency's Safeauards Criteria .

During the week of February 10, 1997, a Regulatory and International Safeguards Branch staff member participated in a workshop in Prague.

Czechoslovakia, on the evolution of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) safeguards criteria. The IAEA has unuertaken an initiative to replace the currently-utilized 1991-95 criteria with a new set of criteria that will be more performance-based and will take into account current safeguards approaches and the phase-in of measures defined in Program 93+2. The Program 93+2 measures are intended to enhance the IAEA's capability to detect undeclared nuclear activities. The staff member's contributions-included a presentation on the Nuclear RegJiatory Commission's experience with prescriptive and performance-based safeguards regulations. .

Extension of License Term for Materials Licensees On February 6,1997, a notice was published in the Federal Reaister (62 FR 5656) announcing the Commission's approval of an increase in license terms from the current 5-year period to a 10-year )eriod for licenses issued pursuant to 10 CFR Parts 30, 40, and 70 (wit 1 the exception of licenses issued pursuant to Part 35). These new or renewed licenses will be issued for 10 years, unless the staff exercises the option to issue the license for a shorter term. Licenses can be issued for shorter terms, on a case-specific basis, in situations where the industry has not had extensive experience in .

using, or the Nurbar Regulatory Commission has not had experience in regulating, the prsposed use of the material, as well as.in any other situation that wrants increased attention.

Public Meetina With Advanced Medical Systems. Inc.

On February 10, 1997, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff held a public meeting which included participants from the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, the Office of the General Counsel, Region III, and Advanced Medical Systems, Inc. (AMS) as well as observers frw ' % Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NE0RSD) and the City of Clevelano Law Department. In the meeting, AMS provided an update on the status of litigation with NE0RSD, the discharge of water from the London Road Facility, its license renewal application, its financial state, and their twelve-task Building Recovery Project (BRP). Having recently disposed of 40,000 curies of bulk and sealed sources of cobalt-60 AMS is now proceeding to: (1) dispose of its stored waste. (2) clean the basement areas and remediate most of the facility to unrestricted release status, and (3) initiate steps to reconnect with the NE0RSD. AMS needs to complete its Decommissioning Funding Plan and Financial Assurance Instrument for approval of its license renewal application. AMS also discussed other action plans and commitments under the BRP. -

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Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Items of Interest Week Ending February 14, 1997 RES Suooort for NRR Reaional Inservice Testina Workshoos 2

During the weeks of January 27-31 and February 3-7. Joel Page of RES/DET/GSIB provided technical support as a panel member to NRR/EMMEB for Regional Workshops addressing Inservice Testing of Pumps and Valves. These workshops were held in all four regions and consisted of presentations by NRC panel members, breakout sessions where individual panel members helped licensees identify technical areas of concern, and a general panel session where all the accumulated questions were addresL J. The workshops were well received and attending licensees com)limented both the quality and format of the workshops,

and the quality of the 1RC teams and panels.

Joint Technical Committee Meetina for International Pro.1ect "Analoaue Studies in the Alliaator Rivers Reaion" and Researcn Informa+ ion Workshoo RES and its USGS contractor hosted the third Joint Technical Committee Meeting (JTC) for the international project " Analogue Studies in the Alligator Rivers Region" (ASARR) on January 21-24, 1997. ASARR is an international cooperative project under OECD/NEA, sited at the Koongarra Ore Body in Northern Australia, to study the transport behavior of uranium.

Significant advances were reported on extending laboratory work on sorption of U(VI) to naturally found substrates. Experimental measurements of sorption were conductr$ inder varying chemical conditions. Several highly sophisticateu b;chniques were employed to characterize the sorption sites and surfaces on both artificial and natural mineral substrates.

The RES workshop was scheduled to follow and complement the ASARR JTC meeting.

Additional staff from PNL and SNL attended the workshop along with the participants in the two days of ASARR technical meetings. The workshop

objective was to assess the 3rogress on understanding sorption mechanisms and

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the applicability of the meclanistic models to assess radionuclide transport in complex environments. SNL reported on complementary work on sorption mechanisms on mono and bivalent species on simple clays. PNL discussed the role of organic complexants and microparticulates in enhancing radionuclide migration, the effects of chelating agents on radionuclide mobility, determination of solubilities of radionuclides in SDMP slags and LLW. and the geochemistry of concrete buffered systems. RES staff reported on work being conducted using facilities and equipment at The Johns Hopkins University en the characterization of decommicsioning slags.

FEBRM 14,1997 ENCLOSURE C 1

Office for Analysis and Eviiuation of Operational Data l Items of Interest Week Ending February 14. 1997 1 l

Future Electrical Grid Reliabilty and Stability On Thursday. February 13. 1997, representatives of the Reactor Analysis Branch of AE00 and the Electrical Engineering Branch of NRR met with representatives I of the Offices of Policy and General Council of FERC to discuss concerns about l future electrical grid reliability and stability. There are several l activities currently underway which address reliability including efforts by the North American Electrical Reliability Council. Edison Electric Institute.

Interconnected Operatinos Service Group. Western Interstate Energy Board, and the Department of Ent e. Future transmission companies will be able to recover ancillary cos s including those associated with maintaining grid stability.

Annual Meetina with the Ukrainian ReaulatQry Acency During the annual meeting with the Ukrainian regulatory agency. IRD staff met with a senior delegation to review the status and plans of the coo)erative effort to develop an emergency response system in that country. Tie effort is one of several bein9 performed and funded under the Lisbon Nuclear Safety Initiative.

PRELIMINARY NOTIFICATIONS (PNs)

a. PNO-I-97-010. Department of the Army (Picatinny Arsenal). MISSING 7.62 MM DEPLETED URANIUM (DU) AMMUNITION.

b. PNO-III-97-007A. Department of the Army. (Rock Island IL), MISSING OR LOST DEVICES AT ARMY FACILITIES.

c. PNO-III-97-008. Consumers Power Co (Palisades 1). WORKER INJURED.

d. PNO-IV-97-008. Kansas University Medical Center. THERM 0 LUMINESCENT DOSIMETER EXPOSURE.

e. PNO-IV-97-009. U.S. Air Force (Davis Monthan Air Force Base). LOSS OF GENERALt_Y LICENSED DEVICE AND DISCOVERY OF LICENSED MATERIAL IN AN UNRESTRICTED AREA (EVENT NUMBERS: 31741/31742).

f. PNO-IV-97-010. Sheffield Steel (Sand Springs. OK). NUCLEAR GAUGE FOUND AT SCRAP YARD.

, FEBRUARY 14. 1997 ENCLOSURE D

Office of Administration Items of Interest Week Ending February 14. 1997 Emeroency Telechones Installation of new emergency telephones have been completed for the 0WFN and TWFN elevators. The new phones will automatically dial out to the NRC's central alarm station (which is manned 24 hours2.777778e-4 days <br />0.00667 hours <br />3.968254e-5 weeks <br />9.132e-6 months <br /> a day) simply by lifting the receiver when there is a 3roblem. These new 3 hones also will allow personnel to call back to speak wit 1 the occupants of t1e specific elevator experiencing a problem. The old telephones did not provide this call back feature.

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FEBRUARY 14. 1997 ENCLOSURE F

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Chief Information Officer  :

Items of Interest Week Ending February 14, 1997 1 Comouter Disaster Recovery Plan Discussion between NRC and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has ensued 1 to ensure that NRC applications and data are protected and moved to a l preplanned recovery site if a disaster occurs in the NIH computer center. A i memo of understanding is being prepared by the Office of Information Resources l Management.

l I Comouter Security Awareness I

! l l The 1996-1997 annual Computer Security Awareness training for all headquarters l personnel was held on January 8. 13, 15. and 21. During the first two days.

l four 90-minute presentations were provided by Ray Semko from the Department of

Energy. The last four sessions were 45-minutes in length and presented by NRC L staff. Based on attendance card submittals 1.830 headquarters staff and l contractors went through the training. The make-up session and a special l session for Commissioner Dicus' office were scheduled for February 1997.

Office of Information Resources Management will provide Computer Security Awareness training for most of Region IV and half of Walnut Creek's staff in l Arlington TX. during the week of February 18. 1997. This visit will also include a stop at NRC's Las Vegas, Nevada, field office for the same purpose and to provide additional virus detection education.

FOIA Recuests Received Durina the Week Endina February 13. 1997 OIG cases96-25B and 97-108. (F01A/PA-97-0036)

OIG case 95-241 related to Ward Valley. (F01A/PA-97-0037) j OIG case related to Millstone's full core fuel offload. (F01A/PA-97-0038)

! Draft NUREG/CR-6412 comments. " Aging & Loss of Coolant Accident Testing of Electrical Connections." (F01A/PA-97-0039) 01 reports 4-95-055 and 4-95-072. (FOIA/PA-97-0040)  ;

Communications since 1985 with three AEC terminated licensees. l (F01A/PA-97-0041) 1 01 report on 6/95 contamination incident at NIH. (F01A/PA-97-0042) i Ekotek Superfund Site in Utah. (F01A/PA-97-0043)

L E.I. Dupont's by-product distribution listing under License # 20-00320-14E.

(F01A/PA-97-0044)

FEBRUARY 14, 1997 ENCLOSURE G i

-s a ,a,a 4 -k.+ -. .t_,ap 6sJk A. - 2., s.,1-.,, 4 1a. .A-a.2.e sem.,a-: 4av.,s-- u,.aa Review of licensee's practices for scheduled on-line maintenance of safety equipment. (FOIA/PA-97-0045)

Millstone refueling practices. (F01A/PA-97-0046)

OIG report 94-0921 related to improper dose calculations at San Onofre.

(F01A/PA-97-0047)

Tri-Med citizen's petition. (FOIA/PA-97-0048)

Six-month summaries of drug and alcohol testing programs for 1995 and 1996.

(F01A/PA-97-0050) 4 FEBRUARY 14, 1997 ENCLOSURE G

i' Office of Personnel items of Interest Week Ending February 14. 1997 Interactive Voice Response (IVR) System to Allow Employees to Access Personnel Records Under Final Phase of Development The Office of Personnel is in the final database design and test phase for an IVR system that will allow employees to check data from their personnel record over the telephone and have reports faxed to them at home or at the office.

Initial implementation of the telephone portion of the IVR is planned for the

. end of March 1997. Point of contact for this project is Bob Loach. He can be reached via e-mail at REL1 or by phone at 415-7534.

NRC Vacancy Announcements to be Available Soon on the NRC Home Page The Office of Personnel is in negotiation with the Office of Information Resources Management on the publishing of vacancy announcements on the NRC home page. The vacancy will be available on the web as soon as the vacancy

. opens. It is anticipated that this will become operational by the end of February at the latest. Point of contact is Bob Loach.

4 Arrivals CALLAN. Leonard EXECUTIVE DIRECT 3R FOR OPERATIONS

• OEDO COLLINS. Samuel DIRECTOR. NRR (PFT)** NRR TRANSFERRING FROM RIV TO OEDO

• • TRANSFERRING FROM RIV TO NRR Departures.

IHNEN, Kerry RESIDENT INSPECTOR (PFT) RIII MOULTON John PROJELT MANAGER (PFT) NRR TEDROW. Jeffrey SR RESIDENT INSPECTOR (PFT) RIV Retirements None.

FEBRUARY 14. 1997 ENCLOSURE I

Office of Public Affairs Items of Interest Week Ending February 14, 1997 Media Interest Chairman Jackson was interviewed by Eric Pooley of Time Magazine for a follow-up story on the Millstone plants.

Press Releases Headouarters:

97-021 Note to Editors: Denying a petition from Thomas B. Cochran.

Natt.ral Resources Defense Council, on Envirocare of Utah.

Inc.97-022 Note to Editors: ACRS Meeting 97-023 NRC Revises Regulations for Shipments of Uranium and Plutonium ,

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97-024 NRC Revises Regulations for Uranium Enrichment Facilities Operated by USEC or its Successor i 97-025 Note to Editors: ACRS Meeting 97-026 Note to Editors: ACNW Reports on low-level waste and comments on the strategic assessment Reaions:

l 11-97-15 NRC Staff to Hold Predecisional Enforcement Conference With Georgia Power Company to Discuss Concerns at Vogtle III-97-11 NRC Predecisional Enforcement Conference With Detroit Edison Company on Apparent Violations of NRC Requirements at Fermi Plant 111-97-12 NRC Predecisional Enforcement Conference on Apparent Violations of NRC Requirements at Quad cities Station (Rescheduled in III 9716) 111-97-13 NRC Predecisional Enforcement Conference on Apparent Violations of NRC Requirements at Dresden Station 111-97-15 NRC Staff Rates Dresden " Good" in Operations. Plant Support.

" Acceptable" in Maintenance. Engineering in Latest Assessment IV-97-10 NRC Fines' United Nuclear $100.000 for Failing to Set Aside Funds for Decommissioning Church Rock Uranium Mill FEBRURARY 14, 1997 ENCLOSURE M

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Office of International Programs

! Items of Interest Week Ending February 14. 1997 Foreian Visitors -- OECD/NEA 1

On February 13. 1997. Mr. Luis E. Echavarri, Director-General of the Spanish l Nuclear Industrial Forum met with Chairman Jackson, Commissioners Rogers and Diaz. The purpose of his visit was to discuss his candidacy for the OECD/NEA Director-General position and his view on the future of the NEA.

IAEA Vacancy Notices The following notice from the International Atomic Energy Agency has been posted on NRC bulletin boards:

P-3 Unit Head, Documents Control Unit 97/005 .

Administration l P-3 Data Processing Network Analyst 97/006 Safeguards P-4 Nuclear Engineer 97/007 Nuclear Energy P-4 Thesaurus Specialist 97/008 Nuclear Energy P-3 Biological Scientist 97/700 Research and Isotopes l

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FEBRUARY 1.4. 1997 ENCLOSURE N

i Region II Items of Interest j Week Ending February 14, 1997 Florida Power Corocration - Crystal River l

The Director. Division of Reactor Safety. who is Chairman of the Restart Panel j for Crystal River, represented Region II at a public meeting on February 12.

i 1997, with Florida Power Corporation concerning the status of restart ,

activities. There was extensive media coverage at the meeting. The licensee provided substantive information on their process for determining the i . readiness of systems for operations.

r On February 14. 1997. a closed 3redecisional enforcement conference on

{ security matters was held with :lorida Power Corporation in the Region II

office concerning activities at the Crystal River Plant. The enforcement i- conference was closed because of the nature of the issues discussed.

Duke Power Comoany - Oconee l

Following the September. 1996 Unit 2 reheater drainline rupture and subsequent shutdown of all three Oconee units, Unit 2 returned to service following feedwater heater modifications.

Unit 1 restarted on February 12 and is currently holding at 55 Jercent power due to a speed changer problem on the 1B Main Feedwater Pump. )ue to elevated vibration on the 1A1 reactor coolant pump (RCP) (26 mils vs 11 mils nominal). .

restart of Unit 1 was delayed until an evaluation was. i new 1A1 RCP alarm / trip set point (28 mils vs 20 mils). Theperformed to reflect a 1A1 RCP vibration currently remains around 25 mils. If the pump must be tri] ped. the licensee- 1

]lans to operate below 70 percent power with 3 RCPs until Jnit 3 is on line. l Jnit 3 is currently scheduled to restart on February 25.

Florida Power and Liaht Comoany - St. Lucie On February 13, 1997, the Regional Administrator as well as Region II and Headquarters staff met with the President. Nuclear Division, FP&L. and his staff at a public meeting on site at St. Lucie. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss per'formance improvement plans. self-assessment corrective actions, and the effectiveness of the licensee's employee concerns program.

The discussion of the licensee's employee concerns program was in part.

prompted by the NRC's observation of an increasing trend in the total number of allegations received by the NRC over the aast several years. As a followup to the NRC's Annual Report on Allegations. t1e NRC staff committed in SECY 97- l 006 to conduct such a meeting with the licensee. The meeting was well attended by FP&L managers as well as local news media.

FEBRUARY 14. 1997 ENCLOSURE P

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l Region III Items of Interest Week Ending February 14, 1997 )

Predecisional Enforcement Conference with Illinois Power Company Individuals On February 10. 1997, a predecisional enforcement conference was conducted in the Region III Office. Lisle. Illinois, between two managers from Illinois Power Company's Clinton Nuclear Power Station and members of the NRC staff.

Discussion focused on the events associated with the September 5, 1996. i reactor recirculation pump "B" seal leak.

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Region IV

, Items of Interest Week Ending February 14. 1997 Connell Limited Partnershio and Tulsa Gamma Ray. Inc.

]

i' A predecisional enforcement conference was conducted in the Region IV office

on February 10. 1997, with Connell Limited Partnership (CLP) and Tulsa Gamma i Ray, Inc. (TGR). The conference is being conducted jointly with both licensees to discuss the findings of a reactive inspection conducted on i December 9, 1996, through January 9, 1997. The inspection was initiated in

response to notification provided by TGR that on November: 20,1996, one of

TGR's radiographers who performed licensed activities at CLP's facility was

{ involved in an incident which resulted in a radiation dose in excess of regulatory limits. Apparent violations relating to both licensees were

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identified. .

i' With regard to CLP, the apparent violations identified include failures to:

j (1) perform a survey of a radiographic exposure device after each exposure; i (2) secure a sealed source as;nbly in the shielded position each time the

. source was returned to that position: and (3) read and record the exposure

, reading on a pocket dosimeter at the end of the day. Collectively, the apparent violations have regulatory and safety significance because they represent failures to )erform tasks intended to prevent unnecessary radiation j exposures of radiograp1y personnel and members of the public.

4 i With regard to TGR, one apparent violation was identified involving the

[ failure to limit the occupational dose received by an individual adult (TGR i radiographer) to a total effective dose equivalent of 5 rems during calendar

, year 1996. Additionally, although the ins)ection revealed that the

[ overexposure received by the TGR radiograpler was caused, in part, by the failura of a CLP radiographer to perform several tasks. other contributing causes identified during the inspection indicate that the incident may have been prevented had the TGR radiographer been able to hear his alarming ratemeter while working in the conditions present at the CLP facility and he been more attentive as he prepared to begin work on November 20, 1996.

Commissioner Visits San Onofre Nuclear Generatina Station On February 12, 1997. Commissioner Dicus and her technical assistant toured the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station facility, including Unit 1 the decommissioned unit. Following the tour, the Commissioner met with senior managers of the San Onofre facility.

FEBRUARY 14, 1997 ENCLOSURE P J

Office of Congressional Affairs .

Items of Interest Week Ending February 14. 1997 CONGRESSIONAL HEARING SCHEDULE, No. 5

~ 20 CAT DATE!

1. &i . TIME  : WITNESS- 'A 1SUBJECTf COMMITTEEt

. ASSIGN 4 MENTT PLACE-Gerke 02/24/97 10:00 TBA Year 200 Computer Problems Reps. Horn /Maloney 2154 RHOB Government Mgmnt. Info & Technology Government Reform & Oversight Combs 02/26/97 9:30 Markup / Vote S. 104. amend Nuclear Waste Senators Murkowski/ Bumpers 366 DSOB Policy Act: Vote on Energy & Natural Resources Nomination of Federico Pena as DOE Secretary Gerke 03/06/97 TBA TBA Electricity Deregulation: Senators Murkowski/ Bumpers 366 DSOB Issues of Competition Energy & Natural Resources 03/13/97 TBA TBA Role of Public Power in a Senators Murkowski/ Bumpers Gerke 366 DSOB Competitive Market Energy & Natural Resources Madden 03/12/97 10:00 DOE Nuclear Waste Mgmnt & Reps. McDade/Fazio 2362 RHOB Disposal Energy & Water Development Appropriations Gerke 03/20/97 TBA TBA Electricity Deregulation: Senators Murkowski/ Bumpers 366 DSOB Is Federal Legislation Energy & Natural Resources Necessary?

ENCLOSURE R FEBRUARY 14. 1997

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