ML20196E795
| ML20196E795 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 06/09/1999 |
| From: | Blaha J NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO) |
| To: | |
| References | |
| SECY-99-153, SECY-99-153-R, WIR-990604, NUDOCS 9906290005 | |
| Download: ML20196E795 (18) | |
Text
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INFORMATION RERQBP...
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r.eis June 9.1999 SECY 99-153 for:
The Commissioners From:
James L Blaha, Assistant for Operations, Office of the EDO Subiect:
WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING JUNE 4,1999 Contents Enclosure Nuclear Reactor Regulation A
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards B
Nuclear Regulatory Research C
incident Response Operations D
General Counsel E*
Administration F
Chief Information Officer G
Chief FinancialOfficer H*
Human Resources i
Small Business & Civil Rights J*
Enforcement K*
I State Program L*
Public Affairs M
International Programs
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- Office of the Secretary O
Region I P
Region ll P
Region lli P
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Region IV P*
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Executive Director for Operations O*
Congressional Affairs R
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- No input this weck.
N J mes L. Blaha
-3 ssistant for Operations, GEDO pd l
Contact:
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T. Hiltz, OEDO on H 9906290005 990609 PDR COMMS NRCC WEEKLYINFOREPT PDR I
0 Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation items of Interest Week Ending June 4,1999 Decommissionino - Millstone Nuclear Power Station Unit 1 On May 27,1999, Northeast Nuclear Energy Company (NNECO), the licensee for Millstone, Unit 1, announced that Entergy Nuclear has been selected to provide management services for the decommissioning of Millstone, Unit 1. Entergy Nuclear is currently managing the decornmissioning of Maine Yankee. The contract between NNECO and Entergy Nuclear became effective June 1,1999. The NNECO announcement stated the decommissioning team would begin work immediately on completing the Post-Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report. This report will outline the proposed decommissioning activities and timetable. Unit 1 has been shutdown since November 5,1995, and the licensee submitted a certification to the NRC dated July 21,1998, that power operations had been permanently ceased and the fuel removed from the reactor vessel.
Decommissionino - Haddam Neck On June 2,1999, NRC held a public meeting with representatives of Connecticut Yankee j
Atomic Power (CY), Bechtel Power Corporation, and Constellation Energy. The representatives discussed the safety requirements for CY to build a natural gas fired gas turbine facility on the site of the decommissioning Haddam Neck reactor in Haddam, Connecticut. The proposed plan would release a portion of the site for unrestricted use to install 800 MWe capacity and.
reuse portions of the existing plant infrastructure. Installation of a natural gas pipeline to fuel the turbines would be necessary. The new electric generation facility would be owned by a third party, with CY retaining the right to evacuate the area if necessary.
CY plans to prepare all required licensing actions by September 1999 and has requested a series of meetings over the summer to address NRC concems. The planned start of construction for the new facility, if approved by all the regulatory bodies concerned, is late 2000.
Construction of the facility would be concurrent with decommiasioning the Haddam Neck Plant.
The new facility would be designed for acceptability with both spent fuel wet storage in the SPF, which is currently in use at the plant, and dry storage in an ISFSI, which will be used in the future.
i Observation of Commonwealth Edison's (Comed's) Centralized Emeraency Operations Facility Functionality A representative from the Emergency Preparedness and Health Physics Section of IOHB/NRR, observed the operation of the new Centralized Emergency Operations Facility (CEOF) during the Dresden full participation emergency preparedness exercise on May 26,1999. The Commission approved the centralized EOF concept for Comed (the licensee) last January in response to SECY-98-274, " Commonwealth Edison Company's Proposal to Centralize its Emergency Operations Facilities at its Corporate Offices." This was the first opportunity to observe the full implementation of the CEOF following completion of this licensing action.
During the exercise, the CEOF operated effectively and functioned as designed. Region 111 Jene 4,1999 ENCLOSURE A
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evaluated licensee performance and participated in the exercise. Headquarters staff also participated.
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State of New York inoestion Pathway Post-Plume Exercise
- On Friday, May 28,1999, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) presented its preliminary findings for the State of New York's ingestion pathway post-plume exercise.
iI' This exercise was a three-day activity based on a scenario invoMng the Indian Point site. The postulated radioactive materials plume and ingestion pathway involved jurisdictions north and west of the site. NRR will consider these findings to determine lessons-learned for application i
to issues associated with the Millstone site and Long Island, i
FEMA identified five minor issues, which are still under consideration in light of additional
' information provided during and after the briefing. One potential issue, that was identified which may be applicable as a lesson-leamed, was the need for improved coordination between organizations on the implementation of protective actions. FEMA's draft report will be prepared in about 30 days and provided to the State for comments.
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June 4,1999 ENCLOSURE A 1
l Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards items of Interest Week Ending June 4,1999 Manaaement Review Board Meetina with Reaion ill On May 24,1999, a Management Review Board (MRB) of senior Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials, along with an Agreement State manager from Maryland, met to review I
the proposed finalIMPEP report of Region Ill. A review team comprised of members from the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, Office of State Programs, Region I, and the state of Georgia conducted the review and presented the proposed final report. The MRB supported the team's findings and directed no substantive changes to the final report. The MRB found Region Ill's Division of Nuclear Materials Safety programs to be satisfactory for all indicators, and technically adequate to support public health and safety.
Mixed Oxid.9 Fuel Meetina i
On May 27,1999, a public meeting was held at Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) l Headquarters regarding proposed plans by the Department of Energy (DOE) to fabricate and l
burn mixed oxide (MOX) fuel utilizing plutonium deemed excess to the U.S. nuclear weapons program. Information was presented by the DOE-selected consortium consisting of Duke l
Power, Cogema Fuels, and Stone & Webster (DCS). Attendees included DCS management, their primary subcontractors, DOE representatives, members of the public, and representatives from the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, Office of the General Counsel, and Office of Administration. The main topics discussed were the DCS strategy for the building and licensing the MOX facility, an overview of the MOX fuel production process, and the estimated schedule for the projec* The 1999 Defense Authorization Act provides authority to the NRC to license a mixed oxide fuel fabrication facility on a DOE site.
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June 4,1999 ENCLOSURE B l
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o Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research items of Interest 1
Week Ending June 4,1999 Draft Reoort. " Evaluation of Air-Ocerated Valves at U.S. Liaht-Water Reactors" On June 3,1999, the draft report, " Evaluation of Air-Operated Valves at U.S. Light Water Reactors," authored by Dr. Harold Ornstein, RES, and its INEEL draft companion document, "A Study of Air-Operated Valves in Nuclear Power Plants," INEEUEXT-98-00383, were issued for peer review. On June 3,1999, nuclear industry representatives met with NRC (RES/NRR) to discuss industry AOV initiatives and cooperative efforts with NRC to address AOV issues.
The draft RES report was provided to the meeting attendees.
The NRC study was initiated by the Office for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data and was completed by the Regulatory Effectiveness Assessment and Human Factors Branch of the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
The study objective was to provide an assessment of U.S. experience related to AOVs to balp the NRC determine if additional attention needs to be focused on AOVs.
l The reports describe the findirigs and conclusions which resulted from visits to 7 U.S. light-I water reactor sites at which there were 11 operating reactors, and from reviews of AOV operating experience.
The study includes information on over 100 events which include common-cause failures or degradations of AOVs in important systems such as emergency core cooling systems, residual heat removal systems, auxiliary feedwater systems, emergency ac power systems, and boiling-water reactor scram systems.
All of the plants visited had initiated AOV programs. Many but not all of the prograrns focus on activities to confirm the capability and operability of important AOVs. There are large plant-to-plant variations in the types, numbers, applications and risk.importance of AOVs, and there are significant programmatic and schedular differences between the plants' AOV programs. The AOV programs at all of the plants visited used risk informed methodologies from the plant PRAs and maintenance rule to categorize the plant AOV populations. Paralleling motor operated valve (MOV) experience, many licensees (in addition to those at the plants visited during this study) have used newly developed diagnostic equipment to discover deficiencies and i
weaknesses in the design, analysis, maintenance and testing of AOVs.
The AOV programs described in the study are voluntary and there are no explicit regulatory requirements governing them. The study conciudes that implementation of an effective AOV program can minimize the likelihood for common cause AOV failures.
The Regulatory Effectiveness Assessment and Human Factors Branch is planning to work with NRR, other RES staff, NEl, AOV-Joint Owners Group, and ASME to communicate these lessons of operating experience.
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June 4,1999 ENCLOSURE C
w These draft reports will be issued as NUREG and NUREG/CR reports after peer review and revision as necessary.
Meetina of Standards Develooment Oraanizations On May 26,1999, the NRC hosted the first coordination meeting with standards development organizations (SDOs). The NRC frequently endorses consensus standards that have been developed by SDOs in its regulatory documents. John Craig, the NRC Standards Executive, chaired the meeting with support from NMSS and NRR. The concept of coordination meetingo to foster better communication between the NRC and the SDOs was proposed by SDO representatives at an NRC public workshop on standards held in Chicago in September 1998.
- Subsequently, SECY-99-029 on the NRC's development and use of consensus standards incorporated coordination meetings with SDOs as an integral part of the NRC standards effort.
in addition to the NRC, the participants were the American Concrete Institute, American Nuclear Society, American Society of Civil Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, American Society of Testing and Materials, Health Physics Society, institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Intemational Society of Instrumentation, National Fire Protection Association, and the Nuclear Energy Institute. The participants concluded that this meeting was very useful and should be held periodically to discuss policy issues. It was acknowledged by all that the resources being devoted to standards activities are diminishing, making regular interaction of standards stakeholders an important part of planning.
Participants agreed that coordination meetings with standards stakeholders could fill a void created by tha dissolution of the ANSI Nuclear Standards Board by addressing policy issues such as standards implementation problems, needs, and priorities. The next rneeting will be held within 6 months.
The topics discussed at the SDO meeting were identifying the need for new or revised standards from the perspective of both the industry and the NRC, determining the appropriate
' SDO to develop the new standards, clearly defining the scope of the needed change, and setting priorities and schedules for the new or revised standard. Additional topics included the length of time between identification of need for a standard and NRC's endorsement of the standard, the level of NRC's participation in SDOs, the time required for SDOs to develop or revise standards, and the level of resources or level of participation in standards development.
I NRC activities related to the implementation of Public Law 104-113 and OMB Circular A-119 were also discussed.
NAS Meetina on the Performance of Enaineered Barriers The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) senior staff requested a meeting with RES staff to
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discuss a proposed study on engineered barrier performance for contaminated sites and disposal facilities. The meeting focused on the proposed study's objective of providing information and real-world experiences needed to model, analyze, and confirm the performance of various engineered barriers (e.g., earthen covers, geosynthetics, concrete structures, waste
. package,' waste forms). The value of engineered barriers was discussed in the context of their contribution to limiting doses calculated in performance assessments of radioactive waste disposal facilities and contaminated sites. The proposed study would include modeling the time-dependent degradation of the barriers in specific geologic environments, analyzing June 4,1999 ENCLOSURE C
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laboratory and field data, and identifying critical research needs. The performance of engineered barriers for both physical and chemical containment of waste has taken on an important and critical role in waste disposal facilities, primarily because of the considerable j
uncertainties in characterizing the capability of the geologic media surrounding the radioactive j
materials to limit dose. The NAS staff intends to hold similar discussions with engineers and scientists from the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Defense, and the Electric Power Research Institute before a draft copy of the study proposal will be circulated to interested agencies.
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i June 4,1999 ENCLOSURE C
Incident Response Operations items of Interest Week Ending June 4,1999 PRELIMINARY NOTIFICATIONS:
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PNO-ll-99-020, U.S. Depa.1 ment of the Navy, PRESS INTEREST IN EVENT INVOLVING DEPLETED URANIUM AMMUNITION 2.
PNO-Ill-99-020, Midmichigan Medical Center, MEDICAL MISADMINISTRATION i
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Office of Administration items of Interest Week Ending June 4,1999 Procurement Executive Council On June 3,1999, Mary Lynn Scott, DCPM, participated in a meeting of the Procurement Executive Council. This meeting focused on reports from the acquisition workforce, electronic
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commerce, performance measurement subcommittees, and an update of the Federal Acquisition Institute's on-line training. In open discussions, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy stated that legislation has been proposed to extend the simplified acquisition commercial item pilot for two years. This pilot, which permits the use of simplified acquisition procedures for commercial items procuremer ts valued at up to $5M, would expire on January 1,2000.
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Chief information Officer Items of Interest Week Ending June 4,1999 Freedom of Information and Privacy Act Reauests received durina the 4-Day Period of May 28.1999 throuah June 04.1999:
l Ol report 1-94-021. (FOINPA 99-246)
St. Lucie,12/10/97 memo to F. Hebdon from J. Calvo re Task Interface Agreement St. Lucie Unit 1 Environmental Qualification of the Woodward Govemor Controls. (FOINPA 99-247) i First Energy Corp. 'in Ohio, DOL vs. Centerior Energy, et al., Case # 97-ERA-43.
(FOINPA 99-248)
Operator licensing cracking system listing by facility. (FOINPA 99-249) l 6
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Office of Human Resources items of interest Week Ending June 4,1999 Arrivals BYRD, Calvin BRANCH CHIEF ADM GARVEY, Eric SUMMER LEGAL INTERN OGC JOSEPH, Alix SUMMER LEGAL INTERN OGC POOLE, Carolyn SECRETARY (OA)
Ril STRZELEC, Amanda SUMMER TECHNICAL INTERN RI WILLIAMS, Terrie BUDGET ANALYST OCFO Retirements DEAGAZIO, Albert SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER NRR DONNELLY, Lloyd SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE RES DIRECTOR HOPKINS, Perry PROJECT ENGINEER Rll INGRAM, Roberta SENIOR MANAGEMENT ANALYST NRR Departures HUGHITT, Nancy HR ASSISTANT HR j
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June 4,1999 ENCLOSUREI
Office of Public Affairs items of Interest Week Ending June 4,1999 Media Interest There was media interest in the bornb threat at headquarters.
The Charlotte Observer is preparing an article on Duke Power.
Press Releases Headquarters:
99-113 NRC issues License Amendment Approving Stabilization Plan for Atlas Uranium Mill Tailings Pile in Utah 99-114 NRC Headquarters Temporarily Closed B cars of Bomb Threat 99-115 NRC Makes Available Staff Recommendations for Propos?d Rule on Certain Uranium and Plutonium Facilities99-116 NRC Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste to Meet in San Antonio, Texas Regions:
l-99-51 Note to Editors: NRC Staff to Hold Performance Evaluation l
Meeting at Limerick l-99-52 NRC Commissioner Merrifield to Hold Press Briefing at Seabrook l-99-53 NRC Proposes $4,400 Fine Against New Jersey Medical Facility for Firing Employee Who Raised Safety Concern 111-99-34 NRC Staff to Meet with FirstEnergy Officials to Discuss Performance at Davis-Besse Nuclear Plant l
111-99-35 NRC Staff to Hold Predecisional Enforcement Conference on Response to Fire at Portsmouth Uranium Enrichment Plant 111 00-36 NRC Staff Schedules Public Meeting June 14 to Describe New NRC Inspection Program for Prairie Island Nuclear Station c
June 4,1999 ENCLOSURE M l
Office of the Secretary items of Interest Week Ending June 4,1999 t
Document Released Date Subject to Public Decision Documents 1.
,SECY-99-128 5/6/99 Proposed License to Export Natural Uranium to Canada for Test and Evaluation of Avlis Feed Material (Application No.
XSOU8762)
SRM ON 99-128 6/2/99 (same)
Commission Voting 6/2/99 (same) -
Record on 99-128 2.
SRM on SECY-99-054 6/3/99 Plans for Final Rule - Revisions to 10 CFR Parts 50,52, and 72: Requirements Concerning Changes, Tests, and Experiments 3.
SECY-99-083 3/19/99 Fiscal Year 1998 NRC Annual Report SRM on SECY-99-083 6/4/99 (same)
Commission Voting 6/4/99 (same)
Record on 99-083 Negative Consent Documents 1.
SECY-99-099 3/31/99 Transmittal of the Staff's Safety Evaluation of DOE's Topical Report on the Tritium Production Core SRM on 99-099 5/18/99 (same)
Chmn Jackson 4/26/99 (same) comment on 99-099 Cmr Diaz comment on 4/21/99 (same)99-099 4
Cmr McGaffigan 4/21/99 (same) comment on 99-099 Cmr Merrifield comment 4/7/99 (same) on 99-099 June 4,1999 ENCLOSURE O
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SRM on SECY-98-251 6/3/99 SRM - SECY-98-251 - Decommissioning and 99-057 Criteria for West Valley and SECY-99-057 -
Supplement to SECY-98-251,
" Decommissioning Criteria for West Valley" Commission Voting 6/3/99 SECY-98-251 - Decommissioning Criteria Record for West Valley Commission Voting 6/3/99 SECY-99-057 - Supplement to SECY Record 251," Decommissioning Criteria for West Valley" Information Paper 1.
SECY-99-137 5/20/99 Weekly Information Report - Week Ending May 14,1999 Memoranda 1.
M990505A 6/2/99 SRM - Briefing on Safeguards Performance Assessment, May 5,1999 Commission Corresoondence 1.
Letter to Congress, dated May 27,1999, provides the " Report to Congress on Abnormal Occurrences, Fiscal Year 1998" for events at nuclear facilities 2.
Letter to Senators Joseph I. Lieberman and Christopher J. Dodd and Representative Sam Gejdenson, dated May 25,1999, provides a Notice of Violation issued to Northeast Utilities regarding the Millstone Unit 1 spent fuel pool and fuel offloading practices 3.
Letter to Congress, dated May 25,1999, concerns issuance of the NRC staff's safety evaluation report on the DOE topical report on the tritium production core 4.
Letter to Dennis Donald, The Keystone Center, dated May 25,1999, concerns the NRC staff's participation in meetings of the Keystone National Policy Dialogue on Commercial Nuclear Reactor Deccmmissioning Issues 5.
Letter to George E. Apostolakis, dated May 21,1999, offers a reappointment to a four-year term on the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards Federal Reaister Notices issued 1.
Report to Congress on Abnormal Occurrences; Fiscal Year 1998; Dissemination of Information 2.
U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Seeks Qualified Candidates for the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards; Request for R6 sum 6s 3.
10 CFR Part 50; Consideration of Potassium lodide in Emergency Plans; Proposed Rule June 4,1999 ENCLOSURE O
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Region I ltems of Interest Week Ending June 4,1999 l
Gamma Knife initiative l
Gamma Knives are special teletherapy machines that enable precise focusing of a gamma ray l
beam on intracranial abnormalities. Because of the recent increased use of these machines i
(there currently are six in Region I, most installed in the last two years and it is expected that I
interest in this technology will continue). Region I has initiated a training program to introduce the operational and safety features of Gamma Knife machines to more materials licensing and inspection personnel, as well as to key managers.
I Phase one of the Region l Gamma Knife initiative commenced on June 3,1999, at Lancaster General Hospital, Lancaster, PA. Introductory training was provided to two Region I managers and three staff on the safety features of the device and new source loading procedures. The machine was loaded with 201 cobalt-60 sources of approximately 30 curies each by i
_ Elekta / Alpha Omega, the unit vendor. Licensee staff monitored the source loading activities.
Phase 11 of the Gamma Knife initiative will be conducted on June 9-10,1999 also at Lancaster General Hospital. Phase 11 will include classroom and practical training on th's ui t structure, components, safety features and interlocks. An introduction to treatment plann' uill also be included.
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June 4,1999 ENCLOSURE P
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I Region 11 q
ltems of interest
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Week Ending June 4,1999
-. Duke Enerav Corooration - Oconee Nuclear Plant l
As a part of the license renewal inspection program for the Oconee nuclear reactor site, Region ll inspectors were onsite from June 1 - June 4,1999. The focus of the inspections was
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to review the licensee's program for coatings inside the containment structure and for the in i
service inspection of certain systems. The inspections were conducted during a refueling outage in order to maximize observation of the structures, systems and components that are affected by these programs. The findings from these inspections will be included in the second license renewal inspection planned for July 1999 to review the licensee's aging management programs.
Institute of Nuclear Power Ooerations Presentation On June 4, the Director, Division of Reactor Projects facilitated a training session at the INPO New Operations Manager Seminar. The session focused on building effective relationships with the regulator.
New Radiation Safety Committee Meetina On June 2, the Regional Administrator and the Navy Master Materials License Project Manager attended the Navy's quarterly Radiation Safety Committee (RSC) meeting in Crystal City, Virginia. The Project Manager also conducted an exit meeting with the RSC on the results of the NRC's annual review of the Navy's licensed materials program. The review included the results of several facility inspections in all four regions. No violations were identified and the RSC oversight of the materials program was found to be effective.
i June 4,1999 ENCLOSURE P-
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Region lli ltems of Interest Week Ending June 4,1999 Insoection Exit Meetina - Palisades Soent Fuel Cask Loadina Members of the Region lll staff met June 1,1999, with Consumers Energy Company officials to discuss the findings of an inspection of the utility's preparations for loading additional spent fuel t
storage casks at the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant. The meeting was attended by members of 1
the public and two news media representatives.
i Commissioner Merrifield Soeaks at insoector Seminar The Region lll Inspector Seminar was held June 2-4,1999, in the regional office.
. Commissioner Jeffrey Merrifield spoke to the regional staff on June 4.
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June 4,1999 ENCLOSURE P
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