ML20202H536

Weekly Info Rept for Wk Ending 990115

ML20202H536
Person / Time
Issue date:	01/21/1999
From:	Blaha J NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO)
To:
References
SECY-99-020, SECY-99-020-R, SECY-99-20, SECY-99-20-R, WIR-990115, NUDOCS 9902080118
Download: ML20202H536 (21)

Text

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• UNITED STATES '***********************

NUCLEAR REGULATORY CONMISSiOs EASED TO THE PDR  !

CASHINGTON, D. C. 2066$ ) ,

IN FO RM ATION R ER0RTf. . . . . . . . Mi. . . ,

January 21.1999 SECY 99-020 Egr: The Commissioners From: James L. Blaha, Assistant for Operations, Office of the EDO Subiect: WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING JANUARY 15,1999 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 Financial Officer H*

Human Resources I Small Business & Civil Rights J*

Enforcement K*

State Program L*

Public Affairs M International Program N Office of the Secretary O Region i P Region ll p Region 111 p Region IV P Executive Director for Operations Congressional Affairs O* h R I

• No input this week.

eA I ames L. BIaha Assistant for Operations, OEDO

Contact:

M. Evans, OEDO O80007 I MA*!8AA,BM8,c"*

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Ag . fu/

- F.

w Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Items of Interest Week Ending January 15,1999 Seabrook Station Unit 1 On September 29,1998, North Atlantlc Energy Service Corporation submitted a license transfer application. The proposed transfer of interest would authorize a new company, cclied the Little Bay Power Corporation (Little Bay), to possess ownership in the Seabrook Station previously controlled by Montaup Electric Company (Montaup). Little Bay would be a wholly owned subsidiary of BayCorp Holdings, Ltd., which is the holding Company that also owns Great Bay Power Corporation. -

' On December 31,1998, a motion was filed on behalf of New England Power Company (NEP), l a joint owner of the Seabrook Station, to intervene in the proceedings and petition either for a ,

summary relief or for a hearing. The summary relief would require that Montaup remain {

contingently responsible should Little Bay prove unable to meets its financial obligations.

Otherwise, the subject of the hearing would be the issue of financial qualification. i On January 11,1999, a separate motion was filed on behalf of The United illuminating Company (Ul), another joint owner of the Seabrook Station, to intervene in the proceedings. UI supports the remedy proposed by NEP and, in addition, proposed alternate remedies.

Prairie Island Recovery from Station Auxiliarv Transformer Exolosion and Fire As reported last week, on January 5,1999, the Unit 1 station auxiliary transformer (M1) exploded and ignited an oil fire. The loss of the station auxiliary transformer interrupted power to the Unit 1 nonsafety-related electrical buses, causing a loss of power to the feedwater and reactor coolant pumps. Subsequently, the reactor tripped from 100 percent power. All safety systems functioned as designed. During the fire, two circuit breakers in the switchyard tripped, de-energizing the Unit 1 reserve auxiliary transformer (R1). This caused a safety-related bus to automatically transfer to another transformer. Offsite power sources were not affected. The fire was extinguished within 15 minutes by the onsite fire brigade. There were no personnel injuries.

Within about 6 hours6.944444e-5 days <br />0.00167 hours <br />9.920635e-6 weeks <br />2.283e-6 months <br /> from the initiation of the event, the licensee restored power to the

' nonsafety-related buses by cross-tying on to the Unit 2 station auxiliary transformer (R2), and both reactcr coolant pumps were returned to service restoring a forced circulation in the primary system.

The licensee subasquently restored R1 transformer back in service and realigned the Unit 1 nonsafety related buses to R1 transformer which is the normal backup power source to M1 transformer. On January 11,1999, the licensee initiated restart of the unit and the unit was online the following day. As of 9:00 a.m. on January 13,1999, Unit 1 was at 100 percent power. M1 transformer remains out-of-service, and the licensee plans to operate the unit in the current configuration for the next 3 months until the end of the current operating cycle (mid April 1999). The licensee plans to take the damaged M1 transformer offsite for a root cause analysis, and install a spare transformer that is available onsite upon completion of an operability determination of the spare transformer.

January 15,1999 ENCLOSURE A

Unit 2, which was not affected by last week's event, was operating at 99 percent power as of 9:00 a.m. on January 13,1999.

Perry Nuclear Power Plant 1

! On January 11,1999, the licensee informed the staff that they had confirmed the existence of a third fuel pin leak. Previous fuel pin leaks were determined on September 2,1998, and

- October 28,1998. All three fuel leaks have been described as very tight and there does not appear to be any commonality between them.

The facility is currently operating at full powar with six control rods fully inserted to suppress the

leaks. The licensee does not plan to shut down until the start of the seventh refueling outage I

which is currently scheduled to begin on March 27,1999. Due to the ongoing suppression activities, the licensee anticipates to begin coastdown next month and predicts to be at approximately 78% power at the end of this cycle.

The staff has received 2.206 petitions from the Union of Concerned Scientists regarding operation with known fuel leaks for both the Peny and River Bend Stations.

Uodate on Status of insoection and Reolacement of Baffle-Former Bolts at Point Beach Unit 2 in December, the Wisconsin Electric Power Company began a voluntary program at Point Beach Unit 2 to inspect, replace, and test baffle-former bolts, located in the reactor internals, under the provisions of 10 CFR 50.59. Staff from Reactor Projects and the Division of Engineering visited the site last week to observe the replacement and test activities, and to I

discuss with the licensee results from the baffle-former bolt work, plans for completion of the bolt removal and test activities, and plans for hot cell evaluation of removed bolts.

The inspection of the bolts was completed in December. As a result of a recent re-evaluation of .

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the inspection criteria, indications were reported in 55 of the 728 baffle-former bolts at Point  !

Beach, or 7.5% of the bolts. This was consistent with WOG expectations, based on foreign experience and their current understanding of this issue.

l The bolt replacement activities, scheduled for completion this week, are focused on replacing a portion of the bolts (~175 or ~24%), determined by the licensee to be sufficient to withstand i design basis loading conditions, with all of the non-replaced bolts assumed to support no load in the evaluation. To date after removal of 145 bolts, six of the removed bolts have been found to be degraded, such that the bolt head and shank have become separated during removal or l' upon initiation of destructive testing.

Metallurgical examinatioa of bolts removed from both Point Beach Unit 2 and Farley Unit 1 will be performed later this year to provide understanding of the cracking mechanism (s) and controlling factors, such as neutron fluence, material composition, water chemistry, and applied I loading. It is expected that the Westinghouse Owners Group (WOG) will provide the staff with their assessment of the plant findings at a future meeting between the WOG and NRC staff.

Additional plants expected to inspect (and potentially replace) baffle-former bolts this year include Ginna (2-loop Westinghouse) and Farley Unit 2 (3-loop Westinghouse).

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- January 15,1999 ENCLOSURE A l

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t Audit of Limerick's NRC Bulletin 96-03 Resolution On January 11-13,1999, the staff conducted an audit of Limerick's resolution of the Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) Emergency Core Cooling System (ECCS) Strainer Clogging issue which the licensee implemented in response to NRC Bulletin 96-03. This licensee installed an ABB star suppression pool strainer design which is only being used by Limerick and Peach Bottom.

This audit is the first of 4 to 6 audits which the staff is conducting to monitor implementation of the requested actions in NRC Bulletin 96-03 in anticipation of closing the generic issue. BWR licensees have implemented their strainer resolutions under 10 CFR 50.59 with no prior review by the staff (i.e., the licensees concluded that installing new strainers does not constitute an unreviewed safety question).

During the audit, the staff reached the following main conclusions:

1. The licensee used a very conservative methodology for sizing the ECCS suction strainers. The staff's independent calculations confirmed that there is substantial margin in the licensee's design and agreed with the licensee's head loss and net positive suction head calculations.

2. The licensee used a very robust structural design for its strainers.

3. The licensee maintained its existing licensing basis for calculating hydrodynamic loads on the submerged strainers and their associated supports.

4. The licensee has implemented an adequate suppression pool cleanliness program as well as appropriate procedures for foreign material exclusion, and suppression pool / strainer inspections to ensure that the strainer design basis will not be exceeded due to excessive buildup of foreign material in the suppression pool or other areas that communicate with the suppression pool.

January 15,1999 ENCLOSURE A

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Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Items of Interest Week Ending January 15,1999 BarnwellInitiative Abandoned l i l In the first week of January 1999, Chem-Nuclear Systems announced that it had abandoned its l l plan for guaranteeing long-term access to the low-level radioactive waste disposal facility at I l

Barnwell, South Carolina. The so-called Barnwell Initiative involved generators committing to purchase at least 4 million cubic feet of disposal capacity for use over the next 25 years. The current state tax of $235 per cubic foot would have been replaced by an annual payment to the state of $75 million, and a trust fund of $1 billion at the end of 25 years. The South Carolina legislature would have had to approve such a change, if sufficient commitments had been obtained. Commitments from generators totaled 1,227,565 cubic feet. Chem-Nuclear is now exploring other unidentified options.

An advisory group to Governor-elect Jim Hodges has recommended closing the site to all ,

generators outside of South Carolina, and a bill has been introduced in the legislature to rejoin '

l the Southeast Compact and limit waste disposal to member states of the Compact.

Meetina with Nucur FJL et Services On January 6,1999, the Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards, Fuel Cycle Licensing Branch (FCLB), met with Nuclear Fuel Services (NFS) representatives at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Headquarters to discuss FCLB-proposed conditions for the renewal of their SNM license. FCLB has proposed a number of conditions in the technical areas of chemical, fire, and nuclear criticality safety; integrated safety analysis; configuration management and maintenance; and plant decommissioning. FCLB has also proposed a license condition that would allow the licensee to make certain changes to their operations without NRC review and approval. NFS has agreed to provide commitments that address many of the proposed conditions, and to propose alternate commitments for other proposed conditions, with the goal of reducing the number of conditions in the renewed license.

Public Meetina on Medical Pilot for Streamlined Insoections and Enforcement On January 8,1999, the Division of industrial and Medical Nuclear Safety conducted a public i meeting, in Rockville, Maryland, to obtain early input to the development of inspection guidance l for a pilot program in nuclear medicine, which is intended to streamline the inspection and l enforcement program. The pilot will involve only nuclear medicine programs using unsealed radioactive material for diagnosis and radiopharmaceuticals for therapy. The focus of the meeting was discussion of the basis for and content of a draft Temporary Instruction (TI) for the medical pilot, prepared by a working group. The draft Tl was available to the public on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) website in advance of the meeting, in attendance from the public were representatives from the American College of Radiology, the American College of Nuclear Physicians, the Council on Radionuclides and Radiopharmaceuticals, the Health i

Physics Society, and the Society of Nuclear Medicine. NRC participants and observers I included Headquarters staff from the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, the Office of Enforcement, and the Office of the Inspector General, as well as Regional staff.

l !anuary 15,1999 ENCLOSURE B 1

. 1 Briefino from the Food and Drua Administration on its Performance-Based inspection Process initiatives On January 11,1999, representatives from the Division of Industrial and Medical Nuclear Safety, Rulemaking and Guidance Branch (RGB), met at a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) facility in Gaithersburg, Maryland, with representatives of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH). The purpose of the meeting was for RGB staff to receive a briefing on the CDRH's initiatives for performance based inspections for medical product producers and to share with the FDA some preliminary information about the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC's) proposed new directions for material licensee performance-based inspection and enforcement. The meeting was a fol'ow up to an action item from the most recent annual meeting on the FDA/NRC Memorandum of Understanding, held November 19,1998. Information was presented on CDRH's pilot use of both the Quality System Inspection Technique approach and the complimentary Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points approach for medical product producer inspections.

Prooosed Rule Published to Add the Holtec HI-STAR 100 Soent Fuel Storace Cask Desian On January 11,1999, a proposed rule was published in the Federal Reaister to add the Holtec Hi-STAR 100 spent fuel storage cask design to the list of approved spent fuel storage cask designs contained in 10 CFR 72.214. The comment period for this proposed rule ends March 29,1999. The HI-STAR 100 cask is a dual-purpose, all metal, design for both the storage and transportation of spent fuel. A cask can contain up to 24 pressurized water reactor or 68 boiling water reactor spent fuel assemblies.

Spent Fuel Project Office Meets with Portland General Electric On January 12,1999, a meeting was held between the Spent Fuel Project Office (SFPO) and Portland General Electric (PGE) to discuss the remaining issues that require resolution before SFPO can license PGE to operate an independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) at Trojan Nuclear Plant. At the meeting, PGE addressed staff questions concerning the safety analysis report and the technical specifications. Based on the discussions, PGE committed to revise those documents and resubmit them by January 22,1999. PGE plans to begin operating the ISFSI at Trojan in April 1999.

Corrosion Problems identified in BU-7 Uranium Oxide Shiocino Containers On January 13,1999, the Spent Fuel Project Office was notified that severe corrosion had been observed in BU-7 shipping containers. The BU 7 package is used to ship low-enriched uranium powders and pellets. It consists of a 55-gallon outer drum, and an inner container with a bolted closure lid. The region between the outer drum and the inner container is filled with a rigid phenolic foam. The corrosion was observed on the steel surfaces in contact with the phenolic foam, including the inner container closure bolts. All affected BU 7 containers are currently in storage at the BWX Technologies, Inc., site in Lynchburg, Virginia. The corrosion was observed in containers stored in three separate locations and environments, and was observed both in fi!)ed and empty containers. BWX is working with the manufacturer to determine the cause of the corrosion.

January 15,1999 ENCLOSURE B t

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Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeauards Meets with New Nuclear Enerav Institute Decommissionina Group On January 13,1999, the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES), Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, and Spent Fuel Project Office (SFPO) management met with members of a new group formed at the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) to discuss three 10 CFR Part 72 licensing issues pertaining to decommissioning reactors. The NEl group was interested in the status of the Trojan Petition for Rulemaking to allow the licensing of greater than Class C (GTCC) wastes under Part 72. Potential legal issues were desenbed and available regulatory alternatives were clarified. The second issue addressed was the need for decommissioned reactors to store high burnup spent fuel (> 45,000 MWD /MTU)in dry storage casks so that the l

spent fuel pools can be decommissioned and the Part 50 license terminated. SFPO and RES described the Agency's efforts to obtain the necessary data to support the technical criteria for dry cask storage of high burnup fuel. The NEl group indicated that they were more concerned with burnups in the range of 50,000 MWD /MTU rather than 65,000 - 70,000 MWD /MTU, and that they thought that fuel vendors had data available to support its licensing. Both parties agreed on the need for future meetings to clarify decommissioned reactors' fuel burnup and Nuclear Regulatory Commission specific data requirements. The third area of interest to the NEl Decommissioning Group was efforts related to dry cask storage approval for high seismic sites. SFPO mentioned its request for confirmatory research, review of a high seismic topical report, and discussions with the Electric Power Research Institute.

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1 January 15,1999 ENCLOSURE B i

Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research items of Interest Week Ending January 15,1999 Availability of Additional Decommissionina Cost Estimatina Option in NUREG-1307. Revision 8.

"Reporj on Waste Burial Charaes" In response to an industry request (NEI), the Division of Regulatory Applications staff reevaluated the prescribed options available to power reactor licensees for estimating the decommissioning waste disposal costs. This estimate is needed , as part of the annual update estimate for the total decommissioning cost, that is required by 50.75 to ensure that adequate

, money will be available to complete decommissioning. The result of the staff's investigation l was to include an option which provided for the use of current processing and treatment technologies prior to waste disposal. Information for evaluating this option, as well as the updato information for estimating the cost of such waste disposal by sending it directly to available low-level-waste disposal facilities, has been incorporated into the recently published l

revision 8 of this NUREG The staff published this NUREG, on December 15,1998, to provide licensees sufficient time to incorporate updated information in reports on the status of their decommissioning funds that are due March 31,1999. This revision has also been placed on the NRC Web site to make it easily accessible to the public. A PWR licensee who plans to choose this new option, instead of directly disposing of the waste at Barnwell (the only facility available to most licensees), could lower their decommissioning cost estimate by as much as i $200 million.

Draft Guidance on Intearity of Steam Generator Tubes Draft Regulatory Guide DG-1074, " Steam Generator Tube Integrity," was issued recently for l public comment. This guide is being developed to describe methods acceptable to the NRC staff for monitoring and maintaining the integrity of the steam generator tubes at operating pressurized water reactors.

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! January 15,1999 ENCLOSURE C l

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Incident Response Operations Items of Interest Week Ending January 15,1999 NSTAC Year 2000 Meetina On the morning of January 13,1999, Joe Giitter, leader of the NRC's Y2K contingency plan task force, participated in the President's National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) Year 2000 Subgroup Meeting. John O'Keefe from the Department of State (DOS) saia that at 10:00 pm on December 31,1999 U.S. embassies will switch over to emergency power and will rely on satellite-based communication systems to communicate with the DOS Operatione Center. Lacy Suiter of FEMA outlined the comprehensive effort underway to prepare for Y2K telated problems. This effort includes development of a Federal Response Plan Supplement for Y2K, three rounds of workshops at all ten FEMA regions, a national tabletop exercise, and extended staffing of the FEMA HQ Operations Center and all ten FEMA Regional Operations Centers around the Y2K transition period. (NRC has been working closely l with FEMA on Y2K readiness as representatives on the Catastrophic Disaster Response Group (CDRG) and the Y2K Emergency Services Sector Working Group.) The National Communications System (NCS) discussed the National Telecommunications Coordinating Network (NTCN) and National Coordinating Center (NCC) Conference Bridge that is being l developed to facilitate government crisis communication during the Y2K transition. This l network, which will include the NRC Operations Center, is designed to function even if there is a loss of the public switched network. One of the issues that emerged from the meeting was the need for utilities to work with the local telephone companies to ensure that telecommunications systems relied on to monitor and control the transmission and distribution of electric power and for emergency response will not be affected by the Y2K transition.

PRELIMINARY NOTIFICATIONS:

1. PNO-l-99-002, Defense Logistics Agency, CONTAMINATED PACKAGE

2. PNO-Ill-98-0588, Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, FIRE IN PROCESS BUILDING -

, SECOND UPDATE (Note: First update was sent 12/9/98,058A was sent 12/15/98 and l

update 058B was sent 1/13/99)

3. PNO-ill-99-002, Illinois Power Co. (Clinton 1), PARTIAL LOSS OF OFFSITE POWER

4. PNO-IV-99-001, California Licensee, INTRAVASCULAR RADIOTHERAPY MISADMINISTRATION

5. PNO-IV-99-002, Schnitzer Steel, NUCLEAR GAUGES FOUND AT OREGON SCRAP DEALER

6. PNO-IV-99 003, East Jeff General Hospital, HIGH DOSE RATE REMOTE AFTERLOADER SOURCE DISCONNECT l 7. PNO-IV-99-03A, East Jeff General Hospital, HIGH DOSE RATE REMOTE I AFTERLOADER SOURCE DISCONNECT - UPDATE l

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8. PNO-IV-99-004, Sperry-Sun Drilling Services, Inc., LOSS OF 2 CURIE CESIUM 137 DENSITY LOGGING SOURCE DURING SHIPMENT January 15,1999 ENCLOSURE D

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Office of Administration items of Interest Week Ending January 15,1999 Reduction of Warehouse Soace 1 As a result of several initiatives including "just-in-time," which has reduced the Warehouse inventory, we determined that a portion of the NRC Warehouse can be released. Accordingly,

, we notified the General Services Administration of our intent to release 10,000 square feet of

! space in the Warehouse by April 23,1999. Release of the space is contingent upon completing necessary building modifications to reconfigure remaining Warehouse space.

List of Aporoved Storaae Casks: Addition (Part 72)

A proposed rule that would add the Holtec International Hi-Star 100 cask system to the list of l approved spent fue! storage casks was published in the Federal Register on January 11,1999 (64 FR 1542). The proposed rule would allow holders of power reactor operating licenses to stc.e spent fuelin the Hi-Star cask system under a generallicense. The comment period for this proposed rule closes March 29,1999.

l NRC's Reevelina Proaram On Monday, January 11,1999, DAS staff met with Arthur McIntye and Sally Guardia, Office of ,

the Architect of the U.S. Capitol. Mr. McIntye requested the meeting to discuss NRC's success I

criteria for recycling paper. The NRC program earned $42,052 for 205 tons of recycled paper in FY 1998. The House and Senate Office buildings with a total of 2,210 tons of recycled l

paper earned $30,661.

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January 15,1999 ENCLOSURE F l

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Chief information Officer items of Interest Week Ending January 15,1999 l Freedom of Information and Privacy Act Reauests received durina the 5-Day Period of l January 8.1999 throuah January 14.1999:

MLTS database for Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, Florida. (FOINPA 99-085)

Named individual, Millstone feedwater injection investigation testimony. (FOINPA 99-086)

Environmental assessment of property at Star Jet Service, Inc.,9208 W. Reno, Oklahoma City, OK. (FOIA/PA 99-087)

Ore producers listing for 1942 to 1947. (FOIA/PA 99-088)

Plutonium r'eceipts for shipment and/or delivery between identified sites located in Washingt( 1 state and New Mexico in 1945. (FOIA/PA 99-089)

L Training and orientation materials since 8/95 used in connection with supervisory positions.

(FOINPA 99-090)

Taiwan, shipment plans for low level waste to North Korea and/or the Republic's of Georgia or I Russia. (FOIA/PA 99-091)

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January 15,1999 ENCLOSURE G

l Office of Human Resources Items of Interest Week Ending January 15,1999 Cataracts and Laser Eve Correction Proaram Held On January 12,1999, the Health Center sponsored an employee education program on cataracts and laser eye correction. Dr. Harry Huang, an ophthalmologist and refractive surgeon, discussed the diagnosis and treatment of cataracts. The emphasis of his talk, however, was on laser eye surgery, an exciting new concept in the correction of nearsightedness, astigmatism and, in some cases, farsightedness. More than 100 employees attended this very interesting and informative seminar.

Arrivals LUI, Christiana SYS PERFORMANCE ANALYST (HP) NMSS MEHRHOFF, Vivian SECRETARY (OA) NMSS Retirements CALLAHAN, Michael SR CONGRESSIONAL LIAISON OFCR OCA CHEN, Eileen SECTION CHIEF OClO FLING, Deborah BRANCH OHIEF OClO LAMBERT, Janet SR PROJECT MANAGER NMSS MAYS, Alice MANAGEMENT ANALYST HR SHAO, Lawrence DIRECTOR, DET RES STOLZ, John CHIEF, PECB NRR SUMMERS, Roxanne SR POLICY ANALYST ACRS PEEBLES, Thomas BRANCH CHIEF Ril l

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i' Office o' Public Affairs Items of Interest l l Week Ending January 15,1999 i

l Media Intgrest i l l Newsday is ptblishing a story on emergency planning on Long Island for the Millstone plant. I Region 11 reported press interest in the spent fuel pool issue at Shearon Harris.

l The Cleveland Plain Dealer is publishing a story on leaking fuel rods at Perry.

The Chicago Sun-Times is preparing an article on six workers at Zion who alleged I discrimination.

Press Releases ,

Headquarters: l 99-05 NRC Staff Schedules Conference March 3-5 to Discuss Regulatory issues With Nuclear Industry 99-06 Note to Editors: ACRS meeting February 2 99-07 NRC Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards to Meet in Rockville, Maryland 99-08 NRC Proposes to Amend Regulations to Add Hi Star Fuel Storage Cask Design to Approved List 99-09 Chairman Jackson Directs Staff Review, Appropriate Corrective Actions Based on inspector General Report Concerning Millstone Regions:

l-99-03 NRC, Washington (D.C.) Hospital to Discuss Apparent Violations l-99-04 NRC Sets Public Meeting on Indian Point 1 Decommissioning Plans 1 99-05 Note to Editors: Washington Hospital Center meeting postponed I-99-06 NRC Monitoring Unusual Event at Fitzpatrick Unit

, 111 99-04 Cancellation of Meeting With Shelwell Services,Inc.

1 IV 99-01 NRC to Meet With PG&E to Discuss Diablo Canyon Safety Culture Januar'j 15,1999 ENCLOSURE M l

l Office of international Programs items of Interest Week Ending January 15,1999 Export License issued to Westinahouse Electric Comoany for Shioments to China I

OIP issued license XCOM 1111 on January 14, authorizing Westinghouse to export reactor equipment (minor components) to China for use in China's civilian nuclear power reactors.

This authorization had awaited the receipt of assurances from the Government of China that the equipment would be subject to the U.S. China Agreement for Cooperation. The necessary assurances were received earlier in the week by the Department of State. Previous NRC licenses for exports of U.S. reactor equipment for China's civilian nuclear power program have been limited to exports, via AECUCanada, for the two CANDU plants at Qinshan.

DOE Intra-Deoartment Meetina on NEA Matters On January 12, William Magwood, Director, DOE Office of Nuclear Energy, scheduled an Intra-l Department meeting for tne purpose of reviewing DOE's Program of Work priorities for each of l the six Technical Standing Committees. Other members of the U.S Delegation to the NEA l Steering Committee (State Department and NRC) were invited to attend as observers. The l discussion focused on 1) a description of each NEA Technical Standing Committee responsibility,2) interests and priorities for the NEA Program of Work, and 3) the draft NEA Strategic Plan.

l International Radiation Source Manaaement Steerino Committee Meetina (IRSM)

Without prejudice to future NRC participation, OlP and NMSS representatives plan to attend the l first IRSM Steering Committee meeting, being convened by the Department of State on i

L January 20. A SECY paper on issues related to international meetings and activities on i orphaned sources, site clean up, and associated subjects, including the issue of staff participation in the IRSM initiative, will be sent to the Commission in the near future.

International Nuclear Reaulators Association (INRA)

The International Nuclear Regulators Association (lNRA) will meet January 2122,1999, at the Region IV Office in Arlington, Texas. The group will focus the discussion on concepts, including independence and the regulatory process. There will also be a discussion on Y2K activities, y

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January 15,1999 ENCLOSURE N u , , ,. , - - m. .. . -- --,,. --, w w

l Office of the Secretary items of Interest Week Ending January 15,1999 l

Documents Released Date Subject I

to Public Decision Documents

1. SECY-99-007 1/8/99 Recommendations for Reactor Oversight Process improvements SRM on SECY-98-225 1/12/99 Proposed Rule: 10 CFR Part 63 - " Disposal of High-Level Wastes in a Proposed Geologic Repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada" Commission Voting 1/12/99 (same)

Record on 98-225

2. COMNJD-98-006 8/11/98 Clarity of Public Communications COMNJD-98-006A 10/21/98 (same)

SRM on 98-006A 1/14/99 (same)

Chrm. Jackson's vote 12/23/98 (same) on COMNJD-98-006A Cmr. Dieus' vote on 12/5/98 (same)

COMNJD-98-006A Cmr. McGaffigan's vote 12/11/98 (same) on COMNJD-98-006A Cmr. Merrifield's vote 12/16/98 (same) on COMNJD-98-006A Negative Consent Documents

1. SECY-98-282 12/4/98 Part 52 Rulemaking Plan SRM on SECY-98-282 1/14/99 (same)

Chairman Jackson's 12/29/9 (same) comment on 98-282 Cmr. Dicus' comment 12/11/98 (same) on 98-282 Cmr. Diaz' comment on 12/17/98 (same)98-282 l

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Cmr. McGaifigan's 12/18/98 (same) comment on 98-282 Cmr. Merrifield's 12/22/90 (same) I comment on 90-282

2. SECY 98-301 12/3'N98 Litigation Report - 1998 - 6 l

3. SECY-98-302 12/29/98 Annual Status Report on Licensing Actions, Fiscal Year 1998 Commission Corresoondence l l

1. Letter to Joe Colvin, NEl, dated January 4,1999, concerns nuclear power plant licensee I confirmation of Year 2000 readiness of their facilities (incoming dated November 9,1998 also released).

2. Letter to Phil Baum, American Jewish Congress, dated January 6,1999 concerns the Operational Safeguards Response Evaluation program (incoming dated November 13, 1998 also released).

3. Letter to Joe Colvin, NEl. dated January 7,1999 concerns submission of legislative proposals to Congress (incoming dated November 25,1998 also released).

4. Letter to Ralph Nader, David Lochbaum, and Jim Riccio dated January 7,1999 responds to concerns regarding NRC's regulatory actions regarding he United States Enrichment Corp. (incoming dated September 15,1998 also released).

5. Letter to John D. Holum, Department of State, dated January 7,1999 concerns he U.S.-

Russian plutonium production reactor core conversion project (incoming dated November 3,1998 also released).

6. Letter to Glyn T. Davios, National Security Council, dated January 8,1999 concerns the l " Plan for Protecting Nuclear Weapons Information" (incoming dated December 22,1998 also released).

Federal Reaister Notices Isgled

1. 10 CFR Parts 31 and 32; Requirements Conceming the Accessible Air Gap lor Generally Licensed Devices; Proposed Rule: Withdrawal.

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2. Commonwealth Edison Company (Zion Nuclear Power Station, Units 1 and 2); Docket No.

50-295/304-LA; Notice of Appointment of Adjudicatory Employee (Ronald A. Burrows).

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i January 15,1999 ENCLOSURE O 1

Region i Items of Interest Week Ending January 15,1999 Public Meetina on Proposed Inspection Procedures A meeting was held at NRC Headquarters in Rockville on January 8,1999, to receive I

comments from the public on proposed procedures for the inspection of nuclear medicine programs. The procedures utilize key Performance Indicators to evaluate the licensee's program performance. The meeting was attended by many stakeholders, including i representatives from the medical community and the Health Physics Society. A Branch Chief I represented Region I. The NRC staff discussed the proposed inspection procedures and received and documented public comments for future resolution.

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Region 11 Items of Interest Week Ending January 15,1999 Nuclear Fuel Services. Erwin. Tennessee On January 14,1999, the Regional Administrator and other members of the Regional Office and the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards staff met with management at the Nuclear Fuel Services facility in Erwin, Tennessee to discuss the results of the NRC's assessment of their performance. The licensee's performance during the 13-month period ending September 26,1998 had improved overal! relative to the previous assessment period.

NDT Services. Inc.. Caauas. Puerto Rico On January 15,1999, an Order Modifying License (Effective immediately) was issued to the licensee based on findings of an NRC Inspection conducted on January 11 and 14,1999. The inspection was conducted to determine the licensee's compliance with the March 27,1998, Order Suspending License (Effective immediately). The inspection found that seven radiographic exposure devices, containing Iridium 192 and Cobalt 60, which were stored at the Crossland Boilers Sales and Servico, Inc's. facility were not secured from access by unauthorized individuals and members of the public. Crossland Boilers is currently in bankruptcy and the First Bank of Puerto Rico is in possession of the building. NDT Services and Crossland Boilers have a common owner. The Order required that the exposure devices be moved to a secure storage location which is under the control of the Licensee within seven days and that within 30 days the sources be transferred to an authorized recipient.

January 15,1999 ENCLOSURE P

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t Region lil Items of Interest Week Ending January 15,1999 Manacement Meetina with Illinois Power Comoany - Clinton On January 14,1999, a management meeting was conducted in Clinton, Illinois, between management representatives from Illinois Power Company and members of the NRC staff. The 1 meeting discussion focused on actions taken by the plant staff to address engineering and l other issues related to the possible restart of the Clinton Nuclear Power Station in late March.

NRC is planning to conduct engineering and corrective action team inspections at the plant the week of February 8,1999. The Acting Regional Administrator James Caldwell participated in the meeting.

l Illinois Power Company Manaaement Chanaes Announced - Clinton i

On January 7,1999, Illinois Power Company announced that John P. McElwain was named Chief Nuclear Officer for Illinois Power. He succeeds Walter G. MacFarland as the leader of the management team contracted from PECO Nuclear.

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Region IV  ;

Items of Interest

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Week Ending January 15,1999 Meetina With Pacific Gas & Electric Comoany on Results of a Site Culture Survey On January 15,1999, the Region IV Regional Administrator and other NRC staff met with I

' senior representatives of Pacific Gas & Electric Company's Diablo Canyon facility at San Luis Obispo, California, to discuss the results of an independent culture survey. Following the public meeting with the licensee, the NRC staff conducted a second public meeting with the Media and interested members of the public to address questions and concerns about Diablo Canyon.

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Office of Congressional Affairs items of interest Week Ending January 15,1999 CONGRESSIONAL HEARING SCHEDULE, NO. 2

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1. M Keeling 01/20 11:15 Koskinen, and Y2K computer problem; status Rep. Burton /Waxman 2154 RHOB others of efforts to correct by local, Government Reform state, federal and intemational Rep. Sensenbrenner/ Brown governments Science Portner 01/28 9:00 NRC Commission Oversight / Authorization Sen. Inhofe/ Graham 406 DSOB Clean Air, Wetlands, Private Property, and Nuclear Safety Environment and Public Works Combs TBA TBA TBD High Level Waste Program Sen. Murkowski/Bingaman Energy and Natural Resources Combs TBA TBA- TBD High Level Waste Program Rep. Barton Energy and Water Commerce Keeling 02/24 TBA Chiefs of Staffs of Year 2000 TBA Sen. Inhofe/Robb branches of the Readiness Armed Services , Armed Services NRC, and possibly Sen. Inhofe/ Graham others Clean Air, Wetlands, Private Property, and Nuclear Safety Environment and Public Works l January 15,1999 ENCLOSURE R L. .. . _

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