ML20204D457
| ML20204D457 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 12/14/1978 |
| From: | Rehm T NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO) |
| To: | NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 7812200293 | |
| Download: ML20204D457 (26) | |
Text
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.s s
December 14, 1978 For:
The Commissioners From:
T. A. Rehm, Assistant to.the Executive Director for Operations
Subject:
WEEKLY INFCRMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING DECEMBER 8,1978 A summary of key events is included as a convenience to those Commissioners who may prefer a condensed version of this report.
Contents Enclosure Administration A
Nuclear Reactor Regulation B
Standards Development C
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
D Inspection and Enforcement E
Nuclear Regulatory Research F*
Executive Legal Director G
International Programs H
State Programs I
Management and Program Analysis J
Controller K*
Calendar of Significant Events L
Items approved by the Commission M**
/
l T. A. Rehm, Assistant to the Executive Director for Operations
Contact:
T. A. Rehm 49-27781 1
- No input this week.
o* Deleted from Commissioners and PDR copy.
781220OR73 n.
p WEEKLY INFORMATION
SUMMARY
Week Ending Decembdr 8, 1978
~
Arkansas Nuclear One - Unit 2 Amendment No. 7 to the operating license was issued o'n December 1.
This amendment permits the plant to go critical and to operate sub-sequently at full power.
Diablo Canyon Units 1 & 2 The construction permits were amended on December 6 to incorporate antitrust conditions.
The Diablo Canyon hearing resumed on Dec. 4.
Byron Units 1 & 2/Braidwood Units 1 & 2 Commonwealth Edison's applications for operating licenses were docketed on December 1.
3 Kewaunee On December 1 the staff issued its Safety Evaluation Report and Environmental Impact Appraisal Pelating to the modification of the spent fuel storage pool at the Kewaunee nuclear power plant.
Oconee Nuclear Station Unit 2 and Rancho Seco Both stations are planning to restart, after a reload, in mid December.
We are planning to issue our reload License Amendments as early as 12/11.
Reactor Safeguards On November 30 the Commission issued an amendment to the Fort Calhoun Station Operating License.
This~is the first amendment t'o incorporate
~
into an operating license a modified amended security plan submitted pursuant to 573.55.
Dose Limits i
EPA will hold a hearing on its new occupational radiation protection guidance to Federal agencies this spring.
It is expected that three annual dose limits for workers will be proposed for implementation by agencies such as the NRC.
No joint hearings are planned with NRC.
Regulatory Actions Calendar SD staff met with a Regulatory Council working group which is attempting to develop a calendar of forthcoming regulatory actions.
The calendar is seen as a tool for the collective management of regulation develop-ment among the Executive Branch regulatory agencies, with participation by the independent regulatory agencies.
NRC's rulemaking actions would appear to be quite compatible with the reporting format. The first calendar is expected to be published in late January.
h
2-NFS/Erwin Final acceptance of remedial actions relative to the Comprehensive Evaluation Report was given to the licensee.
Final completion date for all actions is January 31, 1979.
Prooosed Amendment Re~ view IP forwarded to the Executive Branch for review a proposal to amend the general license for the export of deJterium and a proposal to amend Part 110 to exemnt DoD from NRC export licensing requirements for depleted uranium in munitions.
Legislative Proposals for 96th Congress Compiled list of possible legislative proposals received from NRC offices and forwarded list to EDO and OGC. Analysis of the proposals will follow.
T m
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--%v r-r i,n
0FFICE OF ADMINISTRATION Week Ending December 8,1978 ADMINISTRATION OF'THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT STATUS OF REQUESTS Initial
. Appeal of
' Request Initial Decision Received 368 36 Granted 258 10 Denied 69 19 Pending 41 7
ACTIONS THIS WEEK Received John J. Fialka, Requests, pursuant to the classification The Washington Star criteria in E.O.12065, access to all documents (78-334) pertaining to NUMEC and the investigation of.
the EDO Testimony that have been previously withheld in whole or in part from previous FOIA requests pursuant to E.O.11652.
John H. Klein, Requests documents concerning his client's Breit, Rutter & Montagna exposure to radiation.
(78-335)
James M. Cubie, Requests copies of all documents provided to Union of Concerned the American Embassy, London, and the UK AEA Scientists regarding an October 25 British TV expose (78-336) entitled "The U.S. Nuclear Cover-Up".
Keiki Kehoe, Referral from the Department of State of six Center for Development documents pertaining to the safety and economic policy feasibility of nuclear power programs in Brazil.
(78-337)
Granted Lynn Connor, In response to a request for records concerning Doc-Search Associates the computer code known as KENO which is used (78-321) for criticality analyses, made available three documents.
CONTACT:
J. M. Felton 492-7211
+
ENCLOSURE A
i.
. Granted, Cont'd Deborah C. Wyatt, In response to a request for documents Lowe & Gordon Limited relating to construction of power plants in (78-330) the next 15 years in Virginia or West Virginia by the Appalachian. Power Company or the American Electric Power Company since October 18, 1978, informed the requester the NRC has located no documents.
Glen Van Slyke, In response to a request for a copy of all National Lawyers Guild documents indexed or returnable by a search (78-331) under the name of the National Lawyers Guild, informed the requester the NRC has located no documents.
Denied Thomas B. Cochran, In response to a request for SECY-77-268, Natural Resources SECY-77-268A, SECY-77-268B and SECY-77-268C and Defense Council, I'nc.
an OPE memorandum which was referred to in (78-74)
Volume III of the OIA/0GC Report on Apollo Testimony, made available two documents and denied portions of the SECY papers under exemptions (1),(4),and(5).
Marilyn D. Casanave, In response to a request for a copy of the DAMANS and Associates successful proposal submitted in response to (78-257)
NRC RFP RS-ADM-78-414, denied portions of the proposal containing confidential business (proprietary)information.
James P. McCarthy, In response to a request for copies of all Reed, McCarthy & Mulligan inspection reports of New England Nuclear (78-292)
Corporation from 1958 to 1967 and minutes of two meetings held in Maryland by the Atomic Energy Commission and New England Corporation in which violations were discussed in 1963 and 1970, made available one document and denied portions of seven documents because disclosure of this information would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal
- privacy, 1
ENCLOSURE A 4
l
- e e
DIVISION OF CONTRACTS Week Ending December 8,1978 PENDING COMPETITIVE REQUIREMENTS 1.
RFP RS-NRR-79-117 Title - Evaluation of the Buckling Stress Criteria for Steel Containment Description - The contractor will provide the NRC staff with expert technical assistance in evaluating the criteria used to design the steel containment of Watts Bar Nuclear Plant to withstand all postulated loading combinations which may cause buckling.
Period of Performance - Three months Sponsor - Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Status - The solicitation is being developed.
2.
RFP RS-NMS-79-031 Title - Licensing Assistance / Tailings Management Program Technical Evaluation Description - The contractor will provide technical assistance in the evaluation of long-term stability of tailings l
disposal alternatives.
Period of Performance - Thirty months Sponsor - Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Status - Solicitation being developed.
3.
RFP RS-NMS-79-033 Title - Licensing Assistance /Geotechnical and Hydrological Evaluations Description - The contractor shall assist the NRC in the review of applications which pertain to embankment design to determine compliance with Regulatory Guide 3.11 entitled " Design, Construction, and Inspection of Embankment Retention Systems for Uranium Mills."
Period of Performance - Eight months Sponsor - Office of Nuclear Material Safety a,nd Safeguards Status - Solicitation being developed.
4.
RFP RS-0SD-79-002 Title - Standards for Psychological Assessment of Security Personnel Description - This study is intended to result in the establishment of standardized criteria for the assessment of the psychological attributes of emotional stability and reliability, particularly as they apply in high-stress situations.
Period of Performance - One year Sponsor - Office of Standards Development Status - The solicitation is being developed.
l ENCLOSURE A
~.
2 5.
IFB RS-10-79-374 Title - Specially Designed Radioisotopes Licensing Branch Licensing File Folders Description - File folders constructed of heavy (25-point) press-board with cutaway top and side fo.r display of license number and other pertinent information.
Charge-out cards of similar construction are also to be provided.
15,000 folders and 15,000 charge-out cards are required.
Period of Performance - Ninety days after award.
Sponsor - Office of Administration Status - Solicitation being developed of PROPOSALS UNDER EVALUATION 1.
RFP RS-NMS-79-026 Title - Preparation of an EIS to Guide and Support Development of a Regulation for Man 6gement and Disposal of Low-Level Waste (LLW)
Description - The contractor shall first review the existing information on the management and 1.isposal of LLW, assess the alternatives, and develop a methodology and schedule for the preparation of a DEIS. The contractor shall then prepare both the DEIS and the FEIS and be prepared to support the same with public testimony.
Period of Performance - Thirty-three months Sponsor - Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Status - Proposals received, November 30, 1978.
Submitted to SEB for evaluation on December 1,1978.
2.
RFP RS-NMS-79-024 Title - A Study of Volume Reduction Techniques for Low-Level Radioactive' Wastes Description - The contractor shall first conduct a literature search to compile a complete list of volume re-duction techniques for radioac.tive and nonradioactive applicati.ons.
An economic analysis shall then be performed on selected techniques.
Period of Performance - One year Sponsor - Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Status - Proposals received on November 15, 1978.
Submitted to Panel on November 16, 1978.
ENCLOSURE A
1 DIVISION OF TECHNICAL INFORMATION AND DOCUMENT CONTROL Week ending December 8, 1978 i~
TRANSLATIONS i.
The following translations were received by the Division of Technical Information and Document Control during the week of December 4-C,1978.
Translations may be obtained from the Library unless otherwise marked.
French Rapport D.S.N. no 186. An Application of Bayes Theorem: The Method of Natural Conjugates.
P. Fourcade.
Departement de Surete Nucleaire, CEA, France.
February 1978.
17 pages.
(TIDC441).
o German BF-RS 50-30-D8.
Quick Look Report Experimen't D8: Investigation
,i of the Phenomena Occurring within a Multi-Compartment Containment after Rupture of the Primary Cooling Circuit in Water-Cooled Reactors.
Prepared by Battelle-Institut e.V., Frankfurt am Main, for the Federal Ministry for Research and Technology (Bundesmin-
'isteriums fBr Forschung und Technologie), Bonn.
July 1977.
103 pages.
(TIDC446).
B F-R-62. 944-1.
Preliminary Tests on Leakage Control Using Sound Emission Analysis.
P. Jax.
Prepared by the Battelle-Institut e.V.,
Frankfurt am Main, for the Federal Ministry for Research and Technology (Bundesministerium fur Forschung und Technologie), Bonn.
March 1977.
116 pages.
(TIDC 456).
BMFT-RS 48/1.
Investigation of Thernehydraulic Processes and Heat Exchange in the Core Melt:
Part I Summary of Results.
Institute for Process Engineering, Technical University of Hannover, for the German Federal Ministry for Research and Technology.
88 pages.
(TIDC438).
BMFT-RS 107.
Behavior of Zircaloy Cladding Samples under the Stresses Occurring with Coolant loss Accidents.
Kraftwerk Union, Reactor Technology, Erlangen, F.R. Germany.
March 19/7.
113 pages.
(TIDC445).
KFK 2345.
Out-of-Pile Experiments on Ballooning of Zircaloy Fuel Rod Claddings: Test Results with Shortened Fuel Rod Simulators.
K. Wiehr and He. Schmidt.
Institute for Reactor Construction Materials, Project for Nuclear Safety, Kernforschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, F.R. Germany.
October 1977.
38 pages.
(TIDC 437).
ENCLOSURE A
DIVISION OF TECHNICAL INFORMATION AND DOCUMENT CONTROL (TRANSLATIONS continued...)
German
- Design Proposals for Determining Reliable Repair Tines for Safety Systems: Interim Report.
K. Boesebeck and E. Schimetschka.
Ge'sellschaft fur Reaktorsicherheit (GRS) mbH, Cologne, F.R. Germany.
February 1978. 118 pages.
(TIDC435).
Japanese JAERI-M 7488.
Supplementary Analysis of ROSA III Examiniation, (II): (Collapse of_ Recirculation Pump Pipe System).
H. Kitaguchi, M. Suzuki, M. Sobajima, H. Adachi, and M. Shiba.
Division of Reactor Safety, Tokai Research Establishment, JAERI.
February 1978.
91 pages.
(TIDC 447).
1
- Available in TIDC only.
ENCLOSURE A 4,
l
0FFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION Week Ending December 8, 1973 Arkansas Nuclear One - Unit 2 Amendment No. 7 to the operating license was issued on December 1.
This amendment permits the plant to go critical and to operate
' subsequently at full power. On' December 4 the license re-strictions on proceeding to criticality were removed based on the I&E repo'rt to NRR.
Criticality was achieve'd on December 5.
Diablo Canyon Units 1 &' 2 The construction permits were amended on December 6 to incorporate antitrust conditions.
These antitrust conditions were to have been included in the proposed Stanislaus construction pennits but the future of that project is very uncertain at present.
The Diablo Canyon hearing resumed on December 4.
Byron Units 1 & 2/Braidwood Units 1 & 2 Commonwealth Edison's applications for operating licenses were docketed on December 1.
Fort St. Vrain The licensee called to report a minor activity release at Fort St. Vrain on November 29. 1 x 10-8Eek monitor indicated readings of The st 100 counts per minute (N curies / cubic centimeter) of noble gas, which is 60 counts per minute (cpm) above background, and 60 cpm of particulates, which is 20 cpm above background.
The stack activity readings above were the peak values and lasted for about 3 minutes before decreasing in value.
It is estimated that the total release was about 1 curie of noble gases.
The amount of activity released to the environment was so small that this incident is considered a 30 day reportsble occurrence.
l Brunswick Unit No.1 The most recent ultrasonic examination of the four recirculation pump riser safe-ends on Brunswick Unit No.1 revealed no significant changes in the previously identified indications.
Power operation is expected to continue until the refueling outage, scheduled to conrnence in January 1979.
ENCLOSURE B
2 Brunswick Unit No.1 (continued)
Meetings have been scheduled during the week of December 4,1978 between (1) DOR and I&E to better understand the significance of the detected indications, and (2) the NRC staff and Carolina Power & Light Company to detennine course of action to be followed during and subsequent to the upcoming refueling outage with regard to these safe-ends.
4 Georgia Institute of Technoloqy i
^
On November 30, 1978 Georgia Institute of Technology (Reactor License No. R-97. Docket No. 50-160) was granted a Category 1 exemption from the physical protection requirements of 10 CFR 73.50 and 73.60 for a period of one year. This action pennits the licensee to store slightly more than the fonnula quantity of non-exempt special nuclear material (SNM) without imposing additional security measures as would be required when the 5.000 kg limit is exceeded.
The licensee requested to store an additional 0.080 kg of plutonium as a plutohium-beryllium sealed source in the reactor building for a total of 5.114 kg of non-exempt SNM without the additional security measures.
Kewaunee On December 1,1978, the staff issued its Safety Evaluation Report and Environmental Impact Appraisal Relating to the Modification of the Spent Fuel Storage Pool at the Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant. The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board; the licensee, Wisccnsin Public Service Corporation; the joint intervenors, Lakeshore Citizens for Safe Energy and Safe Haven, Ltd.; and the State of Wisconsin have been served with copies of these staff documents.
Our review addressed all aspects of the licensee's request for increase of spent fuel storage capacity including B4C absorber plate integrity (plate swelling) and Lake Michigan faulting; both of these items arose as potential safety issues during this review.
Oconee Nuclear Station Unit'No. 2 (Docket No. 50-270; License No. DPR-47) and Rancho Seco (Docket No. 50-312; License'.No. DPR-54)
Both stations are plantiing to restart, after a reload, in mid December 1978. We are planning to issue our reload License Amendments as early as December 11, 1978.
Category 1 exemptions to 10 CFR 50.46 are required due to an error in the analysis of the small break LOCA; the exemptions replace the Conrnission Orders issued previously. These exemptions are similar to an exemption issued for Oconee Unit No.1, dated October 23, 1978. A difference from previous actions is that the staff will approve the proposed permanent modifications and specify a schedule for completion.
ENCLOSURE B
3 Containment Ventilation Systems
.On November 29, 1978, a generic letter relating to operation of containment ventilation systems at power was issued to all power reactor licensees.
The letter requests licensees to submit for staff review and approval justification for either limited or unlimited containment surging.
In addition, the letter requires that licensees evaluate t1e design of bypass circuitry in their facilities to assure that unintentional bypass of isolation and safety actuation signals is precluded. Licensees are required to submit a schedule for development of justification for continuation of purging, or a Technical Specification change prohibiting purge at power, within thirty days.
Reactor Safeguards On November 30, 1978 the Corm 11ssion issued an amendment to the Fort Calhoun Station Operating License to incorporate the modified amended security plan (MSP) into the license effective February 23, 1979.
This is the first amendment to incorporate into an operating license.
a MSP submitted pursuant to 573.55. A Security Plan Evaluation Report (SPER) was issued with the amendment. The SPER represents the staff's evaluation and acceptance of the licensee's MSP. The SPER is pro-prietary information and is being withheld from public disclosure pursuant to 10 CFR 2.790(d).
ENCLOSURE B
0FFICE OF STANDARDS DEVELOPMENT IMPORTANT EVENTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING DECEMBER 8,1978 1.
On December 6,1978, members of the staff met with EN personnel for exploratory discussion of the possibility th'at EPA and NRC might collaborate in holding a public hearing on the subject of occupational radiation dose limits.
During this meeting Dr. William A. Mills, Director of EPA's Criteria and Standards Division, Office of Radiation Programs, made the following points:
a.
EPA will hold a hearing on its new occupational radiation protection guidance to Federal agencies this spring.
b.
It is expected that three different annual dose limits for workers will be proposed for implementation by agencies such as the NRC (apparently 5 rems,1.5 rems, and 0.5 rems, depending on the type of industry being regulated).
c.
The EPA hearing, which will emphasize risk considerations, will be much different in nature than an NRC hearing which would place greater emphasis on implementation and problems l
of a more practical nature.
d.
If an NRC hearing on dose limits is to be held, it would be preferable to hold it 'after the new EPA guidance on dose limits is signed by the President.
e.
For these reasons the EPA would not be interested in jointly conducting a hearing with the NRC.
R. E. Alexander, Office of Standards Development, stated that the NRC might decide to hold a hearing on implementation of the new EPA guidance after it is issued, but that a decision has already been made to hold a hearing this spring on the NRDC petition to lower occupational dose limits.
Dr. Mills was asked if EPA is interested in holding this hearing jointly with the NRC as an information gathering procedure.
Dr. Mills. declined on the basis that nothing would be gained by his agency.
Mr. Alexander also discussed the possibility of a jointly held hearing with John Villforth, Director, Bureau of Radiological Health, HEW.
Mr. Villforth stated that they would not be interested for two reasons.
First, the Bureau does not use the public hearing procedure in their rulemaking process.
Second, occupational radiation dose limits are used by the Bureau only in an indirect manner, i.e.,
as a partial basis for radiation dose rate design criteria for radiation-producing equipment.
ENCLOSURE C
-*r':...............
~
a
. A meeting on the subject of.a jointly held hearing will be held with OSHA officials Friday afternoon, December 8,1978.
2.
An advance notice of proposed rulemaking to amend 10 CFR Part 50 relative to the acceptance criteria for emergency core cooling systems in light-water-cooled nuclear power plants was published in the Federal Register on December 6, 1978 (43 FR 57157) and solicited comments by February 5,1979.
The purpose of the notice is to inform the public about the NRC plans and to invite advice and recommendations on several questions concerning the acceptance criteria for emergency core cooling systems in light-water-cooled nuclear plants.
Tnere will be later opportunity for public comment in connection with any proposed rules that may be developed by the Conmission.
3.
Robert B. Barker, SD, was in Vienna the week of December 4-8 serving as consultant to I AEA to prepare guidance on " Standardization of Quality and Compliance Assurance Procedures Related to Application of Regulations for Safe Transport of Radioactive Materials."
4.
On December 6,1978, R. Mi.nogue, Director, Standards Development, and J. Felton, Director. Division of Rules and Records, attended a meeting of a Regulatory Council working group which is attempting l,
to develop a calendar of forthcoming regulatory actions. The Regulatory Council is chaired by Mr. Costle, the Administrator l
of EPA and much of the staff work on the calendar is being done by EPA.
The calendar is seen as a tool for the collective management of regulation development among the Executive Branch regulatory agencies, with participation by the independent regulatory agencies.
The EPA people appear to be highly sensitive to and understanding of the difficulties faced by an independent regulatory agency participating in such an activity.
To provide a basis for discussion, EPA staff suggested a format for reporting forthcoming regulatory actions structured in a way that relates well to health and safety regulations.
NRC's rulemaking actions would appear to be quite compatible with reporting in this format.
The economically-oriented regulatory agencies on the other hand had real difficulty with both the information to be included and its format. There also seemed to be little appreciation of the adjudicatory and case decision functions of the regulatory agencies by the EPA staff.
ENCLOSURE C
. :.7.::
^ ~ ~ "
___________________-_t-~--
^^
. A schedule was discussed at the meeting which would lead to the
. publication of the first calendar late in January. This objective appears attainable (with some difficulty) for the publication of a calendar of major rulemaking actions.
- However, there was a consensus that this schedule for the first calendar was not attainable for precedent-setting case-related actions.
It is not clear that it was the intent of the Regulatory Council to include such actions in the regulatory calendar.
Regulatory Guide to be Inued in the Near Future
Title:
Qualification of Quality Assurance Program Audit Personnel for Nuclear Power Plants Expected Issuance Date: April 1979
==
Description:==
Endorses ANSI /ASME N45.2.23-1978 " Qualification of Quality Assurance Program Audit Personnel for Nuclear Power Plants".
Contact:
S. Richardson 443-5913 Regulatory Guides Issued During the Week 'of December 4-8, 1978 Reg. Guide 1.7, Rev. 2 - Control of Combustible Gas Concentrations in Containment Following a Loss-of-Coolant Accident [ Issued to Reflect Comments]
Division 4 - Environmental and Siting - Table of Contents ENCLOSURE C l
~< );
OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY AND SAFEGUARDS Items of Interest Week Ending December 8,1978 Staff Assistance Visit A safeguards staff member recently returned from Japan and Korea where he parti:1 pated in an assistance program in Korea for setting up a national system of material control and accounting and as a member of the TASTEX Steering Committee in Japan.
Combustion Engineering. Inc.
Representatives of Combustion Engineering, Inc., Windsor, Connecticut, met with safeguards staff members to' discuss revisions to Measurement Control Plans for their Windsor and Hematite facilities.
NFS/Erwin Final acceptance of remedial actions relative to the Comprehensive Evaluation Report was given to the licensee. The majority of these actions have already been taken and their full implementation are considered to provide a satisfactory response to the observations of the evaluation teams.
Final completion date for all actions is January 31, 1979.
STAR Group Meeting The Safeguards Technical Assistance tnd Research Coordinating Group met on November 30, 1978, to review FY79 contractual projects proposed by SD. The Group recommended approval of " Measurements and Standards for Nuclear Material Safeguards," subject to review by ELD, and " Analysis of Estimation Methodology for Nuclear Material Control and Accountability."
Phillips Uranium Mill Application The Uranium Mill Licensing Section has received a request from the state of New Mexico tQ #ssist in the> review of Phillips Uranium Corporation's license application for the proposed Nose Rock Project Uranium Mill.
This project will be the third new uranium mill application that New Mexico, an Agreement State, has requested the Uranium Mill Licensing Section to review since the Commission offer of assistance was published in the Federal Renister on April 26, 1978.
ENCLOSURE D 1
a, 2
INFCE Working Group 4 The fifth meeting of Working Groups 4 A&B in Vienna was attended.
Alternative technological, safeguard, and institutional arrangements were discussed.
Environmental assessment factors making reference to ICRP 26 criteria were established. Methods for carrying out economic assessment were discussed and the U.V sec'retariat proposed a concept for consideration of once through, u.ermal recycle and breeder concepts which is to be further developed by the secretariat for the next neeting.
The U.S. paper on proliferation assessment -was commented upon by several nations.
Strong positions against its approach were voiced principally by Argentina, India and France, with others indicating similar viewpoints., The secretariat indicated plans to provide a further discussion of this item at the meetings in Palo Alto, Californie in late i
January.
Drafts of several chapters of the final report will be provided by the secretariat at that time for consideration and approval of the Working Group.
Table S-3 Update Comments have been received from twelve individuals and organizations on the Federal Register notice which indicated the NRC intent to update the Environmental Survey of the. Uranium Fuel Cycle.
Draft Report on Radon Releases The f'irst draft of a technical report on revised estimates of radon releases from uranium mining and milling has been submitted by the contractor (NUS Corporation). This draft has not included the results of research now in progress and will require upgrading.
Visit to Naval Resesrch Laboratorie_s_
A NMSS representative visited the Naval Research Laboratories (NRL),
Anacostia, to review aspects of their byproduct materials license and examine some of the activities, including sophisticated hot cell testing of irradiated specimens of reactor vessel and piping being cond icted for NRC and DOE.
ENCLOSURE D
'l I
3 Examination of Radiation Protection Recommendations in ICRP 26 Staff members reviewed and concurred with SD's position on the difficulty of incorporation of ICRP 26 recomendations in NRC rules and practice. A letter outlining the NRC staff position will be forwarded to Dr. Dade.W. Moeller, Member, Committee 4, International Commission on Radiological Protection, and to those Congressional commictees whose jurisdictions encompass the regulation of nuclear energy.
l l
l l
l ENCLOSUP.E D
_ _ = _ -
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OFFICE OF INSPECTION AND ENFORCEMENT Items of Interest Week Ending December 8, 1978 1.
Preliminary Notifications relating to the follewing actions were
' dispatched during the past week:
a.
PN0-78-198 Wolf Creek Unit 1 - Potential Construction Deficiency -
Under Strength Concrete in Reactor Building Base Mat - In March 1978, the license'e reported that test cylinders representing con-crete placed in the reactor building base mat had failed to achieve speicified strengths. By letter dated May 25, 1978, the 1o licensee stated that this matter was not considered reportable under 10 CFR 50.55(e), but did agree to submit a report. The final report was received on October 26, 1978. The licensee con-cluded that the inplace concrete satisfied code and specification
.C' requirements. A review of the licensee's test da'.- equipment, actions and records by a team of inspectors and & _..ultant led to the conclusion that the concrete probably does not meet the specified strength requirements.
It is planned to transfer re-sponsibility for this matter to NRR.
(Closed) b.
PN0-78-199 Brunswick Units 1 & 2 - Personnel Exposure in Excess of 5 Rems - The licensee is investigating the discrepancy between film badge (5.05 rems) and dosimeter (2.3 rems) readings.
(Closed) c.
PM-78-200 Fort St. Vrain - Release of Reactor Coolant to the Reactor Building - The plant encountered a Helium Circulator Auxiliary, Buffer-Mid-Buffer mismatch.
Personnel were evacuated from the reactor building when elevated radiation levels were indi-cated. The increased radiation levels were determined to have been caused by the opening of a low pressure separator safety relief valve which released a quantity of reactor coolant.
No everaxposure or contamination to personnel resulted and the reactor building )
radiation levels were back to normal the following day.
(Closed d.
PN0-78-201 South Texas Project Units 1 & 2 - Contact by San Antonio Express Alleging Irregularities in Quality Control Practice at STP -
A reporter expressed interest in allegations regarding nonconforming o'
construction practices and insufficient quality control programs at South Texas Proje~ct. The reporter was informed that reports of several recent investigations of these matters were on file at the rI local Public Document Room.
(Closed) e.
PNO-78-202 Ken 'McGee Corporation, Gore, Oklahoma - Release of Licensed Material to Illinois River - Following the report from the licensee, representatives from Region IV (Dallas) visited the site.
No adverse effects on marine life in the Illinois River were noted.
The State of Oklahoma is continuing its radiological survey.
Kerr-McGee will submit a report to the NRC.
(Closed) i p
4 6
C____.._._.-..._____._
~.
-(7
\\.,
f.
PNO-78-203 General Electric Co., Wilmington, NC - Uranium Hexafluoride Leak in the Vaporization Area - Approximately 550 i
pounds of UF6 leaked through an open valve.
Contamination of
~
process and ventilation equipment resulted.
Surveys indicated no contamination or high activity outside the building.
Five individuals were examined by plant or hospital physicians but were released without treatment.
(Closed) 9 PNO-78-204 Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 2 - Initial Criticality -
This Preliminary Notification was issued for information only.
(Closed) h.
PN0-78-205 Indian Point Unit 3 - Steam Generator Primary to Secondary Leakage - The plant was shut down to repair a leak in one of the four steam generators. The plant is expected to be out of service for seven to ten days.
(Closed) 2.
Status of Previously Reported Items of Interest:
.?
a.
PN0-78-190B & -190C - Privately Owned Landfill, Norton, Massachu-satts - Radioactive Material in Private Sector - Surveys of 17 a.ditional dump sites in the Norton-Attleboro area were completed.
One other area, a landfill at a public park, was identified as having low level contamination initially identified as due to radium.
A meeting will be held on December 12 to brief repre-sentatives of DOE and EPA and to discuss further action.
(Closed) s
.)
6 d
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ENCLOSURE E l
0FFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE LEGAL DIRECTOR ITEMS OF INTEREST FOR THE WEEK ENDING DECEMBER 8,1978 WPPSS Nuclear Project No. 4 On December 7, the Atomic Safety and Licensing Appeal Board issued a Decision, after a sua sponte review, affirming the Licensing Board's decision authorizing issuance of an LWA and construction permit for Project No. 4 in all respects, except for the environmental effects of radon emissions atrributable to the mining and milling of uranium which is still under review.
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ITEMS OF INTEREST OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS
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WEEK ENDING DECEMBER 8,1978
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INTERNATIONAL
'0PERATION Meeting with TEPLy Mr. Toyota, " ice President of the Tokyo Electric Company (TEPC0) and Mr. Hamada, TEPCO's representative, met on December 7 with staff members of DDR to discuss feedwater nozzle problems, Mark 1 containment and general' U.S. experience in backfitting.
Case Act Activity IP this week forwarded to the Department of State a Background Statement on, and certified copies of, the NRC-Greek AEC Arrangement for exchange of technical information and cooperation in nuclear safety matters.
State will transmit these to Congress before December 18 to fulfill the requirements of the Case Act.
Indian Request IP responded to an Indian request for information on the February 1978 Pilgrim I shutdown due to a faulty intermediate range monitor detector b sending material provided by D0R (Pilgrim FSAR and Tech. Spec. excerpts)y
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I Since the Indians had indicated they have experienced similar problems, IP asked for reciprocal information.
EXPORT / IMPORT AND INTERNATIONAL SAFEGUARDS Amendment of General License for Export of Deuterium IP has forwarded to the Executive Branch for review a proposal to amend the general license for the export of deuterium. The proposed amendment, wnsch is being considered at the request of the Aldrich Chemical Company, would increase the amount of deuterium authorized for export under the general license from 18 grams to 2 kilograms (or 10 kilograms heavy water equivalent).
Export of Depleted Uranium in Munitions IP has forwarded to the Executive Branch for review a proposal to amend Part 110 to exempt DoD from NRC export licensing requirements for depleted uranium when contained in penetrators for use in munitions.
The amendment is being considered at the request of DoD.
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2 Meeting on US-I AEA Safeguards Agreement IP staff members attended a meeting in Washington December 7-8 of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management to discuss the U.S. safeguards offer.
Representatives of NRC (NMSS and ELD), DOE, State and ACDA spoke to those attending (largely nuclear industry and utility representatives) about the status of implementation of the agreement and responded to questions.
Interagency Meeting on Proposed 10 CFR Part 75 Ken Cohen (IP) met on December 5 with staff menbers from ELD, NMSS, SD, and NRR to discuss progress associated with the development of Part 75.
Several related documents were distributed for revie'.'t and comment tur December 1S.
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e OFFICE OF STATE PROGRAMS l
ITEMS OF INTEREST WEEK ENDING DECEMBER 8, 1978 Program Development NRC State Liaison Officers from Region II met in Atlanta on November 30 and December 1.
SP coordinated NRC staff comments on California's draft report on "Trans-portation of Radioactive Materials," dated October 1978, for forwarding to the State's task force.
The final report is scheduled to be issued in January.
Representatives of SP met with Rob MacDougall of the NCSL to discuss ways for NRC to work more effectively with State legislators.
Mr. Frank Young met with Missouri and Nebraska water quality control officials and discussed NRC's program of entering into water quality agreements with States.
Follow-up discussions with both States are anticipated.
Emergency Preparedness Messrs. Harold Collins and Stephen Salomon met with the Conference of Radiation Control Program Director's Interorganizational Advisory Committee in Little Rock, Arkansas, December 5-7.
Among the items discussed were the Report of the NRC/ EPA Task Force on Emergency Planning (NUREG-0396), the i
study on the status and cost of radiological emergency response planning (RERP) at the local government level, training of State and local officials in RERP activities and the status of Federal guidance to State and local governments in this area.
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OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND P.ROGRAM ANALYSIS Items of Interest Week Ending December 8,1978 NRC Annual Report Sent complete draft of NRC 1978 Annual Report text to Commission for review ar.d approval, with comments requested by December 18, 1978.
In parallel, sent report to office directors for final check with comments due by December 13, 1978.
Legislative Proposals for 96th Congress Compiled list of possible legislative proposals received from NRC offices and forwarded list to ED0 and OGC.
Analysis of the proposals will follow.
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ENCLOSURE J
W CALENDAR OF SIGNIFICANT EVENTS TWO-WEEK PERIOD ENDING DECEMBER 26, 1978 December 11 TIM Hearing on Aircraft crash contention.
Zimmer 1 - Issue Safety Evaluation Report.
Palo Verde 4 & 5 - Appeal meeting regarding staff position on use of load sequences with offsite power.
Erie - Supplement to SER to be completed week of December 11.
December 11 - 12 A four person delegation from the Mexican National Nuclear Energy Institute (INEN) is being scheduled to meet with NRR staff members to discuss BWR Mark II containment, including hydrodynamic loads and selection of quenchers.
Details are being arranged.
December 12 LaSalle 1 & 2 - Meeting with applicant to discuss containment area problems.
December 13 NYSEG 1 & 2 - Public meeting to discuss New Haven review.
December 14 Midland - Prehearing conference.
December 15 Salem 2 - Meeting with applicant to discuss open items.
December 18 Davis-Besse - Supplement to SER to be completed week of December 18th.
December 22 Pilgrim 2 - SER Supplement discussing primarily financial matters to be issued.
North Anna 1 - Amendment to operating license regarding pump house settlement to be issued.
Salem 2 SEE Supplement to be issued.
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