ML20205G974
| ML20205G974 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 03/31/1999 |
| From: | Tracy G NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO) |
| To: | Miraglia F NRC |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9904080006 | |
| Download: ML20205G974 (9) | |
Text
N March 31, 1999 MEMORANDUM TO: Frank J Miraglia, Jr.
Deputy Executive Director for Regulatory Programs Glenn M. Tracy, Chief 00swf.r. f;,,gggg g,,
FROM:
Regional Operations and Program Management Section, OEDO
SUBJECT:
SUMMARY
OF MARCH 8,1999, PUBLIC MEETING WITH THE NUCLEAR ENERGY INSTITUTE ON MUTUAL ITEMS OF INTEREST On March 8,1999, senior managers of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) met with senior managers of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) at the NEl offices in Washington, DC. The purpose of the meeting was to provide an opportunity for the senior j
managers of both organizations to discuss items of current interest to the nuclear industry. provides a summary of the meeting and Attachment 2 is a list of meeting attendees. Attachment 3 is the agenda provided by NEl for the meeting.
Attachments:
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j' MEMORANDUM TO: Frank J Miraglia, Jr.
Deputy Executive Director for Regulatory Programs FROM:
Glenn M. Tracy, Chief Regional Operations and Program Management Section, OEDO
SUBJECT:
SUMMARY
OF MARCH 8,1999, PUBLIC MEET G WITH THE NUCLEAR ENERGY INSTITUTE ON MUTUA TEMS OF INTEREST l
On March 8,1999, senior managers of the Nuclear Ener institute (NEI) met with 1
senior managers of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRp at the NEl offices in Washington, DC. The purpose of the meeting was to pro 7 e an oppor managers of both organizations to discuss items of current interest to the nuclear industry. provides a summary of the meeting an ttachment 2 is a list of meeting attendees. Attachment 3 is the agenda provided by NEl for the meeting.
Attachments:
As stated cc w/ attachments:
See next page DISTRIBUTION Central Files 4
PDR EDO R/F DEDR R/F DEDE R/F J
GTracy WTravers DOCUMENT NAME: g:\\nel308me.wpd Ta receive a copy of this document, Indicate in the box: "C" = Copy without enclosugas *E" = Copy with enclosures "N" = No copy OFFICE ROMPS:C l
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GTracy Wurnd7M DATE 3/tz/99 3/
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OFFICIAL RECORD COPY l
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William Travers, NRC Frank Miraglia, Jr., NRC Mal Knapp, NRC Stephen Burns, NRC Sam Collins, NRC William Kane, NRC Paan Sheron, NRC William Borchardt, NRC Bruce Boger, NRC John Craig, NRC Steve West, NRC i
Michele Evans, NRC Ralph Beedle, NEl Alex Marion, NEl Dave Modeen, NEl Steve Floyd, NEl Lynnette Hendricks, NEl Tony Pietrangelo, NEl James Davis, NEl Bob Dishop, NEl Jack Brons, NEl Clive Calloway, NEl Biff Bradley, NEl Marvin Fertel, NEl Angle Howard, NEl Ellen Ginsberg, NEl
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% * * * * * #o March 31, 1999 MEMORANDUM TO: Frank J Miraglia, Jr.
Deputy Executive Director for Regulatory Programs
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FROM:
Glenn M. Tracy, Chief 164
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Regional Operations and Program Management Section, OEDO
SUBJECT:
SUMMARY
OF MARCH 8,1999, PUBLIC MEETING WITH THE NUCLEAR ENERGY INSTITUTE ON MUTUAL ITEMS OF INTEREST l
On March 8,1999, senior managers of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) met with senior managers of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) at the NEl offices in Washington, DC. The purpose of the meeting was to provide an opportunity for the senior managers of both organizations to discuss items of current interest to the nuclear industry. provides a summary of the meeting and Attachment 2 is a list of meeting attendees. Attachment 3 is the agenda provided by NEl for the meeting.
Attachrnents:
As stated cc w/ attachments:
See page 2 I
i
SUMMARY
OF NRC/NEl SENIOR MANAGEMENT MEETING March 8,1999 NRC and NEl management had previously agreed upon eight topic areas to discuss at this meeting. A brief summary of the issues discussed in each area is presented below.
Fire Protection There was general agreement on the need for collective focus to bring closure to some discrete fire protection issues. Although some issues have been resolved, for example, the penetration seal issues, others require additional dialogue. Circuit analysis is one area where work is ongoing but there does not appear to be a clear path to closure. A meeting later in March will provide further opportunity for discussion of the issues.
Mr. West indicated that the effort with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) regarding NFPA 805 standard (Performance-Based Standard for Fire Protection for Light Water Reactor Electric Generating Plants) has been very challenging for the NRC staff. There was agreement regarding the need to maintain the schedule for finalizing the standard and to address, through the consensus process, the concern that the utility industry may no' oe supportive of the standard.
Reactor Oversight Mr. Floyd indicated that a substantial amount of work remained to be compWad prior to implementation of the pilot process in June, and that the pilot was a critical yart of the new oversight process. As such, the entire effort warrants a continued high le' el 6 management attention. NRC management agreed. Items to be completed prior to the pilot implementation include the inspection finding matrix, finalization of the performance in#.cators (PI) and threshold development, the PI manual, the inspection manual rewrite. the enforcement proposal, training sessions prior to the pilot, and communications to the industry, the NRC and the public. Mr. Floyd indicated that NEl was planning to communicate information regardirig the new oversight process to the industry and the public in early May. He also indicated that NEl was comfortable with the approach the NRC was taking in the area of enforcement, but on the other hand, they were somewhat anxious regarding the inspection manual rewrite.
License Renewal Mr. Pietrangelo indicated the need to maintain continuous improvement in the process for review and approval of license renewal applications to establish a stable predictable process that is focused and efficient. NEI's concern is that if not achieved, there may be a resource burden in the future with multiple applicants and overlap of review and approval cycles. NRC management acknowledged the concern, but indicated that although the applicable Regulatory Guide would not be final until 2001, the NRC staff has been revising the Standard Review Plan on a continuing basis, as lessons are learned from processing the first two license renewal applications. There was agreement to further discuss this issue at the March 30 steering
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\\ committee meeting. NEl has also recently submitted a paper to the NRC identifying examples of current licensing basis issues that can be used as a basis for future discussion regarding adequacy of current licensing basis programs.
Voluntary Industry initiatives Mr. Sheron discussed a recent paper forwarded to the Commission invoMng the use by industry of voluntary initiatives in the regulatory process. In the paper, the recommendation is made that such initiatives may be used in lieu of, or to complement, regulatory actions. For example, they may oe used instead of generic letters to address technical issues that arise. Mr.
Sheron indicated that the NRC staff will need to work with the industry to achieve buy-in; to develop criteria for a threshold, a process for industry inspection and monitoring of initiatives, and a mechanism for public involvement; and, to establish timing of industry action and the level of licensee commitment to voluntary industry initiatives. Mr. Beedle cautioned regarding presenting the perception that NEl was an extension of NRR. Everyone acknowledged the NRC statutory responsibility regarding rules and regulations. There was agreement to meet and discuss the matter further after NEl has had the opportunity to review the SECY paper upon its release to the public.
Security There was discussion and an overall agreement by all parties that senior level management attention involving issues related to design basis threat, Part 73, and OSRE was needed. Mr.
Kane indicated that these issues were receiving priority attention in NRR. Mr. Beedle indicated that the membership of the Security Task Force had been augmented with four chief nuclear officers to review these programs.
Year 2000 Mr. Davis indicated that overall the industry and the NRC have been able to successfully address Y2K and all major activities should be complete by July 1. However, there was agreement that communication is becoming more important as the end of the year approaches and media interest increases. Both NEl and NRC management agreed that more sensitivity to any issues that develop is needed and that a key element of successful resolution is communication with the media and the public at a local level.
Part 50 50.54(a)
Ms. Hendricks indicated that the industry is looking for a tool to help ensure consistency in changes to emergency plans. Ms. Hendricks noted that although some guidance has been provided to inspectors (EPPOS), the guidance is viewed as dogmatic and not performance based. NEl submitted extensive comment on the guidance; however, they have not seen any activity toward resolution.
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. 1 50.59 Based on the results of the March 2, Commission Meeting on 50.59 NEl and NRC management i
agreed on the need to work toward a resolution in the near term, beginning with a public I
meeting scheduled for March 10 at the NRC offices.
50 65 Mr. Pietrangelo indicated that NEl's position had been that the proposed changes to the.
maintenance rule (50.65) should be withdrawn and reworked to address scope and terminology issues. However, upon hearing the NRC staff's presentation at the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) meeting on February 4, they have been reconsidering their position. They recommend proceeding with the risk-informing of section a(4) of the rule dealing with assessment. However, they recommend deferring risk-informing the remainder of the rule to the risk-informing Part 50 effort. The industry is currently developing comments on this j
compromise position, and plans to inform the Commission in April. In the interim, NEl intends to send a letter to the Commission outlining their new proposal.
Communication NEl again indicated that they would like to see SECY papers released to the public concurrent with submittal to the Commission. In addition, they requested that more sensitivity be given
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regarding the types of information contained in the NRC Weekly Information Report which is placed on the NRC Website. They believe at times the report includes information that is speculative with regard to business sensitive information. Information invoMng TMI which was included in the February 5" weekly report was provided as an example. Mr. Collins indicated that he would further address this issue.
Mr. Beedle indicated NEl's desire to have monthly meetings with the NRC. Mr. Travers indicated that the NRC would continue to routinely participate in quarterly meetings; however, we would support more frequent meetings when deemed necessary.
1
e NRC/NEl SENIOR MANAGER MEETING LIST OF ATTENDEES Merch 8,1999 NAME ORGANIZATION William Travers NRC Frank Miraglia, Jr.
NRC Mal Knapp NRC Stephen Burns NRC Sam Collins NRC Bill Kane NRC j
Brian Sheron NRC Bill Borchardt NRC Bruce Boger NRC 1
John Craig NRC Steve West NRC Michele Evans NRC Ralph Beedle NEl Alex Marion NEl Dave Modeen NEl Steve Floyd NEl Lynnette Hendricks NEl Tony Pietrangelo NEl James Davis NEl Jack Brons NEl Clive Calloway NEl Biff Bradley NEl Marvin Fertel NEl Angle Howard.
NEl Bob Bishop NEl i
Ellen Ginsberg NEl Kim Green NUS Information Services Michael Knapik McGraw-Hill Jenny Weil McGraw -Hill Nancy Chapman SERCH/Bechtel
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'V' NUCLE AR ENERGY IN$ilf UTE NEl-NRC Senior Management Meeting March 8,1999 2:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
3d Floor Main Conference Room AGENDA
Purpose:
To discuss issues of current interest to the industry.
Introduction Beedle/ Travers 1
Oversight Floyd License Renewal Pietrangelo Voluntary Industry initiatives Sheron Security Davis Fire Protection Modeen j
Year 2000 Davis Part 50 Hendricks/
{50.54 (q), 50.59, 50.63}
Pietrangelo Communication Beedle
.