ML20207A562
| ML20207A562 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 02/25/1999 |
| From: | Blaha J NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO) |
| To: | |
| References | |
| SECY-99-060, SECY-99-060-R, SECY-99-60, SECY-99-60-R, WIR-990219, NUDOCS 9903040284 | |
| Download: ML20207A562 (23) | |
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'Embruary 25.1999 SECY 99-060 1
for:
The Commissioners From:
Jenes L. Blaha, Assistant for Operations, Office of the EDO
' bjgqt:
WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING FEBRUARY 19,1999
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Contents Enclosure Nuclear Reactor Regulation A
j Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards B
Nuclear Regulatory Research C
incident Response Operations-D i
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 l P
Region 11 P
Region lli P
Region IV P
Executive Director for Operations Q*
Congressional Affairs R
Original signed by:
- No input this week.
Debra J. Corley for James L. Blaha Assistant for Operations, OEDO t
Contact:
)
M. Evans, OEDO h
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D. C. 20665 February 25.1999 SECY 99-060 fo.r:
The Commissioners From:
James L. Blaha, Assistant for Operations, Office of the EDO Subiect:
WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING FEBRUARY 19,1999 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 l
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 Ill P
Region IV P
Executive Director for Operations Q*
Congressional Affairs R
- No input this week.
/
James L Blaha Assistant for Operations, OEDO
Contact:
M. Evans, OEDO
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation items of Interest Week Ending February 19,1999 Policy on Notice of Enforcement Discretion NRC Administrative Letter 95-05, Revision 1: Revisions to Staff Guidance for Implementing NRC Policy on Notices of Enforcement Discretion dated February 19,1999.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is issuing this administrative letter to inform addressees of revisions to staff guidance for implementing the NRC's policy on Notices of Enforcement Discretion.
NRC Countercarts Fire Risk Assessment Workshoo On February 17 and 18,1999, the Plant Systems Branch in the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, sponsored an internal workshop on reactor fire risk assessment. The overall purpose of the workshop which was held at NRC Headquarters, Rockville, Maryland, was to develop a method or tool for assessing the risk significance of reactor fire protection deficiencies (e.g., inspection findings). The methodology will be used to acdress the following needs:
(1) consistency in understanding and treating fire protection inspection findings (e.g., to support enforcement),
(2) assessing the safety and risk significance of fire protection functional inspection findings to support the staff's recommendations to the Commission on the future of the Fire Protection Functional Program, and (3) establishing a tool or methodology for assessing the risk significance of degraded, reactor plant specific, fire protection and post-fire safe shutdown features.
NRC managers and technical staff (reviewers, inspectors, risk analysts, senior level advisors, and senior reactor analysts) from the following organizations participated in the workshop:
Division of Systems Safety and Analysis, Division of Inspection and Support Programs, Plant Systems Branch, Probabilistic Safety Assessment Branch, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, Office of Enforcement, and Regions I,11, Ill, and IV. A meeting summary will be issued.
San Onofre Units 2 and 3 On February 12,1999, the NRC issued two final amendments to support the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) Unit 2 outage and plant restart. This completes a total of 10 licensing actions to support significant maintenance and plant modifications for Unit 2, with
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the same number of actions supporting the Unit 3 outage that follows a month after Unit 2 restart.
February 19,1999 ENCLOSURE A
The actions included extension of emergency diesel generator allowed outage time to allow major maintenance on the EDGs before the outage (completing both a risk-informed, as well as a greater than three year old issue): implementation of Option B to Appendix J for containment isolation valve testing; continued use of mechanical nozzle seal assemblies; an amendment to allow use of ABB/CE sleeves in steam generator tubes; an amendment to allow operation in a manner which reduces thermal stress on steam generator tubes and supports extended life of the steam generators; and correction of a long-standing problem with use of one bistable in the reactor trip circuitry that was used to two different trips.
During the period since October 1,1998, the staff has completed a total of 36 licensing actions total for both SONGS units, including 4 greater than three years old, and 10 others between 2 and 3 years old. In addition, the staff has responded to 7 allegations or other correspondence from concerned citizens from the SONGS vicinity.
Byron Units 1 and 2 Byron Station implemented the improved Standard Technical Specifications at midnight on February 5,1999.
Manaaement Chanaes Byron Site Vice-President Kenneth Grasser will retire from Commonwealth Edison in July and be replaced by the current station manager Bill Levis. Richard Lopriori, currently with Ontario Hydro, will join Comed on March 15,1999, to become the new Byron station manager.
FirstEnergy Corp.'s Board of Directors on February 16 announced that President and Chief Operating Officer H. Peter Burg will be named president and chief executive officer when Chairman and CEO Willard R. Holland steps down as chief executive officer after the Annual Meeting of Shareholders on April 29,1999. Mr. Holland will continue to serve as chairman of the Board until his retirement on December 31,1999.
Mr. Burg,52, joined Ohio Edison in 1968 as a financial analyst trainee. He served as associate financial analyst, economic analyst, and director of financial studies before being elected j
treasurer in 1974, vice president in 1985, and senior vice president and chief financial officer in j
1989. He served as interim president of Ohio Edison's subsidiary Pennsylvania Power i
Company from August 1994 through May of 1995. He was named President, Chief Operating I
Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Ohio Edison in 1996. He was elected President and Chief I
Financial Officer of FirstEnergy in 1997 and to his current position in April 1998. Mr. Burg is a l
member of the Board of Directors of FirstEnergy and its various subsidiaries.
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Mr. Burg received his Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and Master of 1
Business Administration degree from The University of Akron. He attended the Harvard l
Graduate School of Business and completed its program for management development.
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i On February 16,1999, the licensee announced that effective March 1,1999, Mr. John R.
Sampson, D. C. Cook Site Vice-President has been named American Electric Power l
Corporation Indiana / Michigan Power Company State President. Mr. Sampson will interact with state regulators, legislators and customers. The licensee has not named a replacement.
February 19,1999 ENCLOSURE A i
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m Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Items of Interest Week Ending February 19,1999 Revalidation of Risk Estimates for Scent Fuel Shioments On February 9-11,1999, Spent Fuel Proje.:t Office (SFPO) staff participated in a status review meeting on the NUREG-0170 " Final Environmental Statement on the Transportation of Radioactive Material by Air and Other Modes" spent fuel shipment risk revalidation project at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Staff from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory also attended, as they have been tasked by SFPO to perform a peer review of the Sandia project. Discussion focused on generic cask evaluations under accident conditions, severe accident probabilities, package release fractions, and route modeling. The revalidation project is expected to be completed by the Fall of 1999.
Department of Enerav Source Recovery Proaram On February 11,1999, staff members from the Offico of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards and the incident Response Operations met with representatives from the Department of Energy (DOE) Albuquerque waste operations field office at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Headquarters to discuss DOE's source recovery program conducted by the Los Alamos Laboratory (LANL). The DOE currently accepts certain greater than class C (GTCC) sealed sources (plutonium-beryllium and americium-beryllium), that meet specific criteria, for processing by LANL. DOE has also accepted other sealed sources that do not meet the criteria for more routine acceptance in cases where the source presents an imminent radiological hazard to the public and no other options are available to mitigate the hazard.
The DOE representatives discussed a proposal that would allow for increased routine acceptance of a greater number of GTCC sources, source types, and isotopes that can be accepted each year. This could be accomplished through the use of alternative disposition options for the sources, as well as changing the current process for retrieving and accepting sources.
Meetina with Atlas Corporation On February 12,1999, the Deputy Executive Director for Regulatory Programs and staff from the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards and the Office of the General Counsel met with representatives of the Atlas Corporation. The staff has been reviewing Atlas' proposal for onsite reclamation of its uranium mill tailings pile near Moab, Utah. The staff issued its Final Technical Evaluation Report on the proposal in March 1997. The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) had been delayed awaiting a biological opinion (BO) from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in accordance with the Endangered Species Act. On September 22,1998, Atlas filed a petition for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 and is in the process of preparing a reorganization plan.
At the meeting, the staff informed Atlas that it could not conclude that the standard for ammonia in the Colorado River, identified in the July 1998 BO, would be met by the Atlas proposal. The staff stated that it plans to issue the FEIS in March with this as an open issue and that it would February 19,1999 ENCLOSURE B
1 not be able to approve Atlas' proposed reclamation until this issue was satisfactorily resolved.
Atlas stated that it would be unable to provide the additional data and analysis to resolve the opan issue because of its financial condition.
Atlas discussed the current situation with respect to options it has been considering to reclaim tPs site. At an earlier meeting, Atlas had discussed a plan in which a tumkey operator would assume responsibility for managing the reclamation of the site and would also assume the risk of increased reclamation costs. Atlas told the staff that the proposal from the turnkey contractor put such a contract beyond Atlas' financial resources. The options Atlas identified at the meeting all involve transferring money to a trust, with a trustee responsible for site reclamation with a cap on that trustee's liability corresponding to the amount included in the trust. Atlas requested that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission review the options proposed and negotiate with Atlas, as well as with the other interested parties, including the U.S. Department of the Interior and other stakeholders. The staff stated that it needed to discuss the options with the Commission before it could make any commitments.
Meetina with Westinohouse on Proposed License Revision On February 16,1999, staff from the Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards met at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Headquarters with nuclear criticality safety experts from the Westinghouse Commercial Fuel Fabrication Facility in Columbia, South Carolina, to discuss responses to technical questions posed by the licensing technical reviewers on a proposed revision to the criticality safety chapter of the Westinghouse license. The technical exchange, for the most part, focused on clarification of criticality safety commitments by the licensee. The outcome of the meeting was an agreement that Westinghouse would resubmit their proposed revision to their license.
Deslan Basis Threat issues Meetina Early in February 1999, staff from the Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards met with members of the Department of Energ/s (DOE) Office of Safeguards and Security to discuss Design Basis Threat (DBT) issues. DOE has appointed a new DBT issue coordinator who has a mandate tc revisit DBT-related issues and problems, and revitalize its DBT program. DOE is currently in an infc~ nation-gathering stage, and wanted to meet Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff to see how they develop and maintain the DBT for NRC licensees.
. NRC staff provided DOE with several unclassified studies which led to the current NRC DBT, as well as copies of the classified Semiannual Threat Environment Review. DOE wishes to send several threat personnel to NRC in the near-future to conduct brainstorming sessions in order to improve its DBT and to more closely coordinate DBT issues between the two agencies and the Department ot Defense to maintain comparability.
10 CFR Part 70 A letter received early in February 1999 from the Occupational Safety and Health Admhistration (OSHA) informed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that OSHA believes the draft proposed 10 CFR Part 70 rule language addressing chemical hazards preempts OSHA from enforcing their standards, rules, and other requirements with respect to chemical hazards. OSHA fudher stated that they believe this preemption would extend to other February 19,1999 ENCLOSURE B
!4 rules relating to hazards from flammable, explosive, corrosive or toxic chemicals, including such things as respiratory protection, confined space entry, and lockout /tagout. OSHA also expressed concerns with the OSHA-NRC Memorandum of Understanding that delineates 1
l jurisdiction in a practical way. The Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards and the i
Office of the General Counsel will be meeting with OSHA representatives on February 25, l
1999, to discuss OSHA's concerns.
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j February 19,1999 ENCLOSURE B i
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Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research items of interest Week Ending February 19,1999 Completion of Version 2.0 of the VICTORIA Fission Product Chemistry Code Version 2.0 of VICTORIA, the NRC's fission product chemistry code, was recently completed.
Its code manual was published as NUREG/CR-6131, " VICTORIA 2.0: A Mechanistic Model for Radionuclide Behavior in a Nuclear Reactor Coolant System Under Severe Accident Conditions," December 1908. VICTORIA was developed to mechanistically model fission product behavior and related phenomena in the reactor coolant system of light water reactors.
VICTORIA has mechanistic models for the release of fission products (and non-radioactive materials) from the fuel, release of control rod and structural materials, chemical interactions, aerosol formation and interactions, and decay heating effects due to fission product deposition.
VICTORIA was recently used in support of the NUREG-1570 study, Risk Assessment of Severe Accident-induced Steam Generator Tube Rupture, March 1998. Applications of VICTORIA included evaluation of steam generator tube heating by deposited fission products under station blackout conditions. VICTORIA was also used for estimating offsite releases for a postulated steam generator tube rupture.
VICTORIA 2.0 contains significant enhancements over previous versions. These enhancements result in more accurate prediction of the location and mechanism of iodine deposition in the reactor coolant system. These enhancements had as their origin the l
l conclusions of an earlier independent peer review. With the issuance of VICTORIA 2.0, all high priority VICTORIA development is finished. Other VICTORIA-relata activities this year include application of the code to operating reactors, assessment of resu'Its of the ongoing PHEBUS l
integral core damage experiments in France, and evaluation of VICTORIA capabilities versus MELCOR, the NRC's integrated full-plant systems code for severe accident analysis.
I Reaulatory Guides Two regulatory guides were issued recently. A new Regulatory Guide 1.179, " Standard Format l
and Content of License Termination Plans for Nuclear Power Reactors," was developed to j
provide guidance on developing license termination plans for nuclear power reactor licensees i
who wish to terminate their licenses and release their sites. Revision 1 to Regulatory Guide 3.54, " Spent Fuel Heat Generation in an Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation," was issued to present a method that is acceptable to the NRC staff for calculating heat generation rates for use as design input for an independent spent fusi storage installation. The procedures in this revised guide, for both boiling water reactors and pressurized water reactors, are simpler and therefore are expected to be more useful to applicants and reviewers.
Two regulatory guides were withdrawn, Regulatory Guide 10.10, " Guide for the Preparation of Applications for Radiation Safety Evaluation and Registration of Devices Containing Byproduct Material" (issued March 1987), and Regulatory Guide 10.11, " Guide for the Preparation of Applications for Radiation Safety Evaluation and Registration of Sealed Sources Containing Byproduct Material" (issued June 1987). The information in Regulatory Guides 10.10 and 10.11 has been updated and incorporated into Volume 3 of NUREG-1556, ' Consolidated Guidance About Materials Licenses: Applications for Sealed Source and Device Evaluation and February 19,1999 ENCLOSURE C i
Registration," which was issued in July 1998. Since there is no longer a need for Regulatory Guides 10.10 and 10.11, they have been withdrawn.
Assessment of Pressurized Water Reactor Primarv System Leaks The Safety Programs Division, has issued the final report of Assessment of Pressurized Water Reactor Primary System Leaks, NUREG/CR-6582. The objective of the study was to provide a comprehensive assessment of U.S. experience related to PWR primary system leaks, their rates, and trends; the safety significance of such leakage; and assessment of current leak detection methods. Earlier drafts of this report were provided to the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, the regions, industry organizations, and the public for peer review and comment.
The assessment was mainly based on a review of licensee event reports related to leak events from 1985 to September 1996. Several leak events that took place outside the study period or, in the case of thermal fatigue, outside the United States were reviewed to complement the study. The report presents findings in the following eight arcas: (1) trends of annual rates of primary coolant leaks, (2) previously unidentified degradation mechanisms and failure modes that have caused primary coolant leaks, (3) locations and types of leaks not previously identified (4) leaks that have a potential for relatively rapid growth, (5) safety significance of piping fatigue, (6) leak events that may be regarded as core damage precursors, (7) effectiveness of current leakage detection systems, and (8) information relevant to risk-informed inspection.
Thermal fatigue of PWR branch lines may become an emerging issue for the following reasons:
(1) thermal fatigue cracks have occurred in pipe base metal or small pipe weld locations that are generally not inspected and corresponding failure mechanisms are not well understood, (2) the stability of a through-wall crack in small diameter piping (s10 inch) under seismic conditions is not well assessed by analysis, (3) experience with a rapidly growing fatigue crack, which has been reported for a safety injection line of Dampierre 1 in 1997, is limited, and (4) the recent leak event at Civaux 1 (leak rate 132 gpm) implies that leakage through a thermal fatigue crack could lead to a small break loss-of-coolant accident (SBLOCA).
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i February 19,1999 ENCLOSURE C i
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a Incident Response Operations -
Items of Interest j
Week Ending February 19,1999 j
PRELIMINARY NOTIFICATIONS:
1.
PNO il-99-007, Allied Technology Group, RESIN SPILL FROM RUPTURED ELBOW LINE i
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PNO-Ill-99-006, Research Medical Center, THERAPEUTIC MISADMINISTRATION-UNDERDOSE 3.
PNO-IV-99-012, Providence Medical Center, MISADMINISTRATION INVOLVING AN INTRAVASCULAR BRACHYTHERAPY TREATMENT l
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i February 19,1999 ENCLOSURE D
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Office of Administration items of Interest Week Ending February 19,1999.
Emlect Officer Trainina i
On February 18,.1999, the Division of Contracts and Property Management conducted two i
Acquisition for Project Managers training modules: The " Overview of the Acquisition Process"is a primer for other workshops in the acquisition training program. The workshop familiarizes
,I participants with the entire NRC acquisition processing including FAR applicability, commercial j
contracts, and DOE laboratory interagency agreements. " Preparing Statements of Work" ~
provides project managers with practical exercises in developing suednct and complete SOWS 4
that ensure contractors and DOE laboratories fully understand project scope, achieve work objectives, and deliver useful products in a timely manner and at a reasonable cost.
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I Chief Information Officer items of Interest Week Ending February 19,1999 Freedom of Information and Privacy Act Reauests received durina the 4-Day Period of February 12.1999 throuah February 18.1999:
Oncology Services Corp. and/or EquiMed, Inc., licensing documents since 11/1/98.
(FOINPA 99-123)
License # SOP-21367, dated 2/8/99, Docket # 55-60482. (FOINPA 99-124)
Named Individual, all records. (FOINPA 99-125)
Self, all records. (FOINPA 99-126)
Oncology Services Corp. and/or EquiMed, Inc.,1/20/99 licensee letter regarding potential sale 4
j of cancer treatment centers. (FOINPA 99-127) i t
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4 February 19,1999 ENCLOSURE G 4
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Office of Human Resources items of Interest Week Ending February 19,1999 Departures PIORUN, Mary LIBRARIAN OCIO t
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ENCLOSUREI 4
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Office of Public Affairs items of Interest Week Ending February 19,1999 Media Interest The OClO is responding to questions from a reporter at Federal Computer Week, which is publishing a story on Chief Information Officers and the Clinger-Cohen Act.
Press Releases Headquarters:
99-26 Note to Editors: Review Panel Members Named 99-27 NRC Takes issue With Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Report 99-28 NRC Adds a Third Video Conference Site on Hearing Concerning River Bend, Perry Nuclear Power Plants 99-29 NRC Amends Quality Assurance Regulations for Nuclear Power Plant Licensees l
Regions:
1 1-99-14 Note to Editors: Meeting with Northeast Utilities February 17 IV-99-04 NRC to Discuss Latest SONGS Unit 1 Decommissioning Plans With Public i
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February 19,1999 ENCLOSURE M l
i Office of International Programs items of interect '
Week Ending February 19,1999 Subaroup on Nuclear Export Coordination The Subgroup on Nuclear Export Coordination (SNEC), an interagency committee chaired by the Department of State which primarily reviews applications involving items controlled for nuclear non-proliferation reasons, met on Friday, February 19,1999. Discussions focused on nine Department of Commerce dual-use cases involving exports to Italy, China, India, Pakistan and Israel,
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February 19,1999 ENCLOSURE N
- 4 Office of the Secretary items of Interest Week Ending February 19,1999 Documents Released Date Subject to Public Decision Documents 1.
SECY-98-253 11/4/98 Applicability of Plant-Specific Backfit Requirements to Plants Undergoing Decommiss.ioning SRM on 98-253 2/12/98 (same)
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Commission Voting 2/12/98 (same)
Record on 98-253 2.
SECY-98-303 12/29/98 Interim Enforcement Policy Regarding Proposed New Requirements for the Possession of Industrial Devices Containing j
9yproduct Material (10 CFR 31.5) l SRM on 98-303 2/16/99 (same)
Commission Voting 2/16/99 (same)
Record on 98-303 3.
SECY-99-001 1/5/99 Proposed Guidance for Updated Final Safety Analysis Reports in Accordance with j
SRM on 99-001 2/16/99 (same)
Commission Voting 2/16/99 (same)
Record on 99-001 4.
SECY-98-261 11/5/98 Policy Concerning Bundling of Exempt Quantities SRM on 98-261 2/16/99 (same)
Commission Voting 2/16/99 (same)
Record on 98-261 5.
SECY-98-246 10/23/98 Standard Review Plan Regarding Foreign Ownership, Control, or Domination of Applicants for Reactor Licenses SRM on 98-246 2/17/99 (same)
Commission Voting 2/17/99 (same)
Record on 98-246 February 19,1999 ENCLOSURE O
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SECY-99-009 1/13/99 Proposed License to Export a' Process Control System for the Arroyito Heavy Water Production Plant in Argentina i
SRM on 99-009 2/17/99 (same)
Commission Voting 2/17/99 (same)
Record on 99-009 7.
M990119 2/19/99 Briefing on Status of Third Party Oversight 1
of Millstone Station's Employee Concems i
program and Safety Conscious Work Environment, January 19,1999 8.
COMSECY-98-036 11/3/98 Draft NRC Contingency Plan for the Year i
2000 issue in the Nuclear Industry SRM on COMSECY 2/19/99 (same) 036 Chmn Jackson vote on 12/8/98 (same) 3 COMSECY-98-036 Cmr Dicus vote on 12/7/98 (se.ne)
COMSECY-98-036 Cmr Diaz vote on 11/23/98 (same)
COMSECY 98-036 Cmr McGaffigan vote on 11/13/98 (same) j COMSECY-98-036 1
Cmr Merrifield vote on 11/9/98 (same) 4 COMSECY-98-036 Negative Consent Documents j
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SECY-99-029 1/28/99 NRC Participation in the Development and Use of Consensus Standards 4
l SRM on 99-029 2/17/99 (same)
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SECY-99-033 2/1/99 Removal of the Chemetron Harvard Avenue and Bert Avenue Sites from the Site Decommissioning Management Plan SRM on 99-033 2/19/99 (same) l Cmr. McGaffigan 2/9/99 (same) comment on 99-033 3.
SECY-09-014 1/13/99 Rulemaking Plan: Revision of Appendix K to Title 10, Part 50, of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR Part 50) i February 19 1999 ENCLOSURE O 3
SRM on 99-014 2/19/99 (same)
Cmr. McGaffigan 2/2/99 (same) comment on 99-014 Information Papers 1.
SECY-98-252 10/30/98 Preliminary Staff Views Concerning its Review of the Foreign Ownership Aspects of AmerGen, Inc.'s Proposed Purchase of Three Mile Island, Unit 1 2.
SECY-99-035 2/1/99 Status of Decommissioning Program and Site Decommissioning Management Plan Sites Memoranda 1.
M990208B 2/16/99 Staff Requirements - Briefing on HLW Program Viability Assessment, Monday, February 8,1999 Commission Corresoondence 1.
Letter to Representative Michael Forbes and similar letter to Senators Joseph Lieberman and Christopher Dodd and Representative Sam Gejdenson, da' i February 9,1999, provides a status of the Millstone facilities.
2.
Letter to Dr. Ching-Piao Hu, Taiwan Atomic Energy Council, dated February 9,1999, concerns an invitation to visit Taiwan (incoming letter dated December 23,1998 also released).
3.
Letter to Representative Edward Markey, dated February 10,1999, concerns the NRC's contract with Arthur Andersen (incoming letter dated January 6,1999 also released).
4.
Letter to Representatives Stephen Horn and Dennis Kucinich and Senators Robert Bennett and Christopher Dodd, dated February 9,1999, provides the February 1999 quarterly report on the Year 2000 problem.
5.
Letter to James Witt, FEMA, dated February 11,1999, provides concurrence in the updated Federal Response Plan and the letter of Agreement (incoming letter dated January 4,1999 also released).
Federal Reaister Notices issued 1.
Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards; Meeting Notice for March 10-131999.
2.
10 CFR Part 50; Changes to Quality Assurance Programs; Proposed Rule.
3.
10 CFR Part 50; Changes to Quality Assurance Programs; Direct Final Rule.
4.
ACRS Subcommittee Meeting on Planning and Procedures; Notice of Meeting on March 9,1999.
February 19,1999 ENCLOSURE O
Region 1 -
Items of Interest
. Week Ending February 19,1999
- Washinaton Hosoital Center Enforcement Conference
- On February 8,1999, an enforcement conference was held with Washington (D.C.) Hospital -
Center management at the Region i office. The conference focused on the loss of control of a plutonium-238 nuclear pacemaker. The root cause and contributing causes of the event were discussed. The licensee's planned and implemented corrective and preventive actions were also discussed. Enforcement action is under consideration.
Nine Mile Point (NMP) Unit 1 4
During the last quarter of 1997, the NMP Unit 1 emergency condenser (EC) tube bundles were replaced due to leaking tubes. Recently, on February 18, Niagara Mohawk (NM) discovered.
that an ASME-required preservice weld inspection of the tube bundles had not been performed.
The preservice inspection required volumetric examinations of 4 welds located on each
' emergency condenser end bell. The nondestructive examinations (NDE) that were intended to 1
be credited as preservice inspections exams were inappropriately performed prior to, instead of
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after, hydrostatic testing. This resulted in all four ECs being declared inoperable, which also.
required the initiation of a technical specifications required shutdown.
Because of the plant impact, NM requested tt$at enforcement discretion be granted to extend the allowed outage time by 48 hours5.555556e-4 days <br />0.0133 hours <br />7.936508e-5 weeks <br />1.8264e-5 months <br /> to allow sufficient time to complete the appropriate NDE i
examinations. NM presented their basis for requesting enforcement discretion during a conference call with the NRC during the evening of February 18. After evaluation of the circumstances and safety basis for NM's request, the NRC granted enforcement discretion at 8:26. p.m.
As of 2:00 p.m. February 19, NMPC was performing the required NDE.
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t February 19,1999 ENCLOSURE P i
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Region 11 Items of Interest Week Ending February 19,1999 Commissioner Merrifield visits Reaion 11 On February 16, Commissioner Merrifield and his Technical Assistant visited the Region ll Office and held discussions with the Region 11 staff and managers. On February 17, the Commissioner, accompanied by the Deputy Regional Administrator, Resident inspectors and licensee management, toured the Hatch nuclear facility in Baxley, Georgia.
Commissioner Merrifield also visited the Department of Energy's Savannah River Site on February 18,1999, and on February 19, he met with senior State officials, and management representatives of Chem-Nuclear Systems Inc., and toured the Barnwell Low-Level Waste Disposal Facility, an Agreement State licensee, located in Snelling, South Carolina.
Federal Emeraency Manaaement Aaency (FEMA IV) conducts Y2K Conference in Atlanta On February 17-18,1999, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Region IV (FEMA IV) sponsored a Y2K Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Senior members of the National Y2K Team, including representatives of the President's Council on Y2K, and the Vice-President's Committee on Re-Inventing Government, actively participated. The conference was well attended and included invited officials from the Regional Federal agencies, as well as from the Regional States and local governments.
This was the first of ten conferences which FEMA intends to conduct over the next three weeks in each of the other nine FEMA Regions. Currently, FEMA IV intends to conduct follow-up conferences in August and December,1999, respectively.
The Region ll State Liaison Officer and Emergency Planning Coordinator, as well as a member of the Office of the Executive Director for Operations also participated in this conference.
i Acolied Radiant Enerov Corporation. Lynchbura. Virainia On February 17, the Regional Administrator authorized The Applied Radiant Energy Corporation (ARECO) to load cobalt-60 (Co-60) into their underwater irradiator. The licensee plans to load 250,000 Curies into the pool the week of February 22. Region ll inspectors will be onsite to review final preparations for the loading and observe the loading.
Reaion 11 inspector Seminar and Fundamentals of Inspection Refresher Course On February 17-19, Region 11 held the biannual Inspector Seminar and also a Fundamentals of Inspection Refresher Course. NRC managers from NRR and NMSS, and the DEDE addressed both resident and region-based inspectors and cornmunicated the changes in process in the Agency.
February 19,1999 ENCLOSURE P
Region lli items of Interest.
Week Ending February 19,1999 ~
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Manaaement Meetina with Commonwealth Edison Comoany - Quad Cities i
On February 19,1999, a management meeting was conducted in Cordova, Illinois, between 4
management representatives from Commonwealth Edison Company and members of the NRC staff. The meeting discussion focused on the current performance of the Quad Cities Nuclear Power Station. Regional Administrator Jim Dyer participated in the meeting.'
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February 19,1999 ENCLOSURE P i
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O Region IV ltems of Interest Week Ending February 19,1999 Meetino with Arizona Radiation Protection Division The Deputy Director, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, the Regional State Liaison Officer, the Regional State Agreements Officers and a representative from the Office of State Programs met with the Director of the Arizona Radiation Regulatory Agency and members of his staff in the State's Phoenix, Arizona, offices on February 18,1999. This was a routine periodic meeting with the state to help both parties to remain knowledgeable of their respective programs and to conduct planning for the state's next Integrated Materials Performance Evaluation review.
i February 19,1999 ENCLOSURE P
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Office of Congressional Affairs items of Interest Week Ending February 19,1999 CONGRESSIONAL HEARING SCHEDULE, NO. 7 MOCAE y$8DATel45 iTIME? bib (WITNESSG,% GKksSOBJnCTMIfss;35#
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jte M PiptACEhf 8 Sis- "VE MMES % f' ?'? % i?6Y15NM Combs TBA TBA TBD High Level Waste Program Sen. Murkowski/Bingaman Energy and Natural Resources Keeling 02/24 2:15 NRC, eel, Year 2000 Computer Problem Sen. Inhofe/ Graham l
SH-216 Chemical Safety Clean Air, Wetlands, Private i
Board Property, and Nuclear Safety Environment and Public Work Combs 02/24 11:00 Markup H.R. 45, Amending Nuclear Rep. Young / Miller 1324 LHOB Waste Policy Act of 1982 Resources Portner 0?!!6 10:00 DOE Nuclear Waste Management Rep. PackardNisclosky 2362-B RHOB and Disposal Energy and Water Appropriations r
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February 19,1999 ENCLOSURE R
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