SECY-20-0075, Weekly Information Report - Week Ending July 31, 2020
| ML20219A177 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 08/14/2020 |
| From: | Catherine Haney NRC/EDO/AO |
| To: | Commissioners NRC/OCM |
| C. COOK, 415-6397 | |
| References | |
| SECY-20-0075 | |
| Download: ML20219A177 (9) | |
Text
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INFORMATION REPORT AUGUST 14, 2020 SECY-20-0075 FOR: The Commissioners FROM: Catherine Haney Assistant for Operations Office of the Executive Director for Operations
SUBJECT:
WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING JULY 31, 2020 CONTENTS Enclosure Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer A Office of the Chief Information Officer B Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation C Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards D Office of the Secretary E Catherine Digitally signed by Catherine Haney Haney Date: 2020.08.14 13:58:02 -04'00' Catherine Haney Assistant for Operations, OEDO
Contact:
C. Cook, OEDO 301-415-6397
ML20219A177 OFFICE OEDO OEDO/AO NAME CCook CHaney DATE 8/10/20 8/14/20 Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer (OCHCO)
Items of Interest Week Ending JULY 31, 2020 ARRIVALS DENNES, CHRISTIAN PROJECT MANAGER NMSS MEREDITH, ASHLEY LEGAL INTERN OGC SPERANZA, MICHELLE ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT NMSS RETIREMENTS CARLSON, ROBERT D. BRANCH CHIEF NRR FITCH, KAREN M. DEPUTY DIRECTOR NMSS ORR, MICHAEL D. REACTOR INSPECTOR R-I RUTZ, WAYNE A. INFO SEC SPEC (SSO) NSIR SMITH II, WILLIAM D. SECURITY SPECIALIST NSIR DEPARTURES GOEDJEN, JACKSON SUMMER INTERN NRR AUGUST 14, 2020 ENCLOSURE A
Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO)
Items of Interest Week Ending JULY 31, 2020 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Privacy Act (PA) Requests and Appeals Received During the Period of July 27 - July 31 Tracking Requesters Requesters Request Description Received Number Name Organization as submitted by requester Date 2020- Michael A copy of the NRC's Twitter 07/27/2020 000282 Ravnitzky Clearance Process/Policy and the Social Media Clearance Process/Policy for posting content on the agency's Twitter or other Social Media accounts.
2020- Vincent J. Any information regarding the 07/27/2020 000283 Grillo decommissioning of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station located in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Would most specifically be interested in any/all reports that can be found regarding this specific power plant over the past five years.
2020- Donald Exelon Generation All records, including interview 07/29/2020 000284 Ferraro Company, LLC transcripts, for NRC Office of Investigations Case Nos. 1-2014-027 and 1-2017-001.
2020- Rebecca A copy of all communications, 07/31/2020 000285 McCarthy memos, environmental impact reports, and plans or proposals regarding the storage and disposal of nuclear waste in New Mexico.
2020- Billie P. Clifford & Garde, Copies of documents related to NRC 07/31/2020 000286 Garde LLP OI Case No. OI-2-2019-013/Allegation Report No. RII-2019-A-0017, regarding an employee allegation of retaliation for raising safety concerns at Vogtle Units 3&4.
2020- Douglas The complete 3-year list of drone 07/31/2020 000287 Johnson SIDs [Security Information Database]; responses pertaining to the number of drone SIDS events (as specified); the list of 57 SIDS since 12/27/2014; and a copy of the document with filename SID.pdf attached to a March 22, 2020 email with the subject SID Notice 9/30/2019.
2020- James Whiteford, Taylor & The complete personnel file of 07/31/2020 000288 Jeffcoat Preston, LLP named individual, as specified.
AUGUST 14, 2020 ENCLOSURE B
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR)
Items of Interest Week Ending JULY 31, 2020 Staff Hosted Public Meeting on Technical Assistance Request Process On July 27, 2020, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff held a virtual public meeting with stakeholders to discuss the Task Interface Agreement (TIA) revitalization effort (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML20205L366). The staff discussed comments on the updated draft guidance COM-106, regarding the enhanced TIA process (renamed Technical Assistance Request) that was issued publicly on July 9, 2020 (ADAMS Accession No. ML20178A474). Stakeholders discussed items regarding external stakeholder interfaces in the proposed process. Staff will consider all comments in the finalization of TIA guidance and implementation efforts.
Staff Responded to Requests Related to Shutdown of Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit No. 2 On July 30, 2020, the NRC staff responded to two requests from Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. related to the shutdown status at Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit No. 2: 1) cancellation of a regulatory commitment to complete a seismic probabilistic risk assessment and associated activities (ADAMS Accession No. ML20182A125); and 2) rescission of Interim Compensatory Measure B.1.a of Order EA-02-026, Order for Interim Safeguards and Security Compensatory Measures (ADAMS Accession No. ML20170B022). The NRC staff reviewed the requests and had no objection to the cancellation of the commitment or objection to the cancellation of the order based, in part, on certification that power operations ceased on April 30, 2020, and that the fuel was permanently removed from and placed in the Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit No. 2 spent fuel pool on May 12, 2020 (ADAMS Accession No. ML20133J902).
Staff Hosted Public Meeting on Advanced Manufacturing Technologies On July 30, 2020, the NRC staff held a virtual public meeting to discuss Advanced Manufacturing Technologies (AMTs) (ADAMS Accession No. ML20202A403). Specific topics included: (1) description and status of Revision 1 of the AMT Action Plan (ADAMS Accession No. ML19333B980); and (2) presentation and discussion of an Action Plan task involving the development of an AMT guidance framework document. This framework document will describe the generic technical information to be addressed for AMT techniques/material processing methods that have not been traditionally used in the U.S. nuclear industry and have yet to be formally standardized for the nuclear industry.
Staff Hosted Higher Burnup Public Workshop On July 30, 2020, the NRC staff held the Higher Burnup Workshop, a key activity supporting communication of the agency focus on Accident Tolerant Fuel concepts (ADAMS Accession No. ML20211L893). The workshop provided an overview of reactor fuel higher burnup (HBU) and increased enrichment (IE) topics through presentations by the staff, industry, and the Nuclear Energy Agency. It provided a forum for public questions on accident tolerant fuel activities, specifically, HBU and IE issues. The event also included an NRC and industry exchange on expectations for eventual submittals including HBU and IE. The staff committed to continued interaction with industry and the public regarding HBU and IE.
AUGUST 14, 2020 ENCLOSURE C
Staff Approved Licensing Requests for Regulatory Relief Related to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency The NRC staff has reviewed and approved several licensing requests seeking temporary flexibilities to maintain the safe and secure operation of the U.S. nuclear fleet during the pandemic. A summary of approved licensing actions provided during this reporting period are summarized below. A complete list of licensing actions approved by the NRC in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency is available on the NRC public website at https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/covid-19/reactors/licensing-actions.html.
Licensing Request for Regulatory Relief Related to COVID-19 Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, Units 1 and 2 (Pacific Gas and Electric Company)
Type Subject Incoming Request Decision Exemption Select Requirements of 10 CFR 07/21/2020 07/30/2020 Part 73, Appendix B, General Non-public ML20209A050 Criteria for Security Personnel (security-related)
Seabrook Station, Unit No. 1 (NextEra Energy Seabrook, LLC)
Type Subject Incoming Request Decision Exemption Select Requirements of 10 CFR 05/27/2020 07/30/2020 Part 26, Fitness for Duty Non-public ML20202A509 Programs (security-related) 06/16/2020 ML20169A728 Turkey Point Nuclear Plant, Unit Nos. 3 and 4 (Florida Power & Light Company)
Type Subject Incoming Request Decision Exemption Select Requirements of 10 CFR 05/21/2020 07/30/2020 Part 26, Fitness for Duty ML20142A272 ML20204A765 Programs 06/11/2020 ML20163A226 National Bureau of Standards Test Reactor (National Institute of Standards and Technology)
Type Subject Incoming Request Decision Exemption Select Requirements of 10 CFR 07/23/2020 07/29/2020 Part 50, Domestic Licensing of ML20206K842 ML20209A326 Production and Utilization Facilities, Appendix E, Emergency Planning and Preparedness for Production and Utilization Facilities AUGUST 14, 2020 ENCLOSURE C
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS)
Items of Interest Week Ending JULY 31, 2020 NMSS Staff Hold Government-to-Government Meeting with Agreement States On July 23, 2020, the NMSS staff held a government-to-government meeting with Agreement States to discuss whether and how radiopharmaceutical extravasations should be reported as medical events. About 100 Agreement State representatives attended the WebEx meeting where staff presented background information on extravasations and the current medical event reporting criteria, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commissions (NRCs) 1980 policy excluding extravasations from medical event reporting, recommendations from the Advisory Committee on the Medical Uses of Isotopes, and a recently docketed rulemaking petition.
NMSS Staff Issue Responses to Proposed Changes to Regulatory Requirements On July 24, 2020, the NMSS staff issued two letter responses to Western Uranium and Vanadium Corporation (Western) and Alexco Water and Environment, Inc. (Alexco) on proposed changes to the regulatory framework for licensing of 11e.(2) byproduct material. The first response (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML20071G215) is to Western's September 13, 2019, White Paper entitled "Recommendations on the Proper Legal and Policy Interpretation for Using Kinetic Separation Processes at Uranium Mine Sites" (ADAMS Accession No. ML19256C834). The second response (ADAMS Accession No. ML20100J124) is to a September 13, 2019, letter from Alexco that requested changes to requirements for 11e.(2) byproduct samples (ADAMS Accession No. ML19288A212).
NMSS Staff Hold Public Workshop on Spent Fuel Performance Margins On July 28, 2020, the NMSS medical team conducted a virtual public workshop to continue dialogue on recommendations contained in the Nuclear Energy Institutes (NEI) white paper on Spent Fuel Performance Margins (ADAMS Accession No. ML19318D971). The workshop included discussions on two initiatives for transforming spent fuel licensing reviews. In addition, NEI and the Electric Power Research Institute discussed their plans for re-evaluating the definition of gross rupture of spent fuel cladding. The staff and industry continued to refine project plans and identify next steps for enhancing spent fuel storage licensing.
NMSS Staff Participate in Panel Discussion at Waste Conference On July 29, 2020, the NMSS staff participated in the Electric Power Research Institutes virtual conference International Low and Intermediate Level Waste. NRC participants discussed: the status of streamlining the transportation package certification process; transforming regulatory approaches; issues related to low-level waste and transportation; the issuance of NUREG/BR-0204 Rev 3; the status of rulemakings for Greater than Class C Waste, Part 61, and Transuranic waste; and activities related to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 20.2001. NRC shared the information during a panel discussion, which included questions and answers.
NMSS Staff Approve Exemption for Nuclear Fuel Services AUGUST 14, 2020 ENCLOSURE D
On July 30, 2020, the NRC staff approved an exemption (ADAMS Accession No. ML20190A212), for Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc., from reporting certain unplanned contamination events that: 1) occur within a restricted area having an established radiation protection program;
- 2) use appropriate controls to minimize spread or exposures; and 3) are documented in the licensees Corrective Action Program. This is the third exemption of its kind and aligns fuel facilities with similar facilities such as power reactors. It does not alter reporting requirements for an unplanned contamination event that occurs outside of an established contamination-controlled area. The staff reviewed the request and determined it will not endanger life, property, or the common defense and security, and is otherwise in the public interest. Similar exemption requests were recently approved for Global Nuclear Fuel - Americas, LLC. and BWXT Nuclear Operations Group, Inc.
Transfer of Very Low-Level Waste to Exempt Persons for Disposal: Proposed Interpretive Rule; Reopening of Comment Period; 10 CFR Chapter I; (NRC-2020-0065)
On July 30, 2020, the NRC published a notice in the Federal Register (85 FR 45809) reopening the comment period for a notice published in the Federal Register on March 6, 2020 (85 FR 13076). The NRC solicited comments on a proposed interpretation of its low-level radioactive waste disposal regulations that would permit licensees to dispose of waste by transfer to persons who hold specific exemptions for the purpose of disposal. The public comment period was originally scheduled to close on April 20, 2020. On April 9, 2020, the public comment period was extended to July 20, 2020. In recognition of the continuing impacts of the current COVID-19 public health emergency, the NRC has decided to reopen the public comment period to allow more time for members of the public to develop and submit their comments. Comments should be filed no later than October 21, 2020.
AUGUST 14, 2020 ENCLOSURE D
Office of the Secretary (SECY)
Items of Interest Week Ending JULY 31, 2020 Documents Released to Public Date of Subject Document Decision Documents
- 1. Staff Requirements 07/27/20 Evaluation of Thresholds for Reporting Memorandum Abnormal Occurrences in Response to SRM-SECY-19-0088 M190423
- 2. Commission Voting Record 07/27/20 Evaluation of Thresholds for Reporting SECY-19-0088 Abnormal Occurrences in Response to SRM-M190423
- 3. Staff Requirements 07/27/20 Request by Exelon Generation Company, LLC Memorandum for Exemptions from Certain Emergency SECY-20-0041 Planning Requirements for the Three Mile Island Nuclear Station
- 4. Commission Voting Record 07/27/20 Request by Exelon Generation Company, LLC SECY-20-0041 for Exemptions from Certain Emergency Planning Requirements for the Three Mile Island Nuclear Station Commission Correspondence
- 1. Letter to the Honorable David Price, et al., responds to request for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to grant the petition for rulemaking PRM-35-22 to require licensees to report radiopharmaceutical infiltrations, dated July 22, 2020.
- 2. Letter to the Honorable Frank Pallone, Jr., et al., submits the June 2020 monthly status report on the NRC activities and use of unobligated carryover funds appropriated from the Nuclear Waste Fund, dated July 22, 2020.
Federal Register Notices Issued
- 1. 677th ACRS Special Full Committee Meeting - Notice of Meeting - August 20-21, 2020 AUGUST 14, 2020 ENCLOSURE E