ML20212G949

Weekly Info Rept for Wk Ending 971024

ML20212G949
Person / Time
Issue date:	10/29/1997
From:	Blaha J NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO)
To:
References
SECY-97-255, SECY-97-255-R, WIR-971024, NUDOCS 9711070227
Download: ML20212G949 (20)

Text

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...,..............l WASHINGTON, D. C,20HS INFOR?AATION REPORT Octobet 29. 1997 SECY 97-255 Ent:

The Commissioners From:

James L. Blaha, Assistant for Operations. Office of the EDO Subiect:

WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 24, 1997 Contents Enclosure Nuclear Reactor Regulation A

Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards B

Nuclear Regulatory Research C

Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data D

General Counsel E*

Administration F

Chief Information Officer G

Chief Financial Officer H*

Human Resowces 1

Small Business & Civil Rights J*

Enforcement K*

State Programs L*

Public Affairs M

International Programs N*

Cffice of the Secretary 0

Region I P

Region 11 P

Region 111 P

Region IV P*

Executive Director for Operations 0

b if Congressional Affairs R

• No input this week.

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f 6 ,1 f _ q James L. Blaha

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Assistant for Operations. CEDO

Contact:

K. Kenne6y, OEDO SECY NOTE:

TO BE MADE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE IN 5 WORKING DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THIS PAPEP.

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o WEEKLYINFORCPT PDR

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Items of Interest Week Ending October 24. 1997 TMI - Pressurizer PORV Anomalv TMI-1 has one PORV installed on the pressurizer.

The licensee replaces the PORV with a spare PORV each refueling outage.

During the 11R refueling outage, about 2 years ago, the PORV was replaced with the spare PORV.

When the new spare PORV was installed, it was incorrectly wired to a shorting bar instead of to the solenoid valve. Moreover, no post maintenance testing was performed on the new s)are. as required by the ASME Code.

This resulted in the PORV being inoperaale during the last operating cycle (-2 years) 1.e. the PORV was failed in the closed position and could not be manually opened and also would not open on an automatic signal.

During this refueling outage, which commenced 9/97, a new spare was installed with the same wiring mistake.

When the licensee attempted to cycle the PORV it caused blown fuses.

At this point. using the Vendor Manual wiring diagram. the licensee ihntified the wiring error.

The Technical Specifications allow continued power o)eration with the PORV isolated or with power removed. The PORV is now opera)le.

Duke Enerav Corooration - Acauisition of Yankee Nuclear Services Yankee Atomic Electric Company has accepted Duke Engineering and Services (DE&S) Letter of Intent To Acquire Yankee's Nuclear Services Division (NSD) consisting of some 500 personnel. NSO would be integrated into DE&S.

The acquisition involves personnel only; ownership and operation of the Yankee plants will not change.

LaSalle. Units 1 and 2 Projected Restart Date Extended The licensee announced on 10/22/97 that the proje Led restart date for Unit 1 would be extended from 12/16/97 to 5/1/98 (mode change on 04/02/98 with the plant at 100% power by 5/1/98).

Both units have been shut down since 09/96 to address a number of material condition and performance issues.

The licensee has determined that it will take longer to complete implementation of its Restart Plan based on emergent work that was identified as a result of its system reviews. The licensee has no firm plans for restart of Unit 2.

The LaSalle Performance Review Panel continues to meet on a monthly basis with the licensee to discuss its progress with implementation of the Restert Plan.

First Reaional Seminar on Risk-informed Reaulation On October 16, 1997. the first of several mandatory regional seminars on risk-informed regulations was conducted in Region IV.

Dr. John Flack, acting Branch Chief of NRR's PRA branch, presented the seminar during the annual Division of Reactor Safety counterparts meeting.

The purpose of these mandatory seminars is to motivate and familiarize the staff on the uses of risk-informed regulatory initiatives.

The seminar provided attendees with a brief background on the PRA policy statement and associated PRA implementation OCTOBER 24, 1997 ENCLOSURE A

plan, the scope of risk-informed regulation, staff expectations and responsibilities.

In addition, heviquarters SRA Pete Wilson provided an.

overview of objectives and expectations for-the use of PRA insights in inspection activities.

Participant feedback was positive and indicated a high degree of interest in risk-informed regulation.

UDdate on BWR Fuel-Channel Seal Sorino Failures Siemens informed the Reactor Systems Branch (SRXB) members that'a recent inspertion of fuel from Susquehanna Unit 2 revealed one assembly with intact seal springs, one assembly with one damaged seal spring, and a third assembly with seven broken springs.

The seal springs are located at the lower tie

) late (LTP) and are designed to minimize the bypass flow between the channel aox and LTP as well as to maintain alignment between the fuel bundle and-channel box.

Broken springs could become loose parts, and dama the coolant carried the loose ] arts back into the fuel bundle. ge fuel rods if The damaged or broken s) rings in Susquehanna Jnit 2 all came from the same material lot used for the 3roken seal springs initially discovered in a foreign reactor.

Siemens attributed the cause of failure as intergranular stress corrosion cracking followed by fatigue cracking of the oscillating spring. All of the assemblies were irradiated for 45 months at an exposure of 40.000 MWD /MTV.

Siemens speculated that a seal spring design change in 1988 could have contributed to this problem. Additionally, residence t.ime and material lot may play an important role in this problem.

Siemens plans to perform additional visual inspection on some longer exposure assemblies with the pre-1988 seal spring design.

Currently, the Susquehanna Unit 1 core has more than 200 assemblies with seal springs from the problematical material lot, and Unit 2 contains no such material lot. Siemens will perform an inspection during the Unit 1 outage scheduled for the spring of 1998.

Safety analysis of possible debris effects due to broken springs on the fuel assemblies was provided for the inspection team review. A safety evaluation of the broken seal springs will be incorporated in the final inspection report.

In a recent telecon to the NRC.

Siemens informed us that the safety evaluation of the potential cefect in seal spring design concluded that it is not safety significant and is not reportable under 10 CFR Part--21.

NET Fire Protection information Forum Nuclear-Energy Institute held a Fire Protection Information Forum during October 13-15, 1997.

L.B. Marsh. Chief. Plant Systems Branch: K.S. West.

Chief. Fire Protection Engineering Section (FPES): and P.M. Madden. Senior Fire Protection Engineer FPES. Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) attended the forum. A large percentage of the forum agenda and discussions focused on the fire protection functional inspection program and the performance-based, risk-informed fire protection rulemaking.

The general consensus among industry narticipants,(more than 100 fire protectionprofessionalsandmid-leveimanagers>1sthatindustrydoesnot want a new fire protection regulation.

Industry representatives expressed the following opinions during the forum:

(1) no interest in an expanded rule (new OCTOBER 24, 1997 ENCLOSURE A

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i requirements), (2) performance based, risk-informed rule will add more i-confusion to reactor fire protection. (3) tools-and methods are not available i

to sup) ort performance based, risk-informed decisions (4) data is not availa)le to support performance-based, risk-informed decisions (5) expertise is not available to apply, review, or inspect performance-based, risk-informed i

decisions, (6) the new rule will not be cost beneficial. (7) licensees.already 1

have the flexibility needed to modify fire protection programs (C) industry

.is mature and plants have finite life spans: it does not make sense to apply performance-based. risk-informed methods to such programs / plants. (9).there-is-no demonstrated need for a new regulation.

Rather than a new or revised fire protection regulation, industry would prefer that the staff issue guidance (or o

adopt industry guidance) for-preparing 50.59 evaluations for fire protection j

and clarify existing guidance (e.g., circuit analyses) where needed.

i NEl is conducting a survey of CN0s.

NEI indicated that it will use the L

results of that survey to establish a position regarding industry's interest l

in the new rule. NEI stated that it would meet with the staff to discuss the results of the survey and industry's position.

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l OCTOBER 24. 1997 ENCLOSURE A l

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i i-I' Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Items of Interest-Week Ending October 24, 1997-License Renewal--Shieldallov Metalluroical Corocration On October 20, 1997. the Nuclear Regulatory Comission renewed Shieldalloy Metallurgical Corporation (SMC)-license SMB-743 for the company's facility in 3-Newfield, New Jersey, SMC has two NRC licenses to possess and process source i

material, one each for facilities in Newfield. New Jersey, arn Cambridge.

Ohio.

Both sites are included in NRC's Site Decommissioning Management Plan.

The new license was issued for a 5 year period, expiring October 20, 2002, A notice of opportunity for hearing on tie proposed renewal was published on l

July 1,1997 (62 FR 35531), and no parties requested a hearing. The renewal 1

was supported by an Environmental Assessment and a Finding of No Significant Impact, which were published in the Federal Reaister on September 22, 1997 (62 FR 49538).

i One of the key issues in the renewal of this license was SMC's financial i

status and limited ability to provide sufficient decommissioning funding for the removal of all slag and baghouse dust from the site. The Commission was informed of these issues by the staff on October 1,1996.

SMC is currently seeking to sell the slag to steel manufacturers for use in the smelting j-process, t.nd to transfer the baghouse dust for offsite use, If successful in arranging these transfers and demonstrating that they were in accordance with NRC requirements, SMC could dramatically reduce the on-site inventory of source material and the amount of financial' assurance necessary for-I decommissioning.

Consistent with recent Commission decisions, the new license i

includes conditions to ensure that SMC makes timely progress-.in securing users for the slag and baghouse dust and provides sufficient financial assurance for decommissioning the site in accordance with NRC requirements.

If these requirements cannot be met, a license condition requires SMC to cease-i operations by October 20, 1999, and to initiate the decommissioning process.

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Draft Standard Review Plan - In Situ Uranium Extraction

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On October 22, 1997, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission published a Federal Reaister Notice announcing the availability of NUREG-1569, " Draft Standard L

Review Plan for In Situ Uranium Extraction License Applications" for public

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comment. This review plan will be used by the NRC staff to determine whether activities described in new applications, license renewals and amendments for i:

in situ uranium recovery facilities will protect the public health and safety and be environmentally acceptable.

The draft review plan was developed by the NRC staff and the Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses using: staff review precedents and inspection experience: public meetings with industry:

4 and the experience of the State of Texas as an Agreement State for uranium recovery with 15 licensed in situ uranium leach operations.

OCTOBER 24, 1997 ENCLOSURE B

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Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research items of Interest Week Ending October 24, 1997 25th Water Reactor Safety Information Meetina Nearly 450 persons representing U.S industry, government, and academia as well I

23 foreign countries attended the 26th Water Reactor Safety Information

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Meeting at the Bethesda Marriott Hotel on October 20-22, 1997.

NRC Chairn.an M

Shirley Ann Jackson gave the keynote address on future trends of nuclear safety research.

Tuesday morning a panel discussed ' Risk Informed Regulation.' The panel members were NRC Commissioner Edward McGaffigan: Ashok Thadani. Acting Deputy Executive Director for Regulatory Effectiveness NRC:

Lawrence E. Martin. Vice President Nuclear Assurance 6nd Licensing South Texas Project: Ral)h Beedle. Sr.

Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer Nuclear Generation luclear Engineering Institute: and Agustin Alonso. Counsellor, 1-Spanish Nuclear Regulatory Council.

Samuel Collins. Director. NRR gave a talk entitled " Regulatory Trends and Current Issues" after the luncheon on Tuesday. October 21.

Papers were presented in the following areas:

Pressure Vessel Research BWR Strainer Blockage and other Generic Safety Issues. Environmentally Assisted Degradation of LWR Com onents. Update on Severe Accident Code Im rovements and 1)

Applications. Human Re iability Analysis & Human Performance Eva$uation.

Technical Issues Related to Rulemakings. Risk-Informed Performance-Based Initiatives. High Burn-up Fuel Research. Thermal-Hydraulic Research and Codes (two sessions). Digital Instrumentation & Control, and Structural Performance.

OCTOBER 24, 1997 ENCLOSURE C

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b' Office _ for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data i

Items of Interest i

Week Ending October 24. 1997 j=

A member of the Technical Training Division-(TTD) staff attended the 1997-annuni meeting-of the National Association of Test. Research, and Training Reactors (TRTR) held in Newport. Oregon from October 20 25, 1997.

The meeting i

was s>onsored bv Oregon State University..The major objective of the meeting was tie exchang'e of information regarding facility status: upgrades, health, decommissioning: reactor utilization: current, routine and new, and innovative i

uses for test reactors: funding for. test reactor work: federal, state.

a private:

reactor operations and maintr a ?: management and administrative controls to avoid-violations and radiologal issues.

The meeting keynote j

speaker was NRC Commissioner Diaz.

This forum provides for the transfer of information among TRTR members and the NRC staff responsible for test reactor 4

satety and-training.

Lee Miller of the TTD staff attended a workshop on the Review of Incidents l

organized by IAEA and the State Office for Nuclear Safety. Czech Republic in Prague, Czech Republic October 20 - 24, 1997.

Mr. Miller presented a paper s

on NRC Incident Investigation Teams and chaired a workshop following his j

presentation. The workshop was conducted for the professional staff of the nuclear regulatory bodies from former Soviet Union countries to reinforce i

regulatory frameworks for improving safety of nuclear power plants by learning from experience.

l As part of Ukrainian Priority 2.1 (Analytical Simulator) of the Lisbon-i Initiative, two members of the TTD staff participated in Factory Acceptance I

Tests for the VVER-1000 load of the Analytical Simulator October 17-24, 1997 at the Russian simulator manufacturer's facility in Moscow, Russia. This simulator will be installed in the offices of the Ukrainian Nuclear Regulatory i

Agency later this year to ?rovide-a tool for inspector training and operational assessment.

T1e TTD staff assisted the Ukrainian regulators in

L completing a detailed set of acceptance tests, designed to assure that the j

simulator will adequately represent the reference plant (Zaporozhye 5) in all phases of normal, abnormal and emergency o)erations. Tests included both l

steady state and transients cases and were Jased on ANSI /ANS 3.5 standards, j

The trip also included work-needed to complete the required modifications to the office space for Gosatomnadzor of Russia (as part of Russian Priority 5.1) j.

to be ready to accept a similar Analytical Simulator early-in 1998.

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Four personnel from the Ukraine Ministry of Environmental Protection and Nuclear Safety. The Ukraine Radiation Training Center participated in the TTD i

sponsored " Environmental Monitoring for Radioactivity" course in Oak Ridge TN j-on October 20-24. The course was presented by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Engineering.

Steve Roessler of the TTD coordinated the Ukrainian personnel attendance in Oak Ridge, and provided administrative and transportation assistance. This was the final training activity to be com)leted in support of Lisbon Initiative Ukrainian Priority 2 (Establishment j

of Regulatory Training Program).

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OCTOBER 24. 1997 ENCLOSURE D L

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Lost Source E'xercise On Wednesday, October 22.-1997, a member of the-Incident Response Division-c facilitated a Lost Source Exercise in Coatesville. Pennsylvania.

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exercise focused on the' interaction of the EPA, NRC, and State-and local

. organizations in response to a radiological event where the EPA is Lead cy (LFA) under the Federal Radiological Emergy contaminated -ency R H

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e. exercise simulated the discovery of a high i _

(FRERP),

shipment of material at a land fill.

The State responded and requested the L

support of the Federal government to-idersify. contain, and clean up the i

contamination.

According to the FRERP, the LFA uses the authorities-it i

already has to respond to a radiological emergency.

In this exercise. EPA demonstrated the use of the National Contingency Plan and Superfund to respond. At the request of EPA, NRC supported the LFA by providing technical i-advice. The exercise was the field portion of a two-day exercise.-the first i

day of which was a tabletop conducted on September 30. 1997.

EPA-Region III and NRC Region I organized and developed the exercise, A lessons learned j

report and video will be developed based on the two-day exercise.

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-PRELIMINARY NOTIFICATIONS 1.

PNO I-97-065. Geocore Environmental Services STOLEN PORTABLE GAUGE 2.-

PNO-II-97-057. Tennessee Valley Authority (Sequoyah 2). EQUIPMENT DAMAGE:

3, PNO-III-97-086. Indiana Michigan Electric Co.

(Cook 1 2), RADIATION j

EXPOSURE ~FROM SHOE CONTAMINATION

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4, PNO-III-97-087. Commonwealth Edison Company TVA 0FFICIAL SELECTED AS COMMONWEALTH EDIS0N'S CHIEF NUCLEAR OFFICER L

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PNO-IV-97-055, Speedie and Associates. STOLEN TROXLER M0ISTURE/ DENSITY l

GAUGES i

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PNO IV 97-056. Cti. Inc.

(Prudhoe Bay Field Site), RADIOGRAPHY EVENT n

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PN0-IV-97-057. Integris Southwest Medical Center, POSSIBLE' BRACHYTHERAPY MISADMINISTRATION i

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PNO-IV-97-058. Arizona Public Service Co.

(Palo Verde 2) SHUTOOWN EXPECTED TO BE GREATER THAN 72 HOURS AFTER MANUAL SCRAM p

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OCTOBER 24. 1997 ENCLOSURE D

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Office of Administration Items of Interest Week Ending October 24, 1997 Codes and Standards: IEEE National Consensus Standard (Part 50)

A direct final rule amending the regulations to incorporate by reference the most recent version of a national conse" sus standard for power instrumentation, and control portions of safety systems in nuciear power plants was published in the Federal Register on October 17, 1997 (62 FR 53932).

The direct final rule becomes effective January 1,1998.

The companion proposed rule to this direct final rule was published in the Federal Register on October 17, 1997 (62 FR 53975). The comment period closes December 1, 1997.

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OCTOBER 24, 1997 ENCLOSURE F i

Chief Information Officer items of Interest Week Ending October 24, 1997 -

F0IA Reouests Received durina the 4-Day Period of October 17-23. 1997:

Maine Yankee. 01 report 1-96-040. specific exhibits.

(F01A/PA-97-401)

Priv6cy Request, access to OHR records.

(F01A/PA-97-402)

Salem and Hope Creek 01 report 1-96-024.

(F01A/PA-97-403)

IMPAC listing.

(F01A/PA-97-404)

ABB custodial contractor Adams and Adams. Windsor CT.

(F01A/PA-97-405)

Training curricula, decommissioning / decontamination workers.

(F01A/PA-97-406)

Fukushima BWR plant, core shroud replacement.

(F01A/PA-97-407)

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Office of Human Resources:

Items of Interest

Week Ending October 24. 1997; Combined Federal Camoaion (CFC)-Vice Chair Meetina Attended-On October 22. 1997.-Jan Clemens represented the NRC at a mid-campaign meeting for CFC Vice Chairs at the Department-of Transportation.

Secretary of.

Transportation Rodney E. Slater, who is the 1997 CFC Campaign Chair, was also in attendance at this meetings To date. NRC has raised approximately $90.000, which is 32% of its 1997 CFC dollar goal.

Arrivals COX Linda SECRETARY (0A) (OPFT)

HR ELDER. Jerry Ruth SECRETARY (0A) (OPFT)'

HR FULLER-Michael RADIATION SPECIALIST (PFT)

RII HAGER. Robert PROJECT ENGINEER (PFT)

Ril HANNA. John REACTOR ENGINEER (PFT)

RIV STAUB.-Janet SECRETARY (0A)-(OPFT)

RIV Retirements None Departures KLCIN. Stuart REACTOR ENGINEER (PFT)

RI STASEK.S}anley SR RESIDENT INSPECTOR (PFT)

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Office of Public Affairs Items of Interest Week Ending October 24. 1997 Media Interest There has been press interest in Isomedix, a company proposing to build an irradiator facility in Hawaii.

The Public Broadcasting Service is planning a television documentary on the accident at Three Mile Island School Volunteers Procram Charles Gaskin. NMSS, spoke about " Visiting Web Sites for the Home Teacher" at the Home and Hospital Teaching Association s fall conference at Benjamin Banneker M.S.

John Lane. RES, used the reactor model to talk about nuclear energy to 4th and 5th graders at Sherwood E.S.

Boby Eid, NMSS, discussed radioactivity with Wolftrap E.S. students while using the classroom activity " Grandmother's Attic" PRESS RELEASES Headquarters:

97-156 Note to Editors: ACNW report on high-level waste 97-157 Note to Editors: ACRS reports97-158 Note to Editors: ACRS meeting November 13-14 on risk-informed, performance-based regulation 97-159 NRC lssues Proposed Rule to Reduce Insurance Coverage for Shut-Down Nuclear Reactors

_ Regions:

1-97-137 NRC. Defense Agency to Discuss Apparent Violation at Depot I-97-138 Note to Editors: 10/23 Meeting Rescheduled for 10/31 1-97-139 Note to Editors: Note Location Change I-97-141 NRC to Meet With Public Regarding Millstone Recovery Efforts 11-97-74 NRC Staff Plans Performance Review Meeting at GE Nuclear Fuel Facility in Wilmington. NC 11-97-75 NRC Officials to Meet With FPC on October 31 to Discuss Status of Crystal River Restart OCTOBER 24. 1997 ENCLOSURE M l

111-97-91 NRC Staff Proposes $50,000 Fine Against Northern States Power for Equipment Testing Violations at Prairie Island Plant 111-97-92 NRC Staff Rates Braidwood " Superior" in Operations and Plant Support and "Guod' in Maintenance and Engineering 111-97-93 NRC Staff Proposes $13.000 Fine Against Ohio State University:

Directs OSU to Provide Assurance of Future Compliance IV 97-63 Grand Gulf Rated ' Superior' in Three Areas, ' Good' in Another, in Latest NRC Systematic Assessment Report OCTOBER 24. 1997 ENCLOSURE M s

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3 Office of the Secretary Items of Interest Week Ending October 24, 1997 4

Decision Documents Released to the Public SECY-97-201 9/8/97 Changes to Paragraph (h) of 10 CFR Part 50,55a

' Codes and Standards" Voting Record 10/8/97 (same) on 97-201 SECV-97-208 9/12/97 Elevation of the Core Damage Frequency Objective to a Fundamental Commission Safety Goal SRM on 97-208 10/16/97 (same)

Voting Record on 10/16/97 (same) 4 1

97-208 Negative Consent Documents Released to the Public SECY-97-194 8/22/97 Memorandum of Understanding Between the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy on 3

Cooperation Regarding the Gaseous 4

Diffusion Plants SRM on 97-194 10/10/97 (same) i SECY-97-195 8/26/97 Rulemaking Plan: 10 CFR Part 76.

" Certification Amendment Process"

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SRM on 97-195 10/9/97 (same)

Information Papers Released to the Public SECY-97-230 10/8/97 Weekly Information Report - Week Ending October 3. 1997-I SECY-97-231 10/8/97 Performance-Based Inspection Guidance and the Distinction Between Inspecting for Performance and Inspecting Against a Performance-Based Rule - Staff Response to Staff Requirements Memorandum Dated March 17, 1997 (Ref.

M970213A, Paragraph 4)

OCTOBER 24. 1997-

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SECY-97-233 10/9/97 Response to Staff Requirements Memorandum of May 20, 1997. Regarding l

Cyclical Declines in Licensee Performance and the Use of Corporate-Wide Performance Data (M970425) t SECY-97-235 10/14/97 Supplemental Information to SECY 218. "Special Provisions for Transport of large Quantities of Plutonium" Commission Corresoondence Released to the Public 1.

Letter to Senators Dodd and Lieberman and Representative Gejdenson dtd 10/15/97 provides a status report on the use of supplemental projects in mitigation of proposed civil penalties against Nort1 east Utilities 2.

Letter to Representative Whitfield dtd 10/15/97 concerns the termination of special nuclear material shipinents from Paducah to Envirocare of Utah 3.

Letter to Senator Fred Thompson dtd 10/15/97 regarding Diversified Scientific Services. Inc. concerns about NRC regulation of special nuclear material 4.

Letter to Representative Oxley dtd 10/10/97 concerns the Superfund reauthorization legislation Federal Reaister Notices issued 1.

Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards: Meeting of the ACRS Subcommittee on Reliability and Probabilistic Risk Assessment: Notice of Meeting on November 13-14. 1997 2.

Notice of Hearing by the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board in the matter of Magdy Elamir M.D.

3.

Proposed Rule:

10 CFR Parts 50 and 140: Financial Protection Requirements for Permanently Shutdown Nuclear Power Reactors DCTOBER 24. 1997 ENCLOSURE O l

Region I Items of Interest Week Ending October 24. 1997 Enforcement Conference with Defense Loaistics Acency (DLA)

On October 23. 1997, an enforcement conference was condicted with the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), Defense Distribution Region East, to discuss an apparent security violation at the licensee's facilities at the letterkenny Army Depot.

The conference was attended by a representative of both the local and Headquarters DLA commands.

Maine Yanket On October 16, 1997 Maine Yankee completed the first portion of its destaffing plan. Maine Yankee reduced staffing to approximately 210 through a combination of voluntary separations and early retirements. The organization has been restructured with William Odell as the Operations Director and Mark Ferri as the Decommissioning Director.

Key activities at this time include:

the development of the site characterization plan: development of the spent fuel pool island; and several regulatory submittals. such as defueled technical specifications and a defueled emergency plan.

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DCTOBER 24, 1997 ENCLOSURE P

Region II Items of Interest Week Ending October 24. 1997 Tenne _ssee Valley Authg.rity r

On October 17. 1997. Mr. Oliver D.

Kingsley Jr. announced his resignation as President. TVA Nuclear and Chief Nuclear Officer, to accept a position with Commonwealth Edison. On October 24. 1997. TVA announced that O. J. (Ike)

Zeringue would succeed Mr. Kingsley.

Mr. Zeringue has served as TVA's Senior

-Vice President of Huclear Operations since 1993.

Watts BaI Unit 1 completed its first refueling outage in 44 days.

Power ascension is in progress. As part of reloading tile core, four fuel assemblies containing Tritium Producing Burnable Absorber Rod (s) (TPBAR) were placed into the core.

DOE. in conjunction with TVA. chose Watts Bar as the Lead Test Assembly project to demonstrate use of commercial reactors for producing tritium.

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Seouoyah On October 17. 1997. Sequoyah Nuclear Plant reported discovery of unexpected damage to several cables associated with a Unit 2 contairiment electrical penetration.

Eleven instrument cables showed signs of attempts to cut them with a sharp tool.

The unit was defueled at the time.

The licensee determined that none of the damaged instrument cables were associated with safety-related equipment.

The licensee initiated an investigation and implemented compensatory measures. The investigation included conducting interviews of personnel who may have knowledge of the condition.

To date no cause has been determined. The licensee conducted plant system walkdowns on e

both units.

No other suspicious equipment problems were identified.

Regico 11 responded by notifying the IAT and sending a security inspector to the site.

In addition. the resident inspector and project engineer conducted independent plant walkdowns of safety systems to verify proper configuration.

OCTOBER 24. 1997 ENCLOSURE P

Region-ll!

Items of Interest Week Ending October 24. 1997 Meetina with Commonwealth Edison Comqany_

On October 24, 1997 Regional Administrator A. Bill Beach and members of the regional and headquarters staffs met with Commonwealth Edison Company officials to discuss performance at the twelve Commonwealth Edison plants and the effectiveness of the actions taken to improve performance.

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O Office of the Executive Director for Operations Items of Interest Week Ending October 24, 1997 0FFICE OF NUCLEAR REGilLATORY RESEARCH Pronosed Rule to be Sioned by EDO On October 27, 1997, the Executive Director for Operations approved a proposed rule that would amend 10 CFR Part 50, " Industry Codes and Standards Amended Requirements. "

This constitutes notice to the Commission thct, in accordance with the rulemaking authority delegated to the EDO. the EDO has signed this proposed rule for publication in the Federal Reais1_er.

h OCTOBER 24, 1997 ENCLO91r4 0 1

Office of Congressional Affairs Items of Interest Week Ending October 24. 1997 CO?iGRESFIONAL liEARING SCHEDULE. tJo. 37 OCA DATE CONTACT TIME WITNESS SUBJECT COMMITTEE PLACE Combs TBA TBA Markup S. 8. Superfund Sen. Chafee/Baucus 406 050B Reauthorization Environment & Public Works Combs TBA TBA TBA Superfund Reform Act Reps. Oxley/Manton Finance & Hazardous Materials 2123 RHOB Comnerce Gerke 10/27 10:00 GA0. various CIO's Imp!ementation of ITMR Act Reps. Horn /Maloney 2154 RHOB Establishing CIO's Gov't Mgmnt. Info & Technology Gov't Reform & Oversignt Keeling 10/27 2:00 James Schlesinger.

Nuclear Stockpile Safety Sen. Cochran/ Levin 342 DSOB Vic Reis Intl Security. Proliferation &

Federal Services Governmental Affairs Gerke 10/30 2:00 TBA Effectiveness of GPRA Reps. Burton /Waxman Gov't Reform & Oversight 2154 RHOB Gerke 11/04 TBA Markup H.R. 655. Electric Reps. Schaefer/ Hall TBA Consumers' Power to Chooy?

Energy & Power Act Commerce i

ENCLOSURE R OCTOBER 24. 1997 L----

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