ML071380428

G20070318/LTR-07-0322 - Safety Related Actions to Ensure Reactor Heads to Not Degrade - Letter to Honorable Dennis Kucinich from Luis Reyes

ML071380428
Person / Time
Site:	Davis Besse
Issue date:	05/21/2007
From:	Reyes L NRC/EDO
To:	Kucinich D US HR, Subcomm on Domestic Policy
U. Shoop 415-1067
References
FOIA/PA-2007-0299, G20070318, LTR-07-0322
Download: ML071380428 (2)

Text

May 21, 2007 The Honorable Dennis J. Kucinich Chairman, Subcommittee on Domestic Policy Committee on Oversight and Government Reform United States House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Kucinich:

I am responding to your May 1, 2007, letter which discusses a 2.206 petition sent to the U. S.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and requests that the NRC provide copies of correspondence among the NRC, Babcock & Wilcox Canada, and the Nuclear Management Corporation.

Following the discovery of the Davis-Besse vessel head cavity caused by erosion, the NRC established inspection requirements for reactor vessel heads that all plants are required to perform. The NRC reviewed the Union of Concerned Scientists petition and determined that the first request to immediately shut down Davis-Besse should be denied because the NRC staff performed an assessment of the Exponent report and concluded that the current reactor pressure vessel (RPV) head inspection requirements are adequate to detect RPV head degradation issues before they result in significant corrosion. The NRC is continuing to review the remaining requests contained in the Union of Concerned Scientists petition to shut down all PWRs and to revoke the operating license for Davis Besse if the NRC finds that the information provided by FENOC is inaccurate.

The NRC staff assures me that a diligent search has been completed to identify the correspondence that your letter described. Enclosed is the resulting series of e-mails. These documents are also now available publicly through the NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS), which can be accessed on the Agencys Web site at www.nrc.gov.

Sincerely,

/RA W. Kane Acting for/

Luis A. Reyes Executive Director for Operations

Enclosure:

As Stated

May 21, 2007 The Honorable Dennis J. Kucinich Chairman, Subcommittee on Domestic Policy Committee on Oversight and Government Reform United States House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Kucinich:

I am responding to your May 1, 2007, letter which discusses a 2.206 petition sent to the U. S.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and requests that the NRC provide copies of correspondence among the NRC, Babcock & Wilcox Canada, and the Nuclear Management Corporation.

Following the discovery of the Davis-Besse vessel head cavity caused by erosion, the NRC established inspection requirements for reactor vessel heads that all plants are required to perform. The NRC reviewed the Union of Concerned Scientists petition and determined that the first request to immediately shut down Davis-Besse should be denied because the NRC staff performed an assessment of the Exponent report and concluded that the current reactor pressure vessel (RPV) head inspection requirements are adequate to detect RPV head degradation issues before they result in significant corrosion. The NRC is continuing to review the remaining requests contained in the Union of Concerned Scientists petition to shut down all PWRs and to revoke the operating license for Davis Besse if the NRC finds that the information provided by FENOC is inaccurate.

The NRC staff assures me that a diligent search has been completed to identify the correspondence that your letter described. Enclosed is the resulting series of e-mails. These documents are also now available publicly through the NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS), which can be accessed on the Agencys Web site at www.nrc.gov.

Sincerely,

/RA W. Kane Acting for/

Luis A. Reyes Executive Director for Operations

Enclosure:

As Stated DISTRIBUTION: G20070318/LTR-07-0322 Chairman Klein EDO r/f V. Ordaz T. Mensah U. Shoop Commissioner McGaffigan S. Burns B. Jones M. Virgilio Commissioner Merrifield J. Caldwell W. Kane C. Carpenter Commissioner Jaczko D. Ash K. Cyr J. Silber Commissioner Lyons R. Schmidt PACKAGE ACCESSION NO: ML071380433 OFFICE OEDO OCA EDO NAME U. Shoop/jll R. Schmidt L. Reyes/WKane for DATE 05/18/07 05/18/07 05/21/07 05/ /07 05/ /07 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY G:\G20070318 Letter to Dennsi Kucinich May 18 Undine.wpd