ML20134A864

Weekly Info Rept for Wk Ending 970117

ML20134A864
Person / Time
Issue date:	01/22/1997
From:	Blaha J NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO)
To:
References
SECY-97-018, SECY-97-018-R, SECY-97-18, SECY-97-18-R, WIR-970117, NUDOCS 9701290135
Download: ML20134A864 (22)

Text

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.I 1 January 22. 1997 SECY 97-018

[g.t: The Commissioners Et95: James L. Blaha, Assistant for Operations, Office of the ED0 Sub.iect: WEEKLY INFORMATION REPOP.T - WEEK ENDING JANUARY 17, 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*

Personnel I l Small Business & Civil Rights J* f Enforcement K*

State Programs L* l Public Affairs M International Programs N Office of the Secretary 0*

Region I P Region II P l Region III P* l Region IV P Executive Director for Operations Q*

> Congressional Affairs R O.

• No input this week. .

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James L. Blaha Lea Assistant for Operations, OED0 O

Contact:

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WASHINGTON, D. C,20866 f

i INFORMATION REPORT l l

1 January 22. 1997 SECY 97-018 Es.C: The Commissioners

f. Cam: James L. Blaha, Assistant for Operations, Office of the EDO I Sub.iect: WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING JANUARY 17, 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 i

l Chief Infonnation Officer G Chief Financial Officer H*

Personnel I Small Business & Civil Rights J*

i Enforcement K*

State Programs L*

Public Affairs M International Programs N Office of the Secretary 0*

Region I P Region II P Region III P*

Region IV P Executive Director for Operations Q*

Congressional Affairs R

• No input this week.

1 J a$trtto mes L. Bla a ssistant for Operations, OEDO

Contact:

M. Drouin, OEDO SECY NOTE: TO BE MADE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE IN 5 WORKING DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THIS PAPER.

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Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Items of Interest Week Ending January 17, 1997 Braidwood Units 1 and 2 -- Temocrary Non-Code Repair to be made on Unit 1 Essential Service Water Pipina l On N tmber 23, 1996, the licensee first identified a through-wall leak (1 to 2 gpm; in a strainer backflush line associated with one train of Unit 1 essential service water (SX) system. The piping is classified as ASME Class 3 moderate energy piping. The licensee made a determination that SX operability I was not affected. On December 30, 1996, after the resident inspector staff questioned the licensee's disposition of the issue, several conference calls involving the licensee, Region III, and NRR were held to discuss the appropriate evaluation procedure to determine operability and repair of the piping.

As a result of the discussions, the licensee followed the guidance in GL 91-18, resolution of degraded and nonconforming conditions on operability, and GL 90-05 (Guidance for Performing Temporary Non-Code Repair of ASME Code 1, 2, and 3 Piping). A fracture mechanics evaluation was conducted which demonstrated that sufficient structural integrity exists such that it retains the capability of performing its intended function. Initially, the licensee intended only to monitor the leak until replacement of the affected section of piping which was scheduled to be done by January 7, 1997. When isolation of the portion of the system containing the piping was attempted, a leaking isolation valve upstream of the piping section prevented complete isolation.

The licensee has now decided to do a temporary non-Code repair of the leak using gasket material mechanically attached to the pipe and, following the guidance in GL 90-05, has requested relief aursuant to 10 CFR 50.55a(g)(6)(1).

The licensee's request proposes to retain tie temporary non-Code repair until the next refueling outage which is scheduled to begin on March 29, 1997. The structural integrity analysis and relief request which are under staff review were sent to the staff on December 31, 1996, and January 9, 1997, l respectively. A root cause evaluation of the flaw will be done upon removal l from the SX system.

Augmented inspections of five additional locations were conducted by the licensee in accordance with GL 90-05. All areas inspected had no localized wall thinning flaws below the applicable Code required minimum wall thickness.

Byron Units 1 and 2 -- Enforcement Conference to be held on the Essential l Service Water System l On October 15, 1996, after evaluation of routine surveillance test results, the licensee identified that excessive silt levels in the essential service water (SX) cooling towers rendered the SX system inoperable for past occurrences when the plant relied on the deep well pumps for makeup capability. The initial engineering performance in the investigation,  ;

analysis, and cause determination related to the SX cooling towers silting  ;

issue was slow and narrowly focused. l JANUARY 17, 1997 ENCLOSURE A i

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Based on the results of an inspection of the issue, six apparent violations of NRC requirements were identified and are being considered for escalated j

i enforcement action. They are: (1) inadequate acceptance criteria in the

surveillance procedure to determine SX system operability based on silt levels

in the SX cooling tower basins; (2) failure to use adequate test l

instrumentation to measure the amount of silt in the SX cooling tower basins; I

, (3) failure to take appropriate corrective action for the silt accumulation in I 4

the SX cooling tower basins; (4) failure to take prompt corrective action to l repair the degraded trash rack grating in the SX cooling tower basin; .

(5) failure to have adequate control measures in place to ensure that the

{" design basis of the SX system was correctly translated into technical specifications; and (6) failure to update the UFSAR to assure that the 1 information included in the UFSAR is the latest and most accurate.

Collectively, the six apparent violations demonstrate that the licensee failed to understand the SX system design as described in the UFSAR. A pre-decisional enforcement conference is scheduled for January 24, 1997, in Region III.

Dresden Units 2 and 3 -- Emeraency Amendment Reauest On January 13, 1997, Comed submitted an emergency technical specification (TS) change and an unreviewed safety question (USQ) for Units 2 and 3 resulting from Comed's efforts to reconcile a recently discovered error in the head loss of its emergency core cooling system (ECCS) suction strainers.

To resolve the issue, Comed performed design calculations for the affected plant systems to demonstrate that ECCS pump net positive suction head (NPSH) is maintained for the applicable spectrum of postulated design basis accidents (DBAs). Comed concluded that the revised analyses demonstrate that for the applicable spectrum of loss of coolant accidents (LOCAs) and main steam line breaks, the short term (greater than 10 minutes with no operator action credited) and long term (greater than 10 minutes) core and containment cooling capability are not compromised.

However, Comed's analyses require that initial suppression chamber and ultimate heat sink water temperature be limited to a value more restrictive than the current TS, and the analyses must utilize pressure in the containment to assure adequate NPSH to the ECCS system pumps. As a result, the margin of safety as defined in the bases for the TS will be reduced by now requiring a containment pressure of 2 psi for the first 10 minutes after a postulated DBA to ensure adequate NPSH for the ECCS pumps.

The staff is currently reviewing the amendment request. Unit 2 is operating at 100% power and Unit 3 is in cold shutdown performing a maintenance outage.

Comed requested approval of the amendment to support the return to service of i Unit 3 currently scheduled for January 16, 1997. l l

Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant -- Steam Generator Tube Repair Status  !

On January 14, 1997, the licensee and Westinghouse met with the NRC staff to present the details of the weld improvement plan, non-destructive examination (NDE) qualification plan, and the results of the latest weld performance '

JANUARY 17, 1997 ENCLOSURE A

demonstration. The licensee also outlined their schedule for completing tube repairs.

A performance demonstration of the revised laser weld repair (LWR) process was completed on January 12, 1997. With the revised process, the sleeve repair welds are made in the upper hydraulic expansion area rather than in the hardroll area as originally planned. All 100 welds made (50 per steam generator) were acceptable based on ultrasonic testing (UT) and, to date, 98 are acceptable based on eddy current testing (ECT). ECT data on the remaining welds is not yet available.

Based on the results of the performance demonstration the licensee completed a pre-production demonstration on January 13, 1997 using the optimum weld parameters established during the performance demonstration. Of the 20 tubes welded (10 per steam generator),18 were acceptable based on UT and 17 were acceptable based on ECT.

The licensee is scheduled to begin full production welding on the remaining tubes (approximately 1250) on January 15, 1997 and estimates completing the welding, UT and ECT by mid February.

By January 24, 1997, the licensee plans to submit a revision to their license amendment request (dated September 6, 1996) to incorporate the process modifications.

Maintenance Rule Baseline Inspections at Surry and Davis Besse Maintenance rule baseline inspections were conducted during the week of January 13-17, 1997, at the Surry and Davis Besse facilities. The inspection team for Surry was made up of Ron Gibbs (team leader), several Region II inspectors, one PRA specialist and support staff from headquarters. Peter Wilson, Don Taylor, Richard Correia, Chief of the Reliability and Maintenance Section, and Chris Christensen, Chief of the Maintenance Branch Region II, attended team briefings with the licensee and the exit meeting on Friday, January 17, 1997.

The inspection team for Davis Besse was made up of Martin Farber (team leader), several Region III inspectors, one PRA specialist (INEL) and support staff from headquarters.

Ron Frahm, Jr., served as the team staff support member. Wayne Kropp, Chief of the Maintenance Branch, Region III, attended team briefings with the licensee and the exit meeting on Friday, January 17, 1997.

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Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Items of Interest Week Ending January 17, 1997 Trainina Course on the MONK Criticality Code and the MCBEND Shieldina Code During the week of January 13-17, 1997, fourteen Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff members participated in a five-day introductory training course on the 3

use of the MONK and MCBEND computer codes for criticality safety and shielding analyses, respectively. The code developer and vendor, AEA Technology of

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Winfrith, U.K., conducted the course at Nuclear Regulatory Comission Headquarters under a four-month trial-use contract initiated by the Spent Fuel Project Office. The codes are intended to provide criticality and shielding reviewers with confirmatory analysis tools that are independent of the codes most commonly used by U.S. licensees and applicants.

Nuclear Reaulatory Commission Accepts Acolication from the Department of Enerav to Build IndeDendent Soent Fuel Storaae Facility 4

On January 6, 1997, the Spent Fuel Project Office (SFP0) issued to the Department of Energy (D0E) an acceptance letter and notice of docketing for the application to build an Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) for the Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) core debris at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL). The fuel is presently in wet storage elsewhere within the INEL complex. The application proposes use of the MP-187 transport cask to transfer the canistered core debris 25 miles on the INEL site, and the NUHOMS-12T dry storage system for storage. On February 4, 1997, SFP0 staff will attend a public meeting with DOE in Idaho Falls, Idaho, where DOE staff will explain the nature of the project, and Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will provide an overview of the ISFSI licensing process.

The TMI-2 application is one of three actions from DOE that SFP0 presently has in-house. The others are a topical report received in early October for a Dry Transfer System to move fuel between casks without a spent fuel pool, and an application received in late December to transfer the license for the Fort St.

Vrain ISFSI from Public Service Company of Colorado to DOE.

Demand for Information Issued to VECTRA Due to Ouality Assurance Problems On January 13, 1997, as a result of repeated Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspection findings, dating back to June 1995, on the adequacy of the VECTRA Technologies, Inc. (VECTRA) Quality Assurance (QA) Program, a Demand for Information (Demand) was issued to VECTRA. VECTRA holds the Certificate of Compliance and is the prime contractor for the NUHOMS dry cask storage system.

The NUHOMS system is currently used to store spent fuel at the Robinson, Oconee, Calvert Cliffs, and Davis Besse nuclear power plants. In addition, Rancho Seco, Susquehanna, and Oyster Creek are planning to use the NUHOMS system.

JANUARY 17, 1997 ENCLOSURE B

The Demand seeks VECTRA's response as to why the NRC should not issue an Order

to require one or all of the following

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• A comprehensive review of VECTRA's design control of the NUHOMS system.

4 The purpose of the review would be to verify that the specifications have

been accurately and clearly translated from the Safety Analysis Report to l fabricators in the form of drawings, specifications, and purchase orders.

• A comprehensive review of all design changes and nonconformances j initiated since June 1995. The purpose of the review would be to

. determine if any generic implications exist for both site-specific and

general licensees.

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• Suspend VECTRA fabrication of the NUHOMS system until the problems have

been resolved to the Commission's satisfaction.

.The Demand requested VECTRA to include statements discussing how future design

changes and nonconformances would be communicated, if necessary, to both site-specific and general licensees. In addition, the Demand requested a discussion regarding the root cause of previously-identified corrective action weaknesses. VECTRA has 60 days to respond to the Demand.

Meetina with the American Association of Railroads on Rail Shioment of Soent fR1 On January 8,1997, the Spent Fuel Project Office (SFP0) staf[ attended a meeting with the American Association of Railroads (AAR) to discuss safety concerns regarding rail shipment of spent fuel. Other attendees included the Departments of Energy (DOE) and Transportation, the Federal Railway Administration, and Sandia and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories. The meeting focused primarily on concerns raised by AAR on the results of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Modal Study (Shipping Container Response to Severe #fghway and Raf1way Accidents, NUREG/CR-4829, published February 1987) as they relate to rail shipments. AAR's purpose in reviewing the Modal Study was to determine whether the railroads should relax the speed limitation of 35 mph currently in place for spent fuel shipments. The railroad industry is concerned with the impact of this restriction, because 90% of future spent fuel shipments (about 400 casks / year when DOE's shipments to the repository begin) are planned as rail shipments. l Interaaency Workina Group on the Transoort of Radioactive Materials On January 14, 1997, the Spent Fuel Project Office (SFP0) hosted the January monthly meeting of the Interagency Working Group on the Transport of Radioactive Materials. Attendees included staff from SFP0 and the Department of Transportation. Issues discussed included: planning and coordination for upcoming International Atomic "My Agency meetings; status of jointly-funded guidance development for truport of radioactive materials; Nuclear Regulatory Commission rulemaking for fissile material transport; status of uranium hexaflouride overpack revalidation; and follow-up to an American Association of Railroads meeting on rail shipment of spent fuel.

JANUARY 17, 1997 ENCLOSURE B

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Meetina with Sandia National Laboratories on Transportation Safety l On January 7, 1997, Spent Fuel Project Office (SFP0) staff met with representatives from Sandia National Laboratories on the study to revalidate the spent fuel shipment risk estimates contained in NUREG-0170, final Environmental Statement on the Transportation of Radioactive Material by Air and Other # odes. This is the first status review meeting on the project, ,

which is scheduled for completion in May 1999. Discussions focused on the  !

overall approach, which should provide a probabilistic treatment of key shipment route and accident parameters, yet permit comparison with NUREG-0170 results which were derived deterministically. Comments on the first deliverable - a review of input parameters used in Sandia's transportation ,

risk assessment code, RADTRAN - were provided to the contractor. The next I status review meeting will coincide with delivery of the review of highway and i railway accident statistics.

Inspection of Dry Storaae Cask Desian Control at Tro.ian Nuclear Power Plant On January 7-9, 1997, the Spent Fuel Project Office (SFPO) conducted a safety team inspection of the dry storage system design control process at the Trojan Nuclear Power Plant in Ranier, Oregon. Portland General Electric has applied for a site-specific license to use the Sierra Nuclear Corporation model TranStor cask at the Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation proposed for the Trojan site. The inspection team reviewed design control measures, independent review activities, tracking systems, document control, management oversight related to the application, and implementation of the quality assurance (QA) program. The inspection team found the design control process and the QA program to be adequate. An exit meeting was held on January 9, 1997, to present the preliminary inspection findings.

Proaram for Strenathenina the Effectiveness and Imorovina the Efficiency of i International Atomic Enerav Aaency Safeauards (Proaram 93+2)

Program 93+2 was initiated to identify measures that would strengthen International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards capability to detect undeclared activities in response to the discovery of undeclared nuclear activities in Iraq that were not detected by the traditional system of IAEA i' safeguards. The continuing policy of not increasing the IAEA budget, combined with an increasing number of facilities to be safeguarded, also necessitates identification of measures to improve the efficiency of the safeguards system.

Program 93+2 has two primary components: expanded declaration of information on countries' nuclear fuel cycle infrastructures and complementary access to resolve inconsistencies in the information.

A working committee of the IAEA Board of Governors (Committee 24) was established to draft a protocol that would be added to the safeguards agreements between the IAEA and non-nuclear weapons States, in order to implement the Program 93+2 measures that are not permitted under the current agreements. The third meeting of this Committee is scheduled to begin on January 20, 1997, and to continue until consensus wording of the protocol is agreed upon (or for up to three weeks). If agreement is reached, the protocol will be submitted to the Board of Governors for approval at its March 1997 JANUARY 17, 1997 ENCLOSURE B

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i meeting. NRC staff have been actively involved in preparing and comenting on

] U.S. positions to be presented at this meeting.

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, The U.S. interagency team responsible for negotiating the agreed language i

(chaired by the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency) has held meetings or .

i otherwise comunicated with representatives from other countries and with U.S.  !

j industry representatives to resolve differences in acceptable wording of the i protocol and questions about implementation of its measures. NRC staff i

participated in a meeting with the German Committee representative on January 10-11, 1997, to resolve critical areas of disagreement on the wording.

Bilateral meetings with other countries represented on Committee 24 will be i held in Europe beginning January 22, 1997, in order to inform these countries .

l of the U.S.- proposed changes to the protocol text and to resolve outstanding l l concerns.

With regard to the U.S. industry, NRC staff participated in a meeting in early

! January that was held under the auspices of the Atlantic Council at which l industry and Department of Energy representatives were briefed on the program

and their feedback on potential impacts was received. The U.S. goal is to obtain a consensus text during the upcoming Comittee meeting, so that the protocol can be submitted to the IAEA Board of Governors for approval and to avoid the necessity of additional Committee meetings and a special session of the Board.

Nuclear Material Trackina i

j On January 10, 1997, staff from the Regulatory and International Safeguards 4

Branch participated in a meeting on nuclear material tracking at Nuclear i Assurance Corporation headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. Primary areas of j discussion were domestic options to improve tracking of nuclear material in 3 the U.S. when the material is subject to international tracking and reporting i obligations, pursuant to various Agreements for Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation or to the U.S./ Russian Purchase Agreement for downblended high-enriched uranium. A follow-on working group meeting was held January 16, 1997, at the Nuclear Regulatory Comission, to address guidance provided to U.S. fuel j fabrication facilities by the NRC for reporting the resulting country control

. information from blending of nuclear materials. The U.S. relies on this i

! country control information to satisfy international reporting and tracking obligations.

i Meetina on Dam Safety f

i i On January 10, 1997, staff from the Division of Waste Management met with the '

l Director of Program Development and Coordination, Federal Emergency Management i

Agency (FEMA). The purpose of the meeting was to discuss recent FEMA l recommendations on the Nuclear Regulatory Comission Dam Safety Program, and i staff plans to respond to the recommendations. In a memorandum dated

October 4,1979, President Carter asked that each Federal agency involved with

dams adopt and implement the Federal Guidelines on Dam Safety. For NRC i regulated facilities, NRC jurisdiction is over dams that are (1) integral to .

the operation of the facility and radiologically safety related (an example is j

ultimate heat sink dams at nuclear power plants), and (2) mill tailings dams 4

j JANUARY 17, 1997 ENCLOSURE B

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which are regulated by statutory mandate. At the January 10, 1997, meeting

! the staff identified plans to finish the first round of inspections for dams i contained in the NRC dam inventory by the end of Fiscal Year 1997. The i

follow-up frequency for future inspections of dams was also discussed. FEMA

agreed that Emergency Action Plans would not be necessary if NRC confirmed that none of the NRC inventory dams included high or significant hazard ,

classification. FEMA raised questions about expanding NRC responsibility to I include dams that are not subject to NRC jurisdiction and are not included in

the NRC inventory. FEMA also clarified a number of the recommendations made

in the recent FEMA report (e.g., expand the use of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for inspection of dams).

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! Department of Enerav Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis Expert Judament I

! Elicitation Workshoos i I l

. The Department of Energy (DOE) held the fourth seismic source characterization l (SSC) workshop and the second ground motion (GM) workshop for the proposed j high-level waste repository at Yucca Mountain (YM), Nevada on January 6-8, and '

January 8-10, 1997, respectively. Division of Waste Management staff attended these workshops as observers. The results of these SSC and GM workshops will form the bases for the probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA) being conducted by the DOE. A formal expert judgment process is being used to obtain the needed inputs. The goal of the PSHA is to provide the annual probability with which various levels of vibratory ground motion and fault displacement may be exceeded at the YM site. The results will be used as a basis for developing seismic design inputs and in assessing the pre-closure and post-closure performance of the YM site and facilities. The workshops are being held to provide the experts with relevant and available data for the YM site; identify suitable approaches for seismic source and ground motion characterization for the YM site; facilitate expert interactions, conduct field trips to the YM region, provide the experts with probability and elicitation training, perform the elicitations, and give the experts feedback on their assessments.

During the SSC Workshop, additional models and relevant information were  ;

presented to the experts for consideration, and various three-member expert '

teams presented their preliminary interpretations regarding key SSC issues to the entire group of SSC experts. During the GM workshop, the scope of GM characterization was discussed and clarified, and available models and data sets were presented to the experts for discussion. The experts also participated in a preliminary GM modeling exercise. A joint probability /

elicitation training session was held for the SSC and GM experts. Elicitation interviews are scheduled to take place during late January 1997 and early February 1997 for SSC, and during mid-March 1997 for GM. A feedback workshop on the elicited assessments is scheduled in April 1997. The final PSHA report is due to DOE from its contractor in August 1997.

JANUARY 17, 1997 ENCLOSURE B

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Office for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data Items of Interest Week Ending January 17, 1997 Initial Plannina for Inaestion Exercise On January 13, 1997, a member of IRD met with representatives from the States of New Jersey and Delaware, the utility for the Salem Power Plant, and 4

representatives from other Federal agencies for an initial planning meeting for a Federal participation ingestion exercise in 1998. This effort is part of the NRC State Outreach program for incident response.

4 Meetina with the E-6 Committee of the Conference of Radiation Control Proaram

. Directors (CRCPD)

Representatives from IRD briefed the E-6 committee of the CRCPD on January 14, 1997. Issues discussed ranged from NRC strategic assessment to incident response relationships between the NRC and States. This organization provides 4

coordination with State radiation control personnel.

PRELIMINARY NOTIFICATIONS (PNs) i

a. PNO-I-97-002, Altoona Hospital, THREE POSSIBLE MISADMINISTRATIONS RESULTING FROM THE USE OF S0DIUM IODIDE 10 DINE-131 FOR DIAGNOSTIC PURPOSES.

b. PNO-I-97-003, Geomechanics (Penn Center West), DAMAGED PORTABLE GAUGE AT A TEMPORARY JOBSITE.

c. PNO-I-97-004, Hillis-Carnes Engineering Associates, Inc., STOLEN TR0XLER GAUGE.

d. PNO-II-97-001, Ardaman & Associates, STOLEN PORTABLE GAUGE.

e. PNO-III-97-002, Mecosta County General Hospital, PACKAGE EXCEEDS DOT REQUIREMENTS. l

f. PNO-IV-97-004, Arkansas Agreement State, AGREEMENT STATE NOTIFICATION -

RADI0 ACTIVE CONTAINER DISCOVERED IN SCRAP METAL SHIPMENT.

g. PNO-IV-97-005, Agreement State Licensee (Ricker, Atkinson, Mcbee &

Assoc.), STOLEN PORTABLE GAUGE.

JANUARY 17, 1997 ENCLOSURE D

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Office of Administration i Items of Interest

Week Ending January 17, 1997 l Procurement Reform -- Survey Team for Acouisition Reform (STAR)

The Division of Contract's Survey Team for Acquisition Reform (STAR) has 1 completed its survey of 17 federal agencies regarding use of procurement i innovations and procurement "best practices." The STAR team identified a wide f range of streamlining initiatives for improving the efficiency of the i procurement process, e.g., expanded use of IT and use of the Internet for  ;

j market research, including past performance information. i contract Award j On December 27, 1996, a contract was awarded to Data General Corporation for

• l preventive and remediel maintenance on Data General equipment. The period of .

performance is one year with four option years. This is a fixed price  !

i requirements contracts contract with an estimated cost of $1,041,708, i inclusive of options. The following streamlining initiatives were applied:

less than three SEP members; electronic transmittal of the S0W; simplified evaluation criteria; and set deadline for proposers' questions.

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! Contract Performance '

i The Center Review Group completed its assessment of the contractor's  !

q performance under contract NRC-02-93-005, " Operation of the Center for Nuclear  ;

Waste Regulatory Analyses," for the 15th performance evaluation period

! (September 30, 1995 through September 28,1996). Southwest Research Institute j (SwRI) received an excellent rating (97%).

Recoonition of Aareement State Licenses in Areas Under Exclusive Federal '

Jurisdiction Within an Aareement State (Parts 150 and 170)

A' final rule that amends NRC's regulations to clarify that Agreement State licensees can seek reciprocal recognition of their licenses from the NRC when

they are working within areas of exclusive Federal jurisdiction in Agreement

States was published in the Federal Register on January 13, 1996 (67 FR 1662).

The final rule also clarifies NRC regulatory requirements for reciprocity and appropriate fees and filing procedures applicable to Agreement State licensees j- operating under reciprocity. The final rule becomes effective February 27, j 1997.

- Enhanced Security at Rear of White Flint Comolex NRC has installed a weatherized guard booth for control of vehicular access at i the rear of the White Flint Complex. Procedures to control vehicular traffic 2

were implemented on January 15, 1997 by the Division of Security. The guard booth and the procedures are providing an enhanced level of security screening

of individuals driving onto NRC property. This security enhancement i stems from the recommendations in the Department of Justice's analysis, 4

" Vulnerability Assessment of Federal Facilities".

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National Standards and Criteria for Security Guards NRC attended a Facilities Protection Committee meeting of the Security Policy Board On January 14, 1997. The committee voted unanimously to approve a draft set of " Uniformed Protection Officer Health Standards" and a draft set of "Preemployment Criteria" and to forward these drafts to the Policy Integration Committee and the Interagency Security Committee. If the U.S. Security Policy Forum and U.S. Security Policy Board level approve these drafts, these standards and criteria will be the measure for all guard companies that l

provide security services for the protection of classified material at Federal facilities.

I JANUARY 17, 1997 ENCLOSURE F

Chief Information Officer I Items of Interest l Week Ending January 17, 1997 i Electronic Newsletters l

, A contract with McGraw-Hill is now in place and the NRC library is now receiving electronic copies of four newsletters: Inside NRC, Inside Energy, Nucleonics Week, Nuclear Fuel. The current issue of Inside NRC is avai1able l to the staff on the internal bulletin board system. The Library is working to j add the remaining three titles to the internal network. The agency is still '

receiving and routing multiple paper copies of these titles. The Library is

, working on an NRC Announcement regarding these newsletters and their i

availability via the Internal Web Server.

1 FOIA Reauests Received Durina the Week Endino January 16. 1997 l I

Copy of letter withdrawing the Petition for Rulemaking (PRM) 35-14.

(L.Getzin; ACNP/SNM; FOIA/PA-97-0006)

Records submitted by Dow Chemical Company, between 1951 and 1969, for the storage of low-level radioactive waste at their Madison, IL site. (J.Paikin; Simpson Thacher & Bartlett; F01A/PA-97-0007)

OIG report on alleged false statements regarding spent fuel pool issues at Northeast Nuclear Energy's Millstone Unit I site. (P. Blanch; F01A/PA-97-0008)

OI reports 4-95-055 and 4-95-072 related to discrimination allegations.

(L.Ortiz; Southern California Edison; F01A/PA-97-0010)

Listing of radioactive burial sites that exceed the prescreening criteria of greater than 100 mrem / year. (B.Bastenbeck; NES Inc.; F01A/PA-97-0012)

Communications with named individuals or organizations since 9/1/96 relsted to Houston Lighting & Power Company's South Texas Project. (J. Savage of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius; F01A/PA-97-0013)

JANUARY 17, 1997 ENCLOSURE G

office of Personnel Items of Interest Week Ending January 17, 1997 Arrivals CONN, Rose SECRETARY (OA; (PFT) OP/SPAC FEWELL, Bradley REGIONAL COUNSEL (PFT) RI FORD, Antoniette CRIMINAL INVESTIGATOR (PFT) OIG GUTHRIE, Eugene REACTOR ENGINEER (PFT) RI HICKS, Mona SR PERSONNEL MGMT SPECIALIST OPFT) OP HOSTON, Lisa SR CRIMINAL INVESTIGATOR (PFT) OIG SHAKELFORD, Jeffrey SR REACTOR ANALYST (PFT) RIV Departures BARR, Robb SR RESIDENT INSPECTOR (PFT) ,RIV JANUARY 17, 1997 ENCLOSURE I

. . l Office of Public Affairs Items of Interest Week Ending January 17, 1997 Media Interest Region I public affairs officers assisted in the conduct of a public forum in Haddam, CT, about forthcoming decommissioning at Haddam Neck. l Public affairs officers in HQ, and Regions I and IV, responded to several l media inquiries from Maine concerning Maine Yankee's contractual arrangement I with Entergy Corp.

Headquarters public affairs officers also responded to media inquiries concerning a 2.206 petition seeking revocation of the NRC license for the Envirocare facility in Utah.

School Volunteers Proaram Pat Castleman, NRR, demonstrated the properties of radiation to a boy scout troop in Frederick by using a classroom activity from OPA. The scouts were i trying to earn the atomic energy merit badge.  ;

Press Releases Headauarters:

97-002 NRC Publishes Stakeholder Comments on Strategic Assessment of l Regulatory Activities97-003 NRC Receives Application From DOE for License to Store TMI Fuel Debris at INEL 97-004 Note to Editors: ACRS Meeting on Probabilistic Risk Assessment 97-005 NRC Chairman, Working Group Meeting on Formation of International Regulatory Council 97-006 NRC Asks Vectra Technologies to Submit Information on its Dry Cask Storage System for Spent Fuel 97-007 NRC, DOE Sign New Memorandum of Understanding Reaions:

I-97-3 NRC Staff to Meet With Officials of Duquesne Light Company to Discuss Apparent Violations at Beaver Valley Nuclear Plant 11-97-07 NRC Staff Issues Order Prohibiting Involvement in NRC-Licensed Activities to Former Head of Industrial Process Company in Fajardo Puerto Rico JANUARY 17, 1997 ENCLOSURE M

11-97-08 NRC Staff Proposes $100,000 Fine Against Tennessee Valley Authority 11-97-09 Farley Nuclear Plant Rated " Superior" in Two Areas, " Good" in Two Other Areas of NRC Assessment Report 11-97-10 NRC Staff to Hold Predecisional Enforcement Conference to Discuss Crystal River Engineering Concerns With Florida Power l Corporation III-97-05 NRC to Hold Predecisional Enforcement Conference With Commonwealth Edison on Apparent Violations at Byron Plant 11-97-11 NRC Commissioner to Visit St. Lucie on January 23 IV-97-04 NRC Staff to Hold Open Enforcement Conference January 16 With Representatives of Wolf Creek IV-97-05 Waterford Plant Rated ' Good' in Three Areas 'Acceptaole' in the Fourth in NRC Assessment Report l

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JANUARY 17, 1997 ENCLOSURE M

Office of International Programs Items of Interest  ;

4 Week Ending January 17, 1997 '

International Nuclear Reaulators Association Chairman Jackson and senior regulators from six other countries met January 15-17, 1997 to discuss the creation of a new International Nuclear i Regulators Association. Participating with Chairman Jackson were senior.

regulators from Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Spain and the United Kingdom. )

This working group achieved consensus on a terms-of-reference document describing how the association should operate, which countries initially should be members of the association, how the organization should be i

structures, and how membership will expand.

The terms-of-reference document will be presented for formal adoption by all the initial members of the Association at a meeting to be convened in May in Paris, France.

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Region I Items of Interest Week Ending January 17, 1997 l Meetina with New Jersey Decommissionina Staff l

On January 14, 1997, NRC Region I staff of the Division of Nuclear Materials I Safety and Safeguards met with State of New Jersey staff and representatives of the Ft. Monmouth, NJ, Evans Area decommissioning staff (US Army).

Discussions were held to determine the best way to coordinate regulatory i 3

oversight of both NRC and NJ decommissioning criteria on the licensee. The

sites have both NRC and State regulated material contaminates. NJ staff I agreed that as long as the cleanup criteria used meets the State of New l Jersey's criteria, NRC review and oversight of remedial activities would be I

acceptable to the State of New Jersey.

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4 Region II Items of Interest Week Ending January 17, 1997 Enforcement Conference - Roberts Construction On January 13, 1997, Region II held an enforcement conference with the President of Roberts Construction Company. The Company had an NRC license to ,

operate a moisture / density gauge containing Americium-241 and Cesium-137, but I the license expired January 31, 1997. The Company was required to maintain the gauge in storage while pursuing another NRC license. The Conference was held to discuss the findings from a November 1996 NRC inspection at the Company's facilities in West Virginia. The findings included failure of the Company to maintain adequate security for the gauge and failure to perform leak tests of the gauge for a two year period prior to license expiration.

The licensee discussed the root causes for the apparent violations and addressed the NRC's question of why the Company should remain an NRC licensee in view of the failure to abide by NRC regulations.

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JANUARY 17, 1997 ENCLOSURE P ,

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Region IV Items of Interest Week Ending January 17, 1997 Eredgsifional Enforcement Conference with Wolf Creek Nuclear Operatina Corooration  !

On January 16, 1997, Region IV held a predecisional enforcement conference with Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation. The enforcement conference was open for public observation. The conference was held to discuss three apparent violations identified during a recent engineering team inspection involving multiple examples of a 10 CFR 50.59 violation, an inoperable low temperature overpressure protection system, and multiple examples of a corrective action violation involving the failure to correct technical specification interpretations that conflicted with technical specification requirements. l I

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l Office of Congressional Affairs , .

Items of Interest .

Week Ending January 17, 1997 I

t CONGRESSIONAL HEARING SCHEDULE, No. 1

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mummmmmmmmmme mummmmmm Madden 01/30/97 TBA Federico Pena Confirmation as DOE Senators Murkowski/ Bumpers 366 DS08 Secretary Energy & Natural Resources Gerke late Feb TBA TBA Workshop on Electricity Senators Murkowski/ Bumpers Deregulation Energy & Natural Resources JANUARY 17, 1997 ENCLOSURE R