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INFORMATION REPORT SECY-04-0067 April 23, 2004
Contact: T. Kim, OEDO Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Callaway - Volumetric Examination of the Reactor Vessel Lower Head Penetrations The NRC staff held a telephone conference with Union Electric, the licensee for Callaway, Unit 1, to discuss its plans to perform a volumetric examination of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) lower head penetrations at Callaway, Unit 1. This is in conjunction with its 10-year inservice inspection of the vessel and nozzle welds during the spring 2004 refueling outage. Union Electric has agreed to perform these examinations as part of Nuclear Energy Institute's (NEI's) Material Reliability Program (MRP) to manage potential degradation in the RPV lower head penetrations. During this call, Union Electric stated that its contractor will perform ultrasonic and eddy current examination from the inside surface of all 58 RPV lower head penetrations. Union Electric indicated that if unforeseen problems are encountered that could impact the scheduled completion date of the refueling outage, then the scope of this examination would be reduced. The results of the examination will be used by NEI in its development of recommendations for an integrated inspection program for the RPV lower head penetrations. Union Electric will also perform a bare-metal visual inspection of the RPV lower head penetrations to respond to the information requested in NRC Bulletin 2003-02, "Leakage from Reactor Pressure Vessel Lower Head Penetrations and Reactor Coolant Pressure Boundary Integrity," issued on August 21, 2003. Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) Emerges From Chapter 11 On April 6, 2001, PG&E filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Subsequently, on September 20, 2001, PG&E filed a Plan of Reorganization in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. On June 19, 2003, a Federal Judge announced the settlement agreement between PG&E and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). The CPUC approved the settlement agreement and the Bankruptcy Court confirmed the plan of reorganization in December 2003, and PG&E Emerged from Chapter 11 on April 12, 2004. The resolution was supported by the company, its creditors, the CPUC, labor, environmental, and consumer groups. As a part of the reorganization under Chapter 11, on November 30, 2001, PG&E applied to the NRC for a license transfer for Diablo Canyon, Units 1 and 2, to a newly created non-electric utility company. The NRC approved the license transfer on May 27, 2003. After emerging from Chapter 11, on April 12, 2004, PG&E notified the NRC that it does not intend to complete the license transfer and will allow the license transfer Order to expire. Presentations to the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) On April 15, 2004, the Division of Systems Safety and Analysis staff briefed the ACRS on the staff's response to the December 18, 2003, Staff Requirements Memorandum, "COMNJD-03-0002 - Stabilizing the PRA Quality Expectations and Requirements." This briefing was a follow up to a March 25, 2004, briefing for the ACRS subcommittee on Reliability and Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA). The staff's presentation focused on the draft plan that was made publicly available on March 15, 2004 (ML040750462). The ACRS members were supportive of the staff's efforts and provided helpful suggestions. The staff agreed to review the draft plan in light of these suggestions. The ACRS tentatively agreed to write a letter on this topic and will also provide the Committee's views on this topic during their meeting with the Commission currently scheduled for May 6, 2004. Also, on April 15, 2004, the Division of Systems Safety and Analysis staff made a presentation to the ACRS on 10 CFR 50.46 rulemaking activities. The presentation was well received by the ACRS. The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) provided the Committee with its views on SECY-04-37, "Issues Related to Proposed Rulemaking to Risk-Inform Requirements Related to Large Break Loss-of-Coolant Accident (LOCA) Break Size and Plans for Rulemaking on LOCA with Coincident Loss-of-Offsite Power." NEI stated that it expected industry to provide a pilot for the 50.46 risk-informed rulemaking with the emphasis on GSI-191, "Potential Impact of Debris Accumulation on Pressurized Water Reactor Sump Performance." NEI stated that risk-informing GSI-191 was a high priority for industry. NRC Information Notice 2004-07: Plugging of Safety Injection Pump Lubrication Oil Coolers With Lakeweed On April 13, 2004, the NRC issued an Information Notice to alert addressees about plugging of the high-pressure safety injection pump lubrication oil coolers with lakeweed, which occurred at the Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP), a pressurized-water reactor, during full-power operations. The NRC expects recipients to review the information in this notice for applicability to their facilities and consider actions, as appropriate, to avoid similar problems. The coolers at KNPP were horizontal, straight tube, two-pass heat exchangers with twenty tubes per pass. Within the coolers, lubrication oil from the high-pressure safety injection pumps circulates through the shell side, and service water from Lake Michigan circulates through the tube side. During maintenance inspections of the "A" and "B" coolers, visual examination revealed silt and biological blockage (lakeweed) at the tube pass inlets and further examinations demonstrated no flow from 17 of the 20 tubes. Agency Action Review Meeting (AARM) On April 14, 2004, NRR staff supported an AARM held in Leesburg, VA. The purpose of this senior NRC management meeting was to review proposed agency actions for several plants with significant performance issues, using the data compiled from the end-of-cycle reviews, industry performance trends, and the results of the reactor oversight process self-assessment. The results of the AARM will be discussed with the Commission during a meeting scheduled for May 4, 2004. Construction Inspection Program Team Visits Browns Ferry Unit 1 and Bellefonte The NRR Team Leader for the Construction Inspection Program (CIP) development team met with Region II management and inspectors this week to tour the Browns Ferry Unit 1 (BF1) and Bellefonte sites and to discuss inspection program implementation at BF1 as a means of obtaining insights useful to CIP development. This is a part of the strategy to prepare the NRC workforce for potential future reactor construction inspection activities. D.C. Cook - Application for Conversion to Improved Standard Technical Specification On April 12, 2004, the licensee for D.C. Cook Nuclear Plant submitted an application to convert its plant Technical Specifications in their entirety to the improved Standard Technical Specifications (iSTS). If approved, D.C. Cook, Units 1 and 2 represent the 69th and the 70th units, respectively, to have converted to the iSTS. In addition, this submittal is the pilot plant application for the staff's initiative for an accelerated iSTS conversion process. The purpose of the pilot is to incorporate the lessons learned from previous reviews to make the staff's review more efficient and effective, which should result in cost savings and a shortened review schedule. The goal of the pilot is to shorten the review schedule for an iSTS conversion from about 16 months to about eight months. The ability to meet the review schedule depends on the quality of the submittal, the responsiveness of the licensee to staff requests for additional information, and the number of requested TS changes that deviate from the iSTS. The first step of the new process is to perform a 2-week acceptance review, which will be followed by an optional public meeting on April 27-28, 2004, to resolve any significant issues resulting from the acceptance review. Participation in Meeting to Revise Standard for Plant Simulators During the week of April 5-8, 2004, two members of NRR staff participated in a meeting of the American Nuclear Society (ANS) 3.5 Working Group (WG) meeting held in Frederick, Maryland. The ANS-3.5 WG is the industry consensus working group that develops the standard for nuclear power plant simulators for use in operator training and examination and is currently working on a revision to the standard. The staff provided a brief update on results of simulator inspections at licensee facilities. A number of weaknesses have been identified through those inspections in simulator performance testing. A main focus of the discussions was on what should be done to enhance the effectiveness of performance testing, particularly with regard to the "scenario-based testing." Regulatory Issue Summary 2004-05: Grid Reliability and the Impact on Plant Risk and the Operability of Offsite Power On August 14, 2003, the largest power outage in the history of the United States occurred in the Northeastern United States and parts of Canada. Nine U.S. Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) tripped off-line. Eight of these, along with one NPP that was already shut down, lost offsite power. Although the onsite emergency diesel generators functioned to maintain safe shutdown conditions, this event was significant in terms of the number of plants affected and the duration of the power outage. The NRC has been evaluating the reliability of offsite power for NPPs over the last several years as a result of the changing nature of the surrounding electrical grids. Regulatory Issue Summary (RIS) 2004-05, dated April 15, 2004, advises addressees of the requirements of 10 CFR 50.65, "Requirements for monitoring the effectiveness of maintenance at nuclear power plants," 10 CFR 50.63, "Loss of all alternating current power," 10 CFR Part 50 Appendix A, General Design Criterion (GDC) 17, "Electric power systems," and plant technical specifications on operability of offsite power. The RIS also informs addressees that the NRC plans to perform inspections to review these areas following the issuance of this RIS. A temporary instruction (TI) to be used by the NRC inspectors will be issued for these inspections and will be available in advance of the inspections. Public Meeting on Part 26 Fitness for Duty Proposed Rule On April 13, 2004, the Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response (NSIR) and the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) held a public meeting concerning proposed revisions to 10 CFR Part 26, "Fitness for Duty Programs." Twenty-four individuals attended the meeting, including representatives of 12 nuclear power plant licensees, the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), and members of the public. Discussions at the meeting included drug and alcohol testing of applicants for authorization at the normal random rate, the need for the proposed rule to reflect requirements of the Department of Health and Human Services' Mandatory Guidelines, and the need for additional data collection and evaluation to ensure that the regulatory analysis reflects the costs expected to be incurred by licensees. Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Implementing Agreement between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission in the Area of Probabilistic Risk Assessment Research On April 12, 2004, the acting EDO signed the international implementing agreement between the NRC and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) relating to cooperation in the area of probabilistic risk assessment research. The Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research forwarded this Implementing Agreement to the CNSC for countersignature on April 14, 2004. This Implementing Agreement defines the terms and conditions by which the NRC and the CNSC will continue cooperation in the area of probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) research and in our international cooperative probabilistic risk assessment (COOPRA) program on the basis of mutual benefit and reasonable equity and reciprocity. The research conducted and in-kind information exchanged under this Implementing Agreement will contribute to the NRC's goal of leveraging agency resources, while enhancing the quality of NRC's PRA methods and insights on risk assessment techniques through the expansion of the international user community and through their subsequent applications and feedback. This Implementing Agreement will enter into effect upon signature and will remain in effect for a period of five years. Agreement between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Technical Research Centre of Finland in the Area of Severe Accident Research On April 12, 2004, the acting EDO signed the international agreement between the NRC and the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT) relating to the participation in the Cooperative Severe Accident Research Program (CSARP). The Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research forwarded this Agreement on April 13, 2004, to VTT Finland for countersignature. This Agreement defines the terms and conditions by which the NRC and the VTT will continue cooperation in the area of severe accident research on the basis of mutual benefit and reasonable equity and reciprocity. The research conducted and in-kind information exchanged under this Agreement will contribute to the NRC's goal of leveraging agency resources and independently verifying the accuracy of the NRC's MELCOR severe accident code. The work performed and exchanged under this Agreement will also enhance the quality assurance of our reactor safety codes through the expansion of the international user community and through their subsequent code assessments and feedback. The NRC uses these codes to evaluate potential risk and vulnerability scenarios for severe accidents, to address regulatory and licensing issues for operating plants, and to review new designs. In addition to exchanging technical information and data, VTT will provide a cash contribution each year for the duration of this Agreement to help support NRC's severe accident research activities. This Agreement will enter into effect upon signature and will remain in effect for a period of three years. Presentation on Mitigating Systems Performance Index (MSPI) Pilot Program Results to ACRS Subcommittees On April 14, 2004, RES staff, supported by NRR staff, presented the technical results of the MSPI Pilot Program to the ACRS Subcommittees on Reliability and PRA, and Plant Operations. The RES staff presented a summary of the developmental work and the technical issues associated with the Mitigating System Performance Index (MSPI). NRR staff provided information on the next steps to evaluate a risk-informed performance indicator (PI) to replace the Safety System Unavailability PI. Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) also presented its views in support of the technical merits of the MSPI.
Seventeenth Meeting of the Nuclear Safety Standards Committee (NUSSC) On April 5-7, 2004, RES staff participated in the Seventeenth meeting of the Nuclear Safety Standards Committee (NUSSC) at IAEA Headquarters in Vienna, Austria. NUSSC is one of four specialists committees of the IAEA Commission on Safety Standards. The objectives of the Commission are to ensure coherence and consistency of the Agency's safety standards and to provide guidance on the approach and strategy for establishing the standards. The meeting was attended by representatives of 22 countries. The agenda included review of standards related to nuclear power plant design, research reactors, fuel cycle facilities, decommissioning, management systems, and assessment and verification. Research Reports on of Spent Fuel Storage Dry Casks The Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research completed an interim report, "Preliminary Analysis for Multipurpose Canister (MPC) Drop into a Storage Cask." This report presents the results of a 3-D finite element analysis calculating MPC shell buckling, material behavior under high temperatures, and strain rate effects on a selected design of MPC as a result of a hypothetical drop into a dry cask. This scenario is one of the higher contributors to probability of MPC failure and will be included in the main report along with the calculation of failure probability and consequences. The Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research completed an interim report, "Discussion of Motions for Central and Eastern USA Soil Sites and Generic Rock Sites," which provides different soil profiles and seismic motions that needs to be included in analyses to determine the behavior of spent fuel storage dry casks under seismic loads (i.e., cask sliding or tip-over). Another interim report, "Seismic Analyses of Freestanding Dry Storage Cask Systems," documents the results of parametric analyses by varying seismic time histories, different peak ground accelerations and different coefficients of friction between cask and concrete pad. Results from these analyses will be used to prepare tables, and nomograms as tools for NRC staff to review dry cask storage licensing applications. Nuclear Security and Incident Response Preliminary Notifications
Office of Administration Contract Award On April 14, 2004, contract No. NRC-38-04-363 was awarded on a competitive basis to MDS Nordian of Quebec, Canada. The purpose of this contract is to obtain an Irradiator Technology Course for inspectors and license reviewers. The course will provide inspectors and license reviewers for the NRC and agreement states with an understanding of the design, operation, and radiation safety associated with industrial irradiators with emphasis on Category IV Pool Type Irradiators. The contract is valued at $687,416.00, which includes a one-year period of performance and four one-year options. A competitive fixed price contract No. NRC-38-04-382, was awarded on April 13, 2004, to Performance Systems. The vendor will support the Office of Human Resources by conducting a training course entitled, "Conducting Inspections and Inspecting for Performance Materials Version Training Course" at the Technical Training Center. The contract is valued at $366,870.00, which includes a one-year period of performance and four one-year options. Chief Information Officer Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) Briefing Provided to Program and Regional Offices An executive level briefing which provided a high-level overview of PKI technology and its potential uses at the agency was delivered to the NRC program and regional offices. OCIO staff will follow up with one-on-one interviews with interested program office representatives over the next few weeks to discuss their office's future PKI requirements. Meeting with General Services Administration's (GSA's) Office of Citizen Services and Communications Senior OCIO representatives met with the Director of GSA's Federal Citizen Information Center in the Office of Citizen Services and Communications (OCSC). OCSC is implementing one of the administration's 24 E-Gov initiatives in which citizens can call a single phone number (1-800 FED-INFO) or send an inquiry to a single e-mail address to ask questions or submit requests to any Federal agency. OCSC is seeking to establish Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with agencies that describe how agency requests will be handled. OCIO is coordinating with affected NRC stakeholders and OGC to determine what level of agreement, if any, would be appropriate. Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act Requests received during the period of April 9 through April 15, 2004:
Office of Human Resources
Office of Public Affairs Media Interest Office of Public Affairs (OPA) responded to significant media inquiries on the following: The NRC's evaluation of the Department of Energy's quality assurance program for its upcoming Yucca Mountain waste repository license application. Nevada's request that NRC block DOE from shipping radioactive waste from Ohio to Nevada. Other Public Affairs Items Transmission and Distribution World published its interview with Chairman Nils J. Diaz in its first quarter 2004 issue. OPA supported annual performance assessment meetings for the Oconee, Crystal River, McGuire, Peach Bottom, and Oyster Creek nuclear plants.
Office of International Programs Visit of Dr. Yasuhiro Sasaki, MEXT, Japan Dr. Yahuhito Sasaki, Chairman of the Japanese Radiation Council, Ministry of Education, Culture Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), visited NRC headquarters on April 13. Dr. Sasaki and the Japanese delegation met with NRC staff from NMSS and NSIR, and discussed current Japanese legislation for the enhanced control of radioisotopes. Office of the Secretary
Commission Correspondence
Federal Register Notices Issued
Region I Annual Assessment Meeting for Oyster Creek On the evening of April 15, 2004, the 2003 Annual Assessment Meeting for Oyster Creek was conducted at the Lacey Township Municipal Building. Following the meeting, over twenty (20) members of the public asked questions of, or made statements to, the NRC on a wide range of subjects related to the safety and environmental impact of Oyster Creek. The meeting was attended by over 50 members of the public, as well as five individuals from the media, two members of the Lacey Township Council and a staff member from US Senator Frank Lautenberg's office. Region II Reactor Oversight Process (ROP) Annual Assessment Meetings During the week of April 12-16 2004, the Regional staff conducted the NRC ROP Annual Assessment Meetings for the Oconee, Crystal River, Brunswick, McGuire and Farley nuclear plants. The meetings were held at or near the nuclear plants and were open to the public. The Deputy Regional Administrator attended the Oconee meeting. USEC Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant On April 13, 2004, the Director, Division of Fuel Facility Inspection, the Deputy Director, Division of Reactor Safety, and Region II and HQ staff visited the USEC Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon, Ohio, to review the facilities to be used for the gas centrifuge lead cascade. Honeywell International, Inc. On April 14, 2004, Region II informed Honeywell International, Inc., that the NRC had no objection to Honeywell starting up uranium tetrafluoride (green salt) operations based on completion of plant upgrades. Region III Braidwood End-of-Cycle Performance Assessment Meeting On April 15, 2004, the members of the regional staff and the resident inspectors met with representatives of Exelon Generation Company in a public meeting in Braidwood, Illinois, to discuss the results of the agency's assessment of safety performance at the Braidwood Nuclear Power Station during 2003. Office of Congressional Affairs
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