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INFORMATION

SECY-00-0087

April 13, 2000

Contact:  K. Landis, OEDO

WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING APRIL 7, 2000

The Weekly Information Report is compiled by the Office of the EDO and includes highlights of Headquarters and Regional Office activities.

Contact:  K. Landis, OEDO by E-mail: Kerry.Landis@nrc.gov.

ENCLOSURE A

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Items of Interest
Week Ending April 7, 2000

ICONE-8

The Probabilistic Safety Assessment Branch made three presentations at the Eighth International Conference in Nuclear Engineering (ICONE-8) which was held in Baltimore, Maryland, from April 2-6, 2000. The first presentation addressed NRC perspectives on a safety classification process to support risk-informing the special treatment requirements of 10 CFR Part 50. The second presentation discussed a process which will enable the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) project managers and technical staff to identify licensing actions that may warrant risk consideration. The final presentation focused on the fire protection Significance Determination Process, which evaluates the risk significance of fire protection inspection findings. The papers were well received and generated several comments from U.S. licensees as well as foreign attendees.

Shutdown Significance Determination Process Screening Tool

The shutdown Significance Determination Process (SDP) screening tool was released to the regions for draft use. The tool is used to ensure that the licensees maintain a shutdown mitigation capability consistent with the staff's estimate of industry shutdown risk that was presented to the Commission in SECY-97-168. The SRM to SECY-97-168 directed the staff to ensure through inspection and monitoring that the current level of safety is maintained. The phase two shutdown SDP tool, under development, will be used to quantify the risk of findings identified from the screening tool, even if a licensee does not have a shutdown probabilistic risk assessment. Until finished, these shutdown findings will be analyzed by staff in the Probabilistic Safety Assessment Branch. The expected availability for the phase two SDP screening tool is July 2000.

Public Meeting with NEI to discuss RIP-50, OPTION 2

On March 30, 2000, the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) held a public meeting to discuss industry efforts to support developing a proposed rule for risk-informing the special treatment requirements of 10 CFR Part 50 (RIP-50) and industry initiatives to support the rulemaking. Representatives of the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), a number of reactor licensees, consultants, and others also attended and participated in the meeting.

NEI described its continuing efforts to develop guidance for classifying the safety significance and risk importance of structures, systems, and components (risk-informed safety categories) and for implementing changes to the special treatment requirements. NEI provided a partial draft of its proposed guideline for risk-informed categorization and treatment of SSCs. While not complete, this document provides guidance and decision logic for risk-informed categorization of SSCs for appropriate levels of treatment. NEI indicated that it planned to submit a complete draft for staff review by the end of April 2000. NEI also provided information on commercial quality work control and practices.

NEI also discussed its efforts to solicit pilot plants. The Boiling Water Reactor Owners Group (BWROG) has identified candidate systems and a lead plant for categorization and the definition of treatment and expects to begin a pilot this summer. The effort should culminate in a BWROG document and a boiler plate exemption package by the end of CY 2000. This effort could be broadened to cover more plant systems and all BWRs in CY 2001. The Westinghouse Owners Group (WOG) has accepted the "task" in principle, but has not progressed as far as the BWROG. Beyond the owners groups, NEI indicated that it still attempting to solicit licensees for "whole-plant" pilot activities.

The staff and NEI agreed to continue to hold regular meetings and have scheduled the next meeting for April 20, 2000. At that meeting, NEI will give the staff a final draft of its guidance document and will further discuss pilot plant activities.

ENCLOSURE B

Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards
Items of Interest
Week Ending April 7, 2000

Final Report of NUREG-1702

The Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards issued the final "Standard Review Plan (SRP) for the Review of a License Application for the Tank Waste Remediation System Privatization (TWRS-P) Project," NUREG-1702. The SRP will be used by Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff in reviewing the Construction Authorization for TWRS-P, which is expected in June 2001 from the Department of Energy. The SRP will soon be available electronically via the NRC web site and is now available on the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System.

Remediation of the Kiski Valley Water Pollution Control Authority Contaminated Ash Lagoon

On March 30, 2000, staff from the Division of Waste Management met with representatives from the Kiski Valley Water Pollution Control Authority (KVWPCA), Babcock & Wilcox (B&W), and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss KVWPCA's plans for the remediation of an on-site lagoon which contains uranium contaminated incinerator ash. During this meeting, representatives from KVWPCA and B&W presented information concerning the history of the site, the possible options for remediation, and possible dose assessment approaches. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and PADEP staff presented preparation guidance and information on what should be contained in a decommissioning plan (DP), the process for review and approval, and the requirements of the license termination rule. As a result of this meeting, B&W plans to assist KVWPCA in developing a DP for submission to the NRC.

Molycorp Site Specific Advisory Board Meeting

On March 23, 2000, staff from the Division of Waste Management and the Office of the General Counsel attended a meeting of the Site Specific Advisory Board (SSAB) on the Molycorp, Washington, Pennsylvania, Site Decommissioning Management Plan. Molycorp intends to submit a decommissioning plan (DP) under the restricted use provisions of the License Termination Rule (10 CFR Part 20 Subpart E). The SSAB meeting was open to the public and approximately 50 people attended, including staff from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and local elected officials. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff attended the meeting to answer questions raised by the SSAB but had no other formal role in the proceedings. The SSAB was presented with Molycorp's final draft of its proposed institutional controls and financial assurance statements. However, the SSAB members and observers were far more concerned with issues outside the scope of the SSAB's charter (such as economic impacts, construction details of the proposed onsite disposal cell, and site characterization) than with institutional controls. As a result, the facilitator had great difficulty maintaining the focus of the meeting and the public comment periods became quite contentious. Because only a few procedural questions were posed to the NRC staff during the meeting, the staff remained after the meeting and spoke individually with several members of the public, SSAB members, and a radio station reporter. Molycorp's DP is due to be submitted to NRC in April 2000 but Molycorp has requested an extension until July 2000 to allow more time for the SSAB to complete its deliberations and for Molycorp to address SSAB concerns.

National Association of Corrosion Engineers Annual Conference

On March 27-31, 2000, a representative from the Division of Waste Management and staff from the Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses (Center) attended the 55^th Annual Conference of National Association of Corrosion Engineers International in Orlando, Florida. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff presented recent research results on Environmental and Electrochemical Factors Influencing the Localized Corrosion of Zircaloy-4 in the technical symposium on Corrosion in Nuclear Systems. The scientific community offered valuable insights on the applicability of this research to NRC staff evaluation of long-term disposal of commercial spent nuclear fuel in the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The Center staff presented three additional papers on corrosion issues associated with materials to be used in the high level waste repository. These papers were on: (1) Instrumentation for Monitoring Waste Packages During Performance Confirmation; (2) General and Localized Dissolution of Titanium Grade 7; and (3) Stress Corrosion Cracking, Passive and Localized Corrosion of Alloy 22. At this conference, NRC staff also attended Energy Technology Committees' meetings on Nuclear Systems and Interim Storage of Radioactive Liquid Waste.

ENCLOSURE C

Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research
Items of Interest
Week Ending April 7, 2000

Public Meeting with NEI

On March 22nd, Nuclear Reactor Research (RES) staff held a public meeting with representatives of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) and the Pressurzied Water Reactor Owners Group (PWROG) to discuss the selected aspects of the GSI-191 study, "Assessment of Debris Accumulation on PWR Sump Performance." The purpose of this meeting was to inform stakeholders of the technical methods being employed to resolve the GSI-191. This is the seventh public meeting held concerning various aspects of GSI-191 study. RES is conducting this study to determine whether debris accumulation can prevent the operation of the ECCS following a LOCA. At the meeting, PWROG made a presentation on their view of how the risk posed by debris accumulations should be estimated. The RES staff and LANL, NRC's contractor, made a presentation on the method that the staff plans to use to estimate risk associated with debris blockage of sump screens. The approach suggested by PWROG and the approach the staff plans to use are similar, but PWROG made suggestions that merit further consideration by the staff. In addition to the risk presentation, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) made presentations on preliminary debris transport test results and debris generation simulations. At the end of the meeting, the RES staff answered stakeholders' questions regarding information that was presented at earlier public meetings. All the meeting materials, including an agenda and attendance list, have been placed in the public document room.

Quad Cities Fire IPEEE Site Audit

On March 21-23, 2000, a team of three RES members, one NRR member, and a contractor visited the Quad Cities plant to perform a site audit of the plant's revised fire Individual Plant Examination of External Events (IPEEE) analysis. The original Quad Cities IPEEE identified potential vulnerabilities related to fire protection, and reported a large core damage frequency (CDF) (about 5 x 10^-3/ry for each unit) associated with potential fire events. The revised IPEEE results showed significantly reduced fire-induced CDF (about 7 x 10^-5/ry for each unit) and revised relative risk contributions from a number of the scenarios addressed in the original IPEEE. (A number of scenarios decreased in relative importance, and a few scenarios increased in importance.) The purpose of the audit was to develop an understanding of the basis for the change in results, and to identify what additional information was needed to complete the staff's evaluation of the IPEEE.

The site audit involved discussions with the plant staff and contractors, review of the IPEEE documentation, and walkdowns of key areas in the plant. Excellent cooperation was received from Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) throughout the process. Based upon the information collected, it appears that the revised IPEEE reflects an improved and more realistic understanding of the key sources of fire risk in the plant. This understanding is also being used by ComEd in the implementation of plant activities (e.g., in the selection of areas and scenarios for fire drills).

One of the major differences between the original and the revised IPEEE is that ComEd upgraded their analysis using more realistic and detailed information on cable routing and the impact of fire-induced cable failure on equipment availability. The revised analysis showed that more equipment would be available for safe shutdown, and recovery actions could be performed using plant emergency operating procedures with most operator actions taken in the main control room. The audit uncovered a small number of issues that require additional examination by ComEd. These will be addressed through the normal request for additional information (RAI) process. A draft set of RAIs was discussed with ComEd during the exit meeting. The audit team does not anticipate any significant problems in resolving the RAIs or in completing the evaluation of the IPEEE in a timely fashion.

ENCLOSURE D

Incident Response Operations
Items of Interest
Week Ending April 7, 2000

Preliminary Notifications:

1. PNO-II-00-017, Space Science Services, FAILURE OF RADIOGRAPHY SOURCE TO FULLY RETRACT
   
   
2. PNO-II-00-018, U.S. Department of the Navy, LOST STRONTIUM-90 SOURCE
   
   
3. PNO-II-00-019, U.S. Department of the Navy, LOST STRONTIUM-90 SOURCE - UPDATE

ENCLOSURE F

Office of Administration
Items of Interest
Week Ending April 7, 2000

Acquisition Training

On April 3, 2000, the Division of Contracts and Property Management conducted its Acquisition for Project Managers module entitled, "Negotiation of Project Terms and Conditions." This workshop addresses the role of the Project Manager in negotiation of terms and conditions of NRC contracts and DOE laboratory agreements and documenting the negotiation in accordance with the FAR, NRCAR and MD 11.7.

ENCLOSURE G

Chief Information Officer
Items of Interest
Week Ending April 7, 2000

Freedom of Information and Privacy Act Requests received during the 5-Day Period of March 31, 2000 through April 6, 2000:

ENCLOSURE I

Office of Human Resources
Items of Interest
Week Ending April 7, 2000

Benchmarking Program Offered to Senior Executive Service (SES) Candidate Development Program Participants

On April 4, 2000, members of the SES Candidate Development Program participated in a benchmarking briefing given by Norma Jo Greenlee from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Session topics included the following elements of benchmarking: methodology; code of conduct, protocol, and ethics; tools and terminology; and the preparation and conduct of research.

ENCLOSURE M

Office of Public Affairs
Items of Interest
Week Ending April 7, 2000

Media Interest

A reporter from The South Bend (Ind.) Tribune interviewed Jack Grobe, Region III., for a series of "in-depth" articles on D.C. Cook's restart.

A New York Times reporter interviewed Pat Gwynn, Region IV, for a story on an alleger at Diablo Canyon.

Region I staff will be interviewed by a cable access channel for a program on the steam generator event at Indian Point 2. Two reporters were teleconferenced into the 2.206 petition meeting on this matter.

ENCLOSURE N

Office of International Programs
Items of Interest
Week Ending April 7, 2000

Visit of Mr. Michio Sakurada, Japan Ministry of International Trade and Industry

On April 4, Mr. Michio Sakurada, Director of International Affairs, Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, Japan Ministry of International Trade and Industry, visited NRC and had separate meetings with Janice Dunn Lee and Kevin Burke, OIP, Michael Cullingford, NRR, and Andrew Szukiewicz, RES. Mr. Sakurada discussed the reorganization currently taking place within the nuclear safety regime in the Japanese government and within MITI as a result of the Tokaimura accident that occurred on September 30, 1999. NRC discussed the upcoming travel to Japan of Chairman Meserve, and Commissioners Diaz and Dicus and issues that they are likely to raise. There was also a discussion of proposed agenda topics for the MITI-NRC Regulatory Safety Information Bilateral that is scheduled in Tokyo on May 23-24, 2000.

Visit of Leonid Bolshov, Russian Academy of Sciences

Dr. Leonid Bolshov, Director, Nuclear Safety Institute (known also by the Russia acronym, IBRAE) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, met on April 6, 2000, with Chairman Meserve, Commissioner McGaffigan and Dr. William Travers, Executive Director for Operations. Dr. Bolshov also met with Ashok Thadani and members of the Office of Research. Dr. Travers and Dr. Bolshov signed the fifth addendum to the Implementing Agreement on the development and application of nuclear safety analysis codes. Dr. Bolshov was in the U.S. to attend the Regulatory Information Conference.

Visit of Dr. Martin, Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear of Spain

On March 27 and 29, Dr. Anibal Martin, Vice Chairman of the Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear of Spain, had courtesy visits with the Commissioners, the EDO, and other members of the NRC staff. The Director for Nuclear Safety at the Consejo, Isabel Mellado, had meetings on March 29 with NRR and OCIO.

ENCLOSURE O

Office of the Secretary
Items of Interest
Week Ending April 7, 2000

Commission Correspondence

1. Letter to Congress dated March 31, 2000, concerns representation on the Sewage Sludge Subcommittee of the Interagency Steering Committee on Radiation Standards (ISCORS).
   
   
2. Letter to the Honorable Clinton Stennett, Idaho State Senate, dated March 31, 2000, concerns disposal of radioactive materials from the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) at the Envirosafe Services of Idaho, Inc. facility.
   
   
3. Letter to Congress dated March 31, 2000, provides the February monthly report on the status of NRC's licensing and regulatory duties.
   
   
4. Letter to Congress dated March 30, 2000, provides Fiscal Year 1999 Accountability and Performance Report and the Inspector General's Fiscal Year 1999 Performance Report.
   
   
5. Letter to Earl E. Hoellen, International Uranium (USA) Corporation, dated March 28, 2000, concerns uranium and thorium process waste generated prior to 1978 and administered under the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Plan (FUSRAP).
   
   
6. Letter to Madam Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuke, Minister of Minerals and Energy, Pretoria, South Africa, dated March 27, 2000, concerns the DOE , NRC, DOS, and Idaho National Engineering and Environment Laboratory team of experts visit to South Africa to evaluate Eskom's Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) project.

Federal Register Notices Issued

1. 10 CFR Parts 71 and 73; Advance Notification to Native American Tribes of Transportation of Certain Types of Nuclear Waste; Reopening of Comment Period
   
   
2. ACRS Subcommittee Meeting on Thermal-Hydraulic Phenomena; Notice of Meeting
   
   
3. Advisory Committee on the Medical Uses of Isotopes; Renewal Notice

ENCLOSURE P

Region II
Items of Interest
Week Ending April 7, 2000

Programmatic Goals

On April 6, the Director of the Office of State Programs visited the Region II office to meet with Regional senior management to discuss programmatic goals. He and the Region II, Director of the Division of Nuclear Materials Safety attended the IMPEP exit meeting with officials of the State of Georgia on April 7, 2000.

ENCLOSURE P

Region III
Items of Interest
Week Ending April 7, 2000

Chairman observes Perry (Ohio) plant Operational Safeguards Response Evaluation (OSRE)

On Tuesday, April 4, and Wednesday, April 5, Regional Administrator Jim Dyer and various staff members accompanied Chairman Meserve on a tour of the Perry Nuclear Power Plant in Ohio where the Chairman also observed various exercises that were part of the OSRE underway at the plant. Additionally, on Wednesday, April 5, while still at the plant, the Chairman held a news conference in which four reporters attended (two reporters representing area newspapers, one representing a radio station, and one representing a television station).

ENCLOSURE R

Office of Congressional Affairs
Items of Interest
Week Ending April 7, 2000