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INFORMATION REPORT SECY-04-0214 November 15, 2004
Contact: T. Kim, OEDO Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Preliminary Results of the Vermont Yankee Engineering Inspection On November 2, 2004, staff members from Region I and NRR held a teleconference with representatives of the Vermont State Government regarding the preliminary results of the recent pilot engineering inspection at Vermont Yankee in August. The staff also briefed representatives of the Congressional delegations from Vermont and New Hampshire via teleconference on the following day. These briefings were coordinated with the Office of State and Tribal Programs and the Office of Congressional Affairs. Issuance of Renewed Operating Licenses for Dresden and Quad Cities On October 28, 2004, the Director of NRR signed the renewed operating licenses for the Dresden Nuclear Power Station, Units 2 and 3, and the Quad Cities Nuclear Power Station, Units 1 and 2, in Illinois for an additional 20 years. The renewed licenses were issued within 22 months of receipt of the application submitted by the Exelon Generating Company, consistent with the staff's performance goal. To date, the staff has issued renewed licenses for 30 units and is currently reviewing renewal applications for 16 units. DOE Announces New Nuclear Plant Licensing Demonstration Project Award On November 4, 2004, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced awards to two nuclear utility-led consortia under the Nuclear Power 2010 program. The awards went to Dominion and NuStart Energy led consortiums. The Dominion project could lead to a license application to build and operate an Advanced CANDU (ACR-700) reactor at the North Anna site. The NuStart Energy consortium is evaluating the possible licensing and building of either an AP1000 reactor or ESBWR [Simplified Boiling Water Reactor] and plans to select a final reactor technology and a site by 2007. Materials Meeting with the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) On November 2, 2004, representatives from both NRR and the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research met with representatives from NEI to discuss an overview of materials degradation management. NEI is currently developing a framework for integrating and coordinating various industry research programs as well as industry operating experience. This information will be used to identify high-priority actions to be taken by the industry with respect to managing materials degradation issues. The NRC staff provided positive feedback on the industry's planned activities, and agreed to coordinate the related NRC research to the extent practical and appropriate. The staff also expressed interest in learning more about inspection programs being developed by the industry, which will be discussed at a future meeting. Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Meeting with NAC International on the Modular Advanced Generation Nuclear All-Purpose Storage Application On November 1, 2004, staff of the Spent Fuel Project Office met with representatives from the NAC International (NAC) to discuss the technical review of the new NAC dry cask storage system application. The NAC Modular Advanced Generation Nuclear All-Purpose Storage system application was submitted for staff review on August 31, 2004. The open portion of the meeting addressed each of the technical review disciplines, with a separate closed discussion of the thermal analysis and methodology. NRC's review is expected to be completed in about 1 year. IAEA Mission to Lithuania on Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources On October 25-29, 2004, staff from the Division of Industrial and Medical Nuclear Safety participated in the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA's) national strategies mission to Lithuania. The objective of the Mission was to assess, by an international team, the control of radioactive sources in the country, and to develop an action plan for implementing a national strategy for control of vulnerable radioactive sources and regaining control over orphan sources. IAEA had conducted similar missions to numerous other countries in the past. Data were collected by reviewing historic and current activities of the Radiation Protection Centre (RPC), the responsible government agency, in Lithuania, for the control of radioactive sources. The team identified a number of action items that could enhance the operation of RPC. The action items were prioritized and the resource requirements for their implementation were also determined. The preliminary findings of the mission were discussed with the Lithuanian authorities in an exit meeting. IAEA will issue a national strategy report when the findings are finalized as recommendations for implementation in Lithuania. NRC Staff Participates in Interagency Steering Committee on Radiation Standards Meeting On October 28, 2004, the Interagency Steering Committee on Radiation Standards (ISCORS), which is co-chaired by NRC, held its quarterly meeting at the Environmental Protection Agency offices in Washington, DC. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss topics including: (1) radon in the workplace; (2) management of radiological dispersal device incidents; and (3) the consolidation of oversight of interagency committees. The subcommittees also provided their quarterly updates to the committee members. The next quarterly meeting will be held in late January/early February. Upcoming meeting dates and meeting summaries will be posted on www.iscors.org. On-site Integrated Safety Analysis Review for USEC, Inc.'s American Centrifuge Plant From October 25-27, 2004, NRC staff performed an on-site review of U.S. Enrichment Corporation (USEC), Inc.'s American Centrifuge Plant (ACP) Integrated Safety Analysis (ISA). The review took place at the proposed ACP site located at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant site in Piketon, Ohio. The NRC ISA review team consisted of six staff members who reviewed the ISA documentation in the areas of chemical safety, radiological safety, fire safety, criticality safety, and ISA procedures. The preliminary findings of the onsite review were discussed with the USEC in an exit meeting. Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Public Meeting on the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor On November 3, 2004, staff from the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES) and the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) conducted a public meeting with representatives from PBMR Pty. Ltd., the developer and vendor of the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR). The meeting was requested by PBMR Pty. Ltd. The purpose of the meeting was to provide PBMR Pty. Ltd., an opportunity to present to the NRC staff their proposed plans, schedules, and objectives for a potential PBMR pre-application review and follow-on design certification application review. The schedule proposed by PBMR Pty. Ltd., includes pre-application interactions with the NRC staff from November 2004 through December 2006, followed by a potential design certification application in early 2007. The NRC staff requested that PBMR Pty. Ltd., formally document its pre-application review proposal in a letter to the NRC. International Cooperative Probabilistic Risk Assessment Research Program Steering Committee and Working Group Meetings On October 27-28, 2004, RES staff conducted the eighth meeting of the international Cooperative Probabilistic Risk Assessment (COOPRA) Research Program Steering Committee. The COOPRA Steering Committee determines the research and development activities including probabilistic risk assessment activities that will be addressed by member countries. The meeting was well attended by representatives from nine countries and covered a range of probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) topics. The information gained from this meeting supports ongoing staff efforts to risk-inform regulatory processes. The staff also participated in a meeting of COOPRA working group on Low Power and Shutdown (LPSD) Risk Management held on October 29, 2004. The meeting was well attended and included participants from seven countries. Discussions focused on collaboration between the international Nuclear Energy Agency Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI) and COOPRA LPSD working groups and ongoing LPSD technical work performed by COOPRA member countries. Current work activities include development of a LPSD initiator database and completing a draft study on human-induced initiators during LPSD. The information obtained from this meeting supports ongoing staff efforts to improve the quality of LPSD probabilistic risk assessments. The next COOPRA LPSD working group meeting is tentatively scheduled for May 2005. Bilateral Exchange on French Fire Research Program On October 29, 2004, staff from RES and NRR met with representatives from the Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN) to discuss the status of the French PRISME fire research program. The IRSN representatives described their fire testing facilities and other laboratory capabilities under their fire studies program. The French fire testing facilities include DIVA (used for fire studies of rooms, corridors, and ventilation systems), SATURNE (ventilation hood used to study medium scale fires), and PLUTON (used to study concrete containment for large fires). The information obtained from this information exchange will support ongoing risk-informed fire protection regulatory initiatives. Nuclear Security and Incident Response Preliminary Notifications
Office of Administration Contract Award On October 20, 2004, a no-cost contract No. NRC-33-05-324 was awarded to Best Copy and Printing, Inc., under the Small Business Administration's 8(a) contracting program. The contractor shall provide document duplication services for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Public Document Room. The period of performance is five years, inclusive of three one-year options. Chief Information Officer Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act Requests Received During the Period of October 29 through November 4, 2004:
Office of Human Resources
Office of Public Affairs Media Interest The Office of Public Affairs (OPA) received significant media inquiries on the following: The security review of documents on ADAMS, including the initial restoration of documents relating to a possible licensing application for a high-level waste repository. The preliminary results of NRC's engineering inspection of Vermont Yankee, and the postponement of public meetings to explain the findings. The status of adjudication over a proposed dry-cask spent fuel storage site in Utah. Other Public Affairs Items: OPA provided support to a public meeting on the Brunswick license renewal application.
Office of the Secretary
Commission Correspondence
Federal Register Notices Issued
Region I Management Review Board Meeting on North Carolina IMPEP On November 1, 2004, the Management Review Board (MRB) met to discuss the results of the Integrated Materials Performance Evaluation Program (IMPEP) review of the North Carolina Agreement State Program conducted on August 16-20, 2004. The MRB agreed with the IMPEP review team's recommendations that the State's performance in all performance indicators is satisfactory and the program is compatible with the applicable NRC regulations, and therefore, the State's program is adequate to protect public health and safety. The next IMPEP review of the North Carolina program is scheduled to be conducted in FY 2008. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - Sponsored Meeting on Safety Light Corporation On November 4, Director, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety and a Senior Health Physicist from Region I participated in two EPA-sponsored meetings held in Bloomsburg, PA on the addition of the Safety Light Corporation (SLC) site to the National Priority List (Superfund list). An afternoon meeting was held for local elected representatives and was attended by a representative of Congressman Kanjorski's office (11th Congressional District) and a representative of State Senator Gordner's office. The evening meeting was attended by approximately 30 local residents and Columbia County Commissioner David Kovach. Local press was at both meetings. Presentations included a virtual tour of the site, a discussion of NRC's role with SLC and a description and status report on the EPA's National Priority List process for this site. In addition to EPA-Region III and NRC Region I, representatives of Pennsylvania Departments of Health and Environment as well as the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry were present. The question and answer sessions with attendees addressed groundwater and soil contamination, the length and cost of site cleanup effort, additional site characterization, environmental dose rates, and the likelihood of NRC renewing the SLC licenses. Region II Commissioner Merrifield Visit to the U.S. Enrichment Corporation (USEC) Facilities On November 1, 2004, the Regional Administrator accompanied Commissioner Merrifield to the USEC Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Lead Cascade, and the American Centrifuge Facility in Ohio for a site tour and met with licensee management. 25th Annual Institute of Nuclear Power Operations CEO Conference On November 3-4, NRC Chairman Nils J. Diaz, Commissioner Jeffrey S. Merrifield, the Executive Director for Operations, and other senior NRC executives attended the 25th Annual Chief Executive Officer Conference sponsored by the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations in Atlanta, Georgia. Region IV Regional Administrator Site Visits to Callaway and Wolf Creek On November 1, 2004, the Regional Administrator and Director, Division of Reactor Projects, visited the Callaway nuclear power plant in Portland, Missouri. They toured the site with the Senior Resident Inspector and met with licensee management. On the following day, they visited the Wolf Creek nuclear power plant in Burlington, Kansas. They toured the site with the Resident Inspector and met with licensee management. |
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