United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Office of Public Affairs

Washington, DC 20555

Phone 301-415-8200 Fax 301-415-2234

Internet:opa@nrc.gov

No. 97-128 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Monday, September 8, 1997)

NRC ISSUES ADDITIONAL LETTERS TO THREE UTILITIES

ON SPENT FUEL STORAGE CASK WELDING PROBLEMS

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards

has issued supplements to Confirmatory Action Letters sent in May to three utilities that use the

Sierra Nuclear Corporation-designed VSC-24 dry storage cask for spent nuclear fuel. The new

letters confirm that the utilities have pledged not to load any more of the casks until actions are

taken to resolve welding problems.

The utilities and plants where the casks are used are Entergy Operations, Inc., operator of

Arkansas Nuclear One near Russellville, Arkansas; Consumers Power Co., operator of the

Palisades nuclear power plant near South Haven, Michigan; and Wisconsin Electric Power

Company, operator of the Point Beach nuclear power plant near Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

NRC issued Confirmatory Action Letters on May 16 confirming commitments made by

the three utilities and by Sierra Nuclear, which holds an NRC certificate approving the use of the

VSC-24. Sierra Nuclear agreed to determine the root cause of weld problems encountered while

joining the inner cask lid to the cask walls in VSC-24 units at the Palisades and Arkansas plants.

It also agreed to assess the potential for delayed cracking of the welds and to develop corrective

actions to inhibit recurrence. The three utilities agreed to evaluate their welding practices, take

corrective actions if needed, and submit a report to the NRC at least 14 days before loading

another VSC-24 cask with spent fuel. No additional casks have been loaded since that time.

After issuing the Confirmatory Action Letters, NRC was notified by Sierra Nuclear that

March Metalfab Inc., which fabricates some of the VSC-24 casks under a contract with Sierra

Nuclear, had performed some welding without documenting that it met requirements.

Sierra Nuclear responded to the May Confirmatory Action Letter on July 30, and the three

utilities responded in August. After reviewing the responses, the NRC staff on August 26

requested additional information from Sierra Nuclear. Several NRC questions in this request

must be satisfactorily answered before the three utilities can load additional VSC-24 casks.
In addition, the newly issued supplementary letters confirm that the three utilities will:

-- Identify all actions taken to minimize recurrence of the lid welding problems, and

make revised welding procedure specifications and records available for NRC inspection.

-- Confirm that all unloaded VSC-24 casks that are intended for use at the plants meet

regulatory requirements. Supporting documentation will be made available for review by NRC

inspectors.

-- Notify the NRC when these actions have been completed.

The NRC staff will review the utilities' responses, notify the companies of the results of

the review, and indicate which casks, if any, may be loaded with spent fuel.

Copies of the Confirmatory Action Letters and the August 26 request for additional

information from Sierra Nuclear will be available via the NRC website at

<http://www.nrc.gov/OPA/reports/>.

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