INFORMATION REPORT

November 15, 2004 SECY-04-0214

For: The Commissioners

From: William M. Dean, Assistant for Operations, Office of the EDO

Subject: SECY-04-0214 WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK 

ENDING NOVEMBER 5, 2004

Contents Enclosure

Nuclear Reactor Regulation A

Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards B

Nuclear Regulatory Research C

Nuclear Security and Incident Response D

General Counsel E*

Administration F

Chief Information Officer G

Chief Financial Officer H*

Human Resources I

Small Business and Civil Rights J*

Enforcement K*

State and Tribal Programs L*

Public Affairs M

International Programs N*

Office of the Secretary O

Region I P

Region II P

Region III P*

Region IV P

Executive Director for Operations Q*

Congressional Affairs R*

*No input this week.

/RA/

William M. Dean

Assistant for Operations, OEDO

Contact:

T. Kim, OEDO
November 15, 2004 SECY-04-0214

For: The Commissioners

From: William M. Dean, Assistant for Operations, Office of the EDO

Subject: SECY-04-0214 WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK 

ENDING NOVEMBER 5, 2004

Contents Enclosure

Nuclear Reactor Regulation A

Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards B

Nuclear Regulatory Research C

Nuclear Security and Incident Response D

General Counsel E*

Administration F

Chief Information Officer G

Chief Financial Officer H*

Human Resources I

Small Business and Civil Rights J*

Enforcement K*

State and Tribal Programs L*

Public Affairs M

International Programs N*

Office of the Secretary O

Region I P

Region II P

Region III P*

Region IV P

Executive Director for Operations Q*

Congressional Affairs R*

*No input this week.

/RA/

William M. Dean

Assistant for Operations, OEDO

Contact:

T. Kim, OEDO

DISTRIBUTION:

Central File

Public Document Name: C:\WIR\Week1105.WPD

OEDO AO/OEDO

TJKim WMDean

11/12/04 11/15/04
WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 5, 2004

The Weekly Information Report is compiled by the Office of the EDO and includes highlights of

Headquarters and Regional Office activities. 

Contact: T. Kim, OEDO by E-mail: TJK3@nrc.gov. 

Use GO TO (Ctrl+Home) to advance to the page number for a specific Office.

PgDn and PgUp can also be used to advance through the text.

OFFICE Page OFFICE Page

NRR 2 STP *

NMSS 4 OPA 17

RES 8 OIP *

NSIR 9 SECY 19

OGC * Region I 20

ADM 10 Region II 21

CIO 11 Region III *

CFO * Region IV 23

HR 15 OEDO *

SBCR * OCA *

OE *

*No input this week
November 5, 2004 ENCLOSURE A

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Items of Interest

Week Ending November 5, 2004

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.
November 5, 2004 ENCLOSURE B

Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards

Items of Interest

Week Ending November 5, 2004

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
November 5, 2004 ENCLOSURE B

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.
November 5, 2004 ENCLOSURE C

Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research

Items of Interest

Week Ending November 5, 2004

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 riskinformed fire protection regulatory initiatives. 
November 5, 2004 ENCLOSURE D

Nuclear Security and Incident Response

Items of Interest

Week Ending November 5, 2004

Preliminary Notifications

1. PNO-III-04-013, Imaging Subsurface, Inc. - NUCLEAR GAUGES MISSING FROM

ABANDONED FACILITY.

2. PNO-III-04-013A, Imaging Subsurface, Inc. - NUCLEAR GAUGES MISSING FROM

ABANDONED FACILITY (UPDATE).

3. PNO-III-04-014, Perry Nuclear Power Plant - CHEMICAL SPILL IN WATER

TREATMENT BUILDING.
November 5, 2004 ENCLOSURE F

Office of Administration 

Items of Interest 

Week Ending November 5, 2004

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.
November 5, 2004 ENCLOSURE G

Chief Information Officer

Items of Interest

Week Ending November 5, 2004

Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act Requests Received During the Period of

October 29 through November 4, 2004:

OI Reports 3-2003-013 and 3-2003-018 FOIA/PA-2005-0032

Louisiana Energy Services license application to build the National

Enrichment facility in Eunice, NM, page 4.13-8

FOIA/PA-2005-0033

Cooper Nuclear Station, contract between Entergy Nuclear and

Nebraska Public Power District, re: management support services

FOIA/PA-2005-0034
November 5, 2004 ENCLOSURE I

Office of Human Resources

Items of Interest

Week Ending November 5, 2004

Arrivals

Michael J. Bell Consultant NMSS

Richard Chang Student Engineer NMSS

John C. Kirkland Reactor Engineer R-IV

James A. Vail Reliability & Risk Analyst NRR

Robert J. Wolfgang Fire Protection Engineer NRR

Retirement

James B. Nicholas Sr. Health Physicist R-IV

Departures

Thelma Davis Secretary (OA) NRR

Craig W. Smith Sr. Resident Inspector R-I
November 5, 2004 ENCLOSURE M

Office of Public Affairs

Items of Interest

Week Ending November 5, 2004

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.

Press Releases

Headquarters:

04-140 NRC Restores Various Documents Removed from Web Site for Security

Review (11/4)

Regions:

I-04-051 NRC Staff to Meet with Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee to Discuss

Preliminary Results of Two Inspections (11/3)

I-04-052 NRC Postpones Two Meetings with Entergy Scheduled for Nov. 9 and

Issues Preliminary Results of Engineering Inspection at VY (11/5)

II-04-055 NRC to Meet with U.S. Enrichment Corporation Officials November 9 to

Discuss Performance at Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant (11/3)
November 5, 2004 ENCLOSURE O

Office of the Secretary

Items of Interest

Week Ending November 5, 2004

Document Released

to Public

Date Subject

Decision Documents

2. SECY-04-0190 10/19/04 Final Rule: Security Requirements for

Portable Gauges Containing Byproduct

Material (RIN 3150-AH06)

Information Papers

1. SECY-04-0202 11/1/04 Weekly Information Report - Week Ending

October 22, 2004

Commission Correspondence

1. Letter to Congress, dated October 29, 2004, provides NRC’s September monthly report

on the status of its licensing and regulatory duties and the status of Davis-Besse.

Federal Register Notices Issued

1. Establishment of Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, US Inspection Services, Dayton,

Ohio (Civil Monetary Penalty), Docket No. 30-35059-CivP, ASLBP No. 04-834-01-CivP.

3. 10 CFR Part 73 [Docket No. PRM-73-12], Committee to Bridge the Gap, Receipt of

Petition for Rulemaking; notice of receipt.
November 5, 2004 ENCLOSURE P

Region I

Items of Interest

Week Ending November 5, 2004

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.
November 5, 2004 ENCLOSURE P

Region II

Items of Interest

Week Ending November 5, 2004

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.
November 5, 2004 ENCLOSURE P

Region IV

Items of Interest

Week Ending November 5, 2004

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.