INFORMATION REPORT

July 11, 2002 SECY-02-0126

For: The Commissioners

From: John W. Craig, Assistant for Operations, Office of the EDO

Subject: SECY-02-0126 WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK 

ENDING JULY 5, 2002

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 & 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/

John W. Craig

Assistant for Operations, OEDO

Contact:

M. Layton, OEDO
July 11, 2002 SECY-02-0126

For: The Commissioners

From: John W. Craig, Assistant for Operations, Office of the EDO

Subject: SECY-02-0126 WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK 

ENDING JULY 5, 2002

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 & 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/

John W. Craig

Assistant for Operations, OEDO

Contact:

M. Layton, OEDO

DISTRIBUTION:

Central File

Public Document Name: C:\WIR\WEEK705.WPD

OEDO AO/OEDO

MLayton:paa JWCraig

07/ /02 07/ /02
WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING JULY 5, 2002

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

Headquarters and Regional Office activities. 

Contact: M. Layton, OEDO by E-mail: mcl@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 *

RES 8 IP *

NSIR 9 SECY 19

OGC * Region I 20

ADM 10 Region II 21

CIO 11 Region III *

CFO * Region IV 23

HR * OEDO *

SB/CR * OCA 24

OE *

*No input this week
July 5, 2002 ENCLOSURE A

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Items of Interest

Week Ending July 5, 2002

NRC Information Notice 2002-022: Degraded Bearing Surfaces in GM/EMD Emergency Diesel

Generators dated June 28, 2002

The NRC is issuing this information notice to inform addressees of the discovery of degraded

bearing surfaces on the piston bearings in General Motors/Electromotive Division (GM/EMD)

emergency diesel generator engines. 

NRC Information Notice 2002-010, Supplement 1: Diablo Canyon Manual Reactor Trip and

Steam Generator Water Level Setpoint Uncertainties dated June 28, 2002

The NRC is issuing this supplement to give addressees further information about the manual

reactor trip of Diablo Canyon Unit 2 which resulted from a failure of the main feedwater

regulating valve, non-conservative steam generator setpoints and contributing causes, and

other licensee actions relating to these events. This supplement provides information that

became available after the issuance of the original information notice. The NRC expects that

recipients will review the information for applicability to their facilities and consider taking

actions, as appropriate. 

Receipt of NEI 00-04, "10 CFR 50.69 Structures, Systems and Components (SSC)

Categorization Guideline"

On June 28, 2002, The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) submitted Revision C to NEI 00-04, "10

CFR 50.69 SSC Categorization Guideline," for staff review and endorsement. NEI rewrote the

document to resolve staff comments and to incorporate lessons learned from the pilot plant

activities. The staff plans to endorse the document, with clarifications and exceptions, if

needed, in draft Regulatory Guide (RG) 1121, "Implementation of Structures, Systems and

Components Categorization Process in Nuclear Power Plants." The staff will include the draft

RG with its proposed 10 CFR 50.69 rulemaking package. 

Staff Holds Public Meetings on the Draft Catawba Environmental Impact Statement in Support

of License Renewal 

The NRC staff participated in two outreach activities last week related to the license renewal

application for Catawba Nuclear Station, Units 1 and 2. On Thursday, June 27, 2002, the staff

conducted two meetings to solicit comments from the public on the draft supplemental

environmental impact statement (DSEIS) issued on May 13, 2002. The DSEIS is a plantspecific supplement to the "Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of

Nuclear Power Plants" (NUREG-1437). About 40 people attended the meetings, including

representatives of the NRC staff, Duke Energy Corporation (Duke), the nuclear industry, the

press, and members of the public. Several individuals spoke at the meetings and some

expressed concerns with extending the operating life of the two nuclear units at Catawba. The

comment period ends on August 9, 2002.
July 5, 2002 ENCLOSURE B

Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards

Items of Interest

Week Ending July 5, 2002

Staff Participation at the 6th International Conference for Probabilistic Risk Assessment

and Management

From June 23-28, 2002, representatives from the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and

Safeguards (NMSS) Director’s Office, the Risk Task Group, the Division of Waste

Management, the Division of Industrial and Medical Nuclear Safety, Brookhaven National

Laboratory, and the Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses presented a variety of

papers at the 6th International Conference for Probabilistic Risk Assessment and Management. 

The staff presented its work across a spectrum of NMSS-regulated activities, including the

risk-related case studies, topics related to high-level waste, and risk communication. In

addition, the staff attended sessions presented by international risk experts from other

Government agencies, academia, and the private sector. These sessions provided the

participants with an integrated view of the latest developments in risk technology systems

and processes.

International Commission on Radiological Protection Committee 4 Meeting

On June 24-28, 2002, the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP)

Committee 4 on Practical Application of the Commission’s Recommendations (C4) held its

second meeting in Paris, France. Meetings were held at offices of the Nuclear Energy Agency

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. The Committee discussed a review

of version 2 of the draft ICRP Recommendations for the 21st Century, and the status of

Committee 4 task groups and working parties. The last day of the meeting was devoted to task

group meetings based on the plenary Committee discussions. 

Observation of the Bechtel SAIC Company, LLC, Audit of the General Electric Ceramics and

Metallurgy Technology Center, a Division of GE Global Research

On June 25-26, 2002, Division of Waste Management staff observed the Bechtel SAIC

Company (BSC), LLC, quality assurance (QA) supplier audit of the General Electric Ceramics

and Metallurgy Technology Center (GE CMTC), a division of GE Global Research. BSC is the

Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Maintenance and Operating Contractor for the Yucca

Mountain project and is located in Las Vegas, Nevada. GE CMTC is a supplier for BSC and is

located in Schenectady, New York.

The DOE audit team evaluated the effectiveness of GE CMTC QA program implementation. 

The DOE audit team identified four potential recommendations or observations concerning

scientific notebooks; GE CMTC Rev. 1.1 QA Plan; Procurement Document Control; and

Identification and Control of Materials, Parts, and Components. The staff reviewed the DOE

audit team’s findings and agreed with the results as presented at the post-audit briefing to GE

CMTC management. The staff believes that this DOE audit was well-planned, thorough, and

adequately evaluated the implementation of GE CMTC’s QA program.
July 5, 2002 ENCLOSURE B

NRC/Department of Energy (DOE) Technical Exchange on Electronic Submissions

On June 25-26, 2002, the NRC and the Department of Energy (DOE) held a technical

exchange concerning the electronic submission of documents associated with a potential

license application and associated proceedings for a Yucca Mountain high-level waste (HLW)

repository. NRC and DOE discussed technical issues and potential challenges that could affect

the electronic submission of documents. NRC staff provided presentations on NRC HLW

architecture; Electronic Information Exchange process and pilots; Electronic Hearing Docket for

a potential HLW proceeding; electronic courtroom; technical issues associated with a potential

license application submission and other large documents; status of putting NRC HLW

documentary collection on the Licensing Support Network (LSN); and status of LSN test server. 

DOE and its contractor Bechtel SAIC provided a presentation on the status of its effort for

putting documentary material on the LSN. DOE’s contractor University of Nevada Las Vegas

Information Science Research Institute presented the results of recent studies of documentary

retrievability for information purposes. Representatives from the Office of Nuclear Material

Safety and Safeguards, the Office of the Chief Information Officer, the Office of the Secretary,

Atomic Safety Licensing Board Panel, and the Office of the General Counsel participated in this

meeting. Future meetings between NRC, DOE, and other potential parties are anticipated.
July 5, 2002 ENCLOSURE C

Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research

Items of Interest

Week Ending July 5, 2002

Dry Cask Storage PRA

On June 28, 2002, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES) issued a draft report for

comment on a pilot probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) of a specific dry cask storage system

(Holtec International HI-STORM 100) at a specific boiling water reactor (BWR) site. The study

is an application of a general methodology developed by RES for performing a PRA of a dry

cask storage system at a nuclear power plant site. The study is also undergoing an

independent peer review at Sandia National Laboratories. It was performed primarily by staff in

all three RES technical divisions, with limited contractor support. 

The study scope included assessing the risk to the public and identifying the dominant

contributors to risk. Beginning with loading fuel from the spent fuel pool, the study covered

preparing the cask for storage and transfer outside the reactor building, moving the cask from

the reactor building to the storage pad, and storing the cask for 20 years on the storage pad. 

The study developed and screened a comprehensive list of internal and external initiating

events to eliminate those that have only negligible contributions to risk.

The study was performed in response to a user request from the Office of Nuclear Materials

Safety and Safeguards, Spent Fuel Project Office to support their efforts to risk inform the

regulations. The study results, in conjunction with the methodology, can help develop a basis

to determine the need for other site-specific PRAs, improvements in data gathering and

analysis, and additional engineering design analyses. 
July 5, 2002 ENCLOSURE D

Nuclear Security and Incident Response

Items of Interest

Week Ending July 5, 2002

Preliminary Notifications

1. PNO-III-02-030, Exelon Nuclear Generation Co. (Dresden Units 2 and 3), GRANTING OF

NOTICE OF ENFORCEMENT DISCRETION (NOED) TO 54 LICENSED OPERATORS

FOR FAILURE TO TAKE A COMPREHENSIVE REQUALIFICATION WRITTEN

EXAMINATION.
July 5, 2002 ENCLOSURE F

Office of Administration 

Items of Interest 

Week Ending July 5, 2002

National Mining Association; Denial of Petition for Rulemaking (PRM-170-5)

The denial of a petition for rulemaking submitted by the National Mining Association (PRM-170-

5) was published in the Federal Register on July 3, 2002 (67 FR 44573). The petitioner

requested that the NRC conduct a rulemaking that would enable the NRC to waive the

assessment of all annual and periodic inspection and licensing fees imposed on NRC uranium

recovery licensees or, as an alternative, to establish the basis for waiving fees associated with a

contemplated rulemaking that would establish requirements for licensing uranium and thorium

recovery facilities (Part 41). The NRC is denying the petition because the circumstances

outlined by the petitioner do not qualify the uranium recovery industry for a “public interest”

exemption and, with limited exceptions, the NRC does not base its fees on the economic

circumstances of particular licensees or classes of licensees.
July 5, 2002 ENCLOSURE G

Chief Information Officer

Items of Interest

Week Ending July 5, 2002

Freedom of Information and Privacy Act Requests received during the period of

June 28, 2002 through July 4, 2002:

Radioactive material, reports of lost, stolen, or abandoned, between September 12, 2001, and

June 27, 2002 (FOIA/PA-2002-0318)

OIG Investigations 97-46-J and 97-75-J, 1978 OIA investigation (FOIA/PA-2002-0319)

Maine Yankee Atomic Power Station, licensing basis (FOIA/PA-2002-0320)

Documents authored and co-authored by named individual, DPV or DPO, from 1999 to present

(FOIA/PA-2002-0321)

Information on the NRC (FOIA/PA-2002-0322)

Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, correspondence provided to Sen. Mitch McConnell

(FOIA/PA-2002-0323)

Hicksville, NY, specific locations, all records (environmental complaints, violations, reports,

investigations, and conservation actions), from 1952 to present (FOIA/PA-2002-0324)
July 5, 2002 ENCLOSURE O

Office of the Secretary

Items of Interest

Week Ending July 5, 2002

Document Released

to Public

Date Subject

Information Papers

1. SECY-02-0106 6/14/2002 Review of ACRS Recommendation for the

Staff to Develop A Standard Review Plan for

Power Uprate Reviews

2. SECY-02-0114 6/27/2002 Weekly Information Report Week Ending

June 21, 2002

Memoranda

1. M020501 6/28/2002 Briefing on Results of Agency Action

Review Meeting - Reactors

Commission Correspondence

1. Letter to Congressman Edward Markey dated June 28, 2002 concerns the recent discovery

of the cavity in the reactor pressure vessel head at the Davis-Besse nuclear power station. 

Federal Register Notices Issued

1. National Mining Association; Denial of Petition for Rulemaking.

2. Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards Subcommittee Meeting on Thermal-Hydraulic

Phenomena - Notice of Meeting.
July 5, 2002 ENCLOSURE P

Region I

Items of Interest

Week Ending July 5, 2002

Integrated Materials Performance Evaluation Program (IMPEP)

During the week of June 24, 2002, an Integrated Materials Performance Evaluation Program

(IMPEP) review was performed of the Massachusetts Agreement State program. The IMPEP

review team consisted of NRC staff from Region I and Region IV, The Offices of State and

Tribal Programs and Nuclear Materials Safety and Safeguards, and a representative from the

State of Kansas. The IMPEP team reviewed the Commonwealth’s performance in the areas of

inspection, licensing, staffing and training, response to incidents and allegations, legislation and

program elements required for compatibility and sealed source and device evaluation program. 

The team’s preliminary findings, as presented to the management of the Massachusetts

Radiation Control Plan, is that the Commonwealth’s materials program is adequate to protect

public health and safety and compatible with NRC regulations. 

Press Conference Regarding Homeland Security

The Director, Division of Reactor Projects participated in a press conference on July 1, 2002,

convened by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg, PA to discuss Pennsylvania’s

homeland security provisions for the week of the Independence Day celebrations. The

conference was broad-ranging; the extensive media coverage was straightforward and

balanced.
July 5, 2002 ENCLOSURE P

Region II

Items of Interest

Week Ending July 5, 2002

Predecisional Enforcement Conference with Eastern Isotopes

On July 2, 2002, Region II held an open Pre-decisional Enforcement Conference with Eastern

Isotopes, Inc. The purpose of this conference was to discuss an apparent violation involving an

extremity overexposure in which one of the authorized nuclear pharmacists received an annual

occupational shallowing-dose.
July 5, 2002 ENCLOSURE P

Region IV

Items of Interest

Week Ending July 5, 2002

End of Refueling Outage at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station’s (SONGS) Unit 2

On July 2, 2002, SONGS Unit 2 achieved criticality at 3:15 p.m., and ended a 42-day refueling

outage. During this outage, the licensee completed inspections of the Reactor Vessel Head,

and Steam Generator Tubes. In addition, the licensee replaced the reactor vessel head

insulation with a new design to facilitate future vessel head inspections and replaced the seal

packages for all four reactor coolant pumps. The Reactor Vessel Head inspection did not

identify any degradation of either the nozzles, welds or vessel surface.
July 5, 2002 

Office of Congressional Affairs

Items of Interest

Week Ending July 5, 2002

CONGRESSIONAL HEARING SCHEDULE, NO. 60

OCA

Contact

DATE

&

PLACE

TIME WITNESS SUBJECT 

Portner 07/09/02

2362 RHOB

TBA Markup FY03 Appropriations Reps. Ca

Energy & Appropria

Keeling 07/10/02

SD-406

 2:00 TBA Department of Homeland Security Senators 

Environm