INFORMATION REPORT

October 12, 2004 SECY-04-0183

For: The Commissioners

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

Subject: SECY-04-0183 WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK 

ENDING OCTOBER 1, 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
October 12, 2004 SECY-04-0183

For: The Commissioners

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

Subject: SECY-04-0183 WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK 

ENDING OCTOBER 1, 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\WeekO01.WPD

OEDO AO/OEDO

TKim:paa WMDean

10/12/04 10/12/04
WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 1, 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 18

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
October 1, 2004 ENCLOSURE A

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Items of Interest

Week Ending October 1, 2004

Nine Mile Point - Public Meetings Regarding License Renewal

On September 21, 2004, the staff conducted two public scoping meetings at the Town of Scriba

Municipal Building in Oswego, NY. The purpose of the meetings was to solicit comments from

the public on the scope of the supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) being

prepared as part of the review of the license renewal application for the Nine Mile Point Nuclear

Station, Units 1 and 2. The application was submitted by Constellation Energy Group, Inc.

(Constellation), on May 27, 2004. The scoping period ends on October 11, 2004. The SEIS will

be a plant-specific supplement to the "Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License

Renewal of Nuclear Power Plants" (NUREG-1437).

Approximately 65 people attended the meetings, including members of the public, news media,

and State and local government officials. Public comments and questions were mainly focused

on public radiation exposure and health impacts, emergency response and preparedness, and

the new hearing process under 10 CFR Part 2. 

Public Meeting with Exelon on EPU Flow-Induced Vibration Effects at Dresden and Quad Cities

On September 23-24, 2004, staff held a public meeting with Exelon Generation Company at the

licensee’s offices in Warrenville, IL, to discuss potential flow-induced vibration effects resulting

from extended power uprate (EPU) operation at Dresden, Units 2 and 3 and Quad Cities, 

Units 1 and 2. The discussion focused on flow-induced vibrations on components such as the

reactor pressure vessel internals and main steam and feedwater system components. NRC

staff from NRR, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, and Region III participated in the

meeting.

In its letter dated May 12, 2004, the licensee committed to hold this meeting as part of its plan

to obtain approval from the NRC staff prior to returning Quad Cities Units 1 and 2 to EPU

operation. The licensee presented an overview of its vibration evaluation for plant components

known to be susceptible to EPU flow-induced vibration, its vulnerability assessment program for

identifying other potentially affected components at EPU operation at Dresden and Quad Cities,

and the status of the activities to resolve the steam dryer issues. The NRC staff and licensee

agreed to meet in the near future to discuss the steam dryer analysis supporting the continued

EPU operation of Dresden Units 2 and 3, and the instrumentation of the new steam dryer to be

installed in Quad Cities Unit 1 in March 2005.
October 1, 2004 ENCLOSURE B

Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards

Items of Interest

Week Ending October 1, 2004

NRC and DOE Staffs Hold Quality Assurance Meeting on Yucca Mountain Project

On September 29, 2004, Division of High-Level Waste Repository Safety and Department of

Energy (DOE) staffs held the fourth-quarter public NRC/DOE Quality Assurance (QA) Meeting

on DOE’s Yucca Mountain activities in Las Vegas, Nevada. Topics discussed included QA

overview; QA audits and surveillance activities; corrective action program oversight; trend

evaluation and reporting; and Revision 17 to the QA Requirements and Description. 

Participants at the meeting included representatives from the State of Nevada, local counties,

and interested members of the public. NRC Headquarters and Center for Nuclear Waste

Regulatory Analyses staffs participated via video conferences from Rockville, Maryland, and

San Antonio, Texas.

Electric Power Research Institute’s Decommissioning Technology Workshop

On September 21-22, 2004, NRC staff attended the Electric Power Research Institute’s

Decommissioning Technology Workshop in Middletown, Connecticut. This workshop dealt with

the key aspects of the final site survey process; instrumentation, data capture, dose modeling,

and final site survey experience. Staff provided presentations on NRC’s overall management of

decommissioning, use of realistic scenarios for compliance, and updates about on-going

research into approaches for surveying sub-surface residual radioactivity.

Participation in Organization of Agreement States Annual Meeting

On September 21-24, 2004, NRC management and staff representatives from the Office of

State and Tribal Programs, Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response (NSIR), Office of

Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS), and Regional Offices participated in the 2004

Organization of Agreement States Annual Meeting held in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. NRC

staff provided training to the Agreement State representatives on the Nuclear Material Events

Database; participated in a panel discussion on source tracking database initiatives; presented

radiation dose reconstructions for two significant materials events that involved overexposures

of members of the public; presented updates of on-going rulemaking initiatives; shared results

of NRC oversight reviews of Department of Energy National Laboratories; and summarized

some of the challenges facing IMNS. The meeting served to foster a good dialog between

Agreement State representatives and NRC staff.

Meeting with the Department of Energy

On September 23, 2004, staff members from NSIR, NMSS, and the Office of the General

Counsel, met with the Department of Energy (DOE) staff in a closed meeting. The purpose of

the meeting was to discuss the development of an Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

between NRC and DOE. The MOU would delineate DOE’s and NRC’s regulatory oversight

roles and responsibilities for USEC Inc.’s 3.5 million separative work unit gas centrifuge

uranium enrichment facility known as the American Centrifuge Plant (ACP). The USEC Inc.

has proposed that ACP be housed in existing buildings and areas owned by DOE at the

Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant site in Piketon, Ohio.
October 1, 2004 ENCLOSURE C

Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research

Items of Interest

Week Ending October 1, 2004

Fourth American Nuclear Society (ANS) International Topical Meeting on Instrumentation and

Control and Human Machine Interface Technologies

On September 19-22, 2004, staff of the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES) and

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) hosted the Fourth American Nuclear Society

International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control and Human Machine

Interface Technologies. The key note speech was given by the RES Office Director. The

technical information gained from this conference will support the development of risk-informed

regulatory guidance for nuclear plant real-time software-based systems, helping to ensure that

NRC actions are effective and realistic.

OECD International Fire Data Exchange Working Group Meeting

On September 23-24, 2004, RES staff participated in a meeting of the Organization for

Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) International Fire Data Exchange working

group. The purpose of the Fire Data Exchange working group is to allow OECD Fire Project

member countries to exchange fire incident information and analyses to better understand fire

events, their causes, and their prevention. The meeting was well attended and included

international participants from France, Japan, Sweden, and the Netherlands. The presentations

by Fire Project member countries were well received and provided valuable insights into recent

fire events. The next Fire Data Exchange working group meeting is scheduled to be held in

May 2005.

Meeting on Examination of CRDMs Removed from North Anna Unit 2

On September 20, 2004, staff members from RES and NRR met with representatives from the

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI),

and Westinghouse to discuss the non-destructive and destructive examinations of the salvaged

control rod drive mechanism (CRDM) penetrations and J-groove welds removed from North

Anna, Unit 2. The NRC and EPRI signed an addendum to the Memorandum of Understanding

for a collaborative effort to gain a better understanding of stress corrosion cracking of vessel 

head penetrations. In Fall of 2002, the licensee for North Anna notified the NRC that boric acid

residue had been found on the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) head at Unit 2. Subsequently,

the vessel head nozzles were removed from the RPV head and shipped to PNNL, Argonne

National Laboratory, and Westinghouse. The collaborative research will better characterize the

cracking in the nozzles and the J-groove welds, and will correlate the field non-destructive

examination (NDE) findings with crack location and sizing information obtained through

destructive examination. Laboratory confirmation of field NDE results is scheduled to be

completed in January 2005. Destructive examination results are scheduled to be completed in

August 2005. Results from these efforts will be incorporated as appropriate in the development

of inspection requirements.
October 1, 2004 ENCLOSURE C

Implementing Agreement Between NRC and the Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate (SKI)

On September 24, 2004, the NRC’s Executive Director for Operations signed the international

Implementing Agreement between the NRC and SKI Regarding Participation in the NRC

Cooperative Project on Non-Destructive Examination (NDE) for Primary Water Stress Corrosion

Cracking in Nickel-base Materials and Dissimilar Metal Welds. 

The NRC and SKI will work together to (1) compile data describing the morphology and NDE

responses associated with primary water stress corrosion cracking, and (2) assess available

and developing techniques for NDE of nuclear power plant components. The results from this

cooperative project will improve the quality of standards for in-service inspections for structural

integrity endorsed by 10 CFR 50.55a, “Codes and Standards,” and Regulatory Guide 1.147

(Rev. 13) “In-service Inspection Code Case Acceptability, ASME Section XI, Division 1.” This

Agreement will remain in effect for four years.
October 1, 2004 ENCLOSURE D

Nuclear Security and Incident Response

Items of Interest

Week Ending October 1, 2004

Preliminary Notifications

1. PNO-I-04-012, Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Company - FIRE IN VACANT

ADMINISTRATION BUILDING AT DECOMMISSIONING REACTOR SITE.

2. PNO-II-04-009, Florida Power and Light Co. - REGION II RESPONSE TO HURRICANE

JEANNE.

3. PNO-II-04-009A, Florida Power and Light Co. - REGION II RESPONSE TO HURRICANE

JEANNE.

4. PNO-II-04-009C, Florida Power and Light and Progress Energy - Florida Power

Corporation - TROPICAL STORM/HURRICANE JEANNE.

5. PNO-IV-04-026, Pacific Gas and Electric Company - RESPONSE TO CALIFORNIA

EARTHQUAKE.

6. PNO-IV-04-026A, Pacific Gas and Electric Company - RESPONSE TO CALIFORNIA

EARTHQUAKE - UPDATE.
October 1, 2004 ENCLOSURE F

Office of Administration 

Items of Interest 

Week Ending October 1, 2004

Compatibility With IAEA Transportation Safety Standards (TS-R-1) and Other Transportation

Safety Amendments; Correction (AG71- Part 71)

On September 29, 2004 (69 FR 58038), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission published a

correction to a final rule, published January 26, 2004 (69 FR 3698), that amended the

regulations governing the packaging and transportation of radioactive materials. The correction

added unintentionally omitted text, and corrected editorial errors, references, and numerical

values as printed in the final rule. The correction and the final rule become effective October 1,

2004.

Contract Awards

On September 22, 2004, a fixed-price Contract No. NRC-33-04-349 was awarded to Modern

Micro Imaging, as a result of a competitive small business set-aside solicitation. The contractor

shall provide micrographic and CD-ROM duplication services. The contract value is estimated

at $451,000.00 for a five year period of performance, inclusive of four one year option periods. 

On September 24, 2004, a competitive, cost reimbursement type contract was awarded to

Information Systems Laboratories, Inc. This contract requires the contractor to provide code

improvements, developmental assessment, and engineering analyses of Nuclear Regulatory

Commission Computer Codes. The period of performance is for three years, inclusive of two

one-year option periods at an estimated cost of $1,291,045.00.

On September 27, 2004, a fixed-price Contract No. NRC-28-04-261 was awarded to Verizon

Federal, as a result of a full and open competitive solicitation. The contractor shall provide

Region I with telecommunication services. The contract value is estimated at $165,476.00 for a

five year period of performance, inclusive of two one-year option periods.

On September 28, 2004, a competitive, fixed-price delivery order was awarded to Barquin and

Associates, Inc., under the General Services Administration’s Federal Supply Schedule. This

delivery order requires the contractor to provide instructional and facilitation services to the

Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a one-day course entitled, “Knowledge Transfer

Interviewing and Distillation.” The period of performance is for one year at the cost of

$55,793.00.

On September 29, 2004, a fixed-price Purchase Order No. DR-33-04-360 was awarded to

Native Intelligence, under the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program. The contractor

shall provide web-based Computer Security Awareness courses, usage licenses, and

maintenance. The contract value is $50,000.00 for a thirty-nine month period of performance. 

On September 29, 2004, a competitive fixed-price Delivery Order DR-10-04-400 was awarded

to Jami, Inc. under the General Services Administration’s Federal Supply Schedule. The 

contractor will provide desk chairs to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The period of

performance is 16 months at an estimated cost of $60,565.60.
October 1, 2004 ENCLOSURE G

Chief Information Officer

Items of Interest

Week Ending October 1, 2004

Windows Server Upgrade on Agencywide Documents Access and Management System

(ADAMS) Main and Public Access Records System (PARS) Library

On September 25, 2004, the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) staff upgraded the

ADAMS Main and PARS libraries operating system to the Windows 2000 server. The upgrade

was performed for three reasons: (1) Windows NT will no longer be supported by Microsoft; (2)

the upgrade should give ADAMS a performance boost; and (3) the upgrade will provide a head

start towards the back-end FileNet upgrade of ADAMS planned for April of 2005. The FileNet

upgrade will bring the ADAMS system up to the most currently supported version to take

advantage of Microsoft SQL Server 2000 and quicker FileNet code, including the new Verity

content search engine.

Electronic Government (E-Gov) Activity Update Issued

The E-Gov activity update through August 2004, has been issued. The report addresses

NRC's status on the Presidential Priority Initiatives, the Office of Management and Budget’s

(OMB's) growing focus on citizen awareness, and updates on OMB guidance including recent

guidance received for E-Gov funding. An update of the Lines of Business (LOB) initiative is

provided along with a summary of the goals and plans for the Human Resource and Financial

Management LOB.

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

September 24 through September 30, 2004:

Howmet Corporation, 41605 Ann Arbor Road, Plymouth, MI, all

records

FOIA/PA-2004-0368

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station, communications to/from

NRC Office of Public Affairs, January 1, 2003 to present

FOIA/PA-2004-0369

NRC Budget, 2004 FOIA/PA-2004-0370

Browns Ferry 1 Tech Spec submittal re: power uprate, complete

document dated 6-28-04

FOIA/PA-2004-0371

Diablo Canyon submittal re: License Amendment Request (LAR) 04-

01 revised steam generator voltage-based repair criteria, 3-18-04

FOIA/PA-2004-0372
October 1, 2004 ENCLOSURE I

Office of Human Resources

Items of Interest

Week Ending October 1, 2004

Arrivals

Edgar D. Bailey Consultant NMSS

Jaclyn H. Becker International Relations Specialist OIP

Cynthia Carter Human Resources Specialist HR

Richard S. Denning Member ACRS

Rhea Donfor Human Resources Specialist HR

Allen H. Fetter Hydrogeologist NMSS

Charemagne E. Grimes Secretary RES

Brandi K. Hamilton Secretary NMSS

John R. Knoke Nuclear Systems Engineer NSIR

William Luch IT Specialist NSIR

Eric Michel Reactor Inspector R-II

Randy Patterson Security Specialist NSIR

William R. Rautzen Health Physicist OSTP

Bebbie C. Rhodes Technical Librarian OCIO

Chaundra Robinson Secretary OCFO

Michelle Simmons Health Physicist (NSPDP) R-I

Retirements

Lee R. Abramson Senior Research Statistician RES

Jerome J. Blake Senior Project Manager R-II

Dennis C. Dambly Asst GC for Matls Litigation & Enforc OGC

Donald Van Epp Senior Systems Accountant OCFO

Russell Wise Senior Allegations Coordinator R-IV

Departure

Brian Moy General Engineer (Summer) NRR
October 1, 2004 ENCLOSURE M

Office of Public Affairs

Items of Interest

Week Ending October 1, 2004

Media Interest

The Office of Public Affairs (OPA) received significant media inquiries on the following:

Critics’ charges that the Nuclear Energy Institute’s contract with Wackenhut to develop a mock

adversary force for security exercises at power plants represents a conflict of interest.

The threat of a strike (since averted) by security force at the Indian Point plant in New York.

Early Site Permit applications.

Other OPA Items:

OPA staff assisted at public meetings regarding Davis-Besse, Farley, Humboldt Bay, and

Honeywell.

Press Releases

Headquarters:

04-120 NRC Annual Nuclear Safety Research Conference to be Held Oct. 25-27 in

Washington, D.C. (9/30)

04-121 NRC Advisory Committee on Medical Uses of Isotopes to Hold a

Teleconference Oct. 5 (9/30)

04-122 NRC Offers Opportunity for Hearing on Relicensing Application for NIST

Test Reactor (10/1)

04-123 NRC Web Page Describes Process for Updating Guidance on Reactor

License Renewal (10/1)

Regions:

II-04-052 NRC Cites Oconee Nuclear Plant for Inspection Finding of Low to Moderate

Safety Significance (9/28)

IV-04-040 NRC Names John Hanna Senior Resident Inspector at Fort Calhoun

Nuclear Plant (9/28)
October 1, 2004 ENCLOSURE N

Office of International Programs

Items of Interest

Week Ending October 1, 2004

DOE’s Application for an Export License

On September 27, 2004, NRC received an application (XSNM03369) from the Department of

Energy (DOE), requesting a specific license to export highly-enriched uranium (HEU) to

Canada. The material is to be used in the fabrication of target material for the production of

medical isotopes. 
October 1, 2004 ENCLOSURE O

Office of the Secretary

Items of Interest

Week Ending October 1, 2004

Document Released

to Public

Date Subject

Decision Documents

1. SECY-04-0107 6/25/04 St. Joseph Mercy Hospital: Radiation

Exposures of Members of the Public -

Review of Dose Reconstructions

SRM on 04-0107 8/27/04 (same)

Commission Voting

Record on 04-0107

8/27/04 (same)

Information Papers

1. SECY-04-0173 09/29/2004 Weekly Information Report - Week Ending

September 17, 2004

Commission Correspondence

1. Letter to Henry D. Royal, M.D., Society of Nuclear Medicine, dated September 20, 2004,

provides the final response to letter on the St. Joseph Hospital dose reconstruction.

Federal Register Notice Issued

1. Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards, Procedures for Meetings.
October 1, 2004 ENCLOSURE P

Region I

Items of Interest

Week Ending October 1, 2004

Management Exchange Program Between Exelon and Public Service Electric and Gas (PSEG) 

On October 1, 2004, PSEG Nuclear and Exelon Nuclear announced the implementation of a

management exchange program between the two companies. The program involves 18 to 24

month rotational assignments for selected management personnel at both the corporate offices

and the nuclear plants, including Byron, Clinton, Hope Creek, Salem, and Three Mile Island. 
October 1, 2004 ENCLOSURE P

Region II

Items of Interest

Week Ending October 1, 2004

Honeywell Speciality Chemical Facility - NRC Management Tour

On September 30, 2004, the Regional Administrator, and the Director, Division of Fuel Facility

Inspection toured the site and attended a public meeting with the licensee at the Honeywell

Speciality Chemical Facility in Metropolis, IL.

Hurricane Jeanne

On September 25-29, 2004, Region II activated its Incident Response Center in Atlanta to

monitor and assist the nuclear power plants in Florida (Crystal River, St. Lucie, and Turkey

Point) in response to Hurricane Jeanne. Also, additional Region II staff members were

dispatched to the three nuclear plants to augment the resident inspectors. Region II staff also

supported Federal Emergency Management Agency in assessing the adequacy of the offsite

emergency preparedness at St. Lucie prior to allowing restart of the plant.
October 1, 2004 ENCLOSURE P

Region IV

Items of Interest

Week Ending October 1, 2004

Cooper - Regulatory Conference

On September 27, 2004, Region IV staff held a Regulatory Conference with representatives of

the Nebraska Public Power District, the licensee for the Cooper Nuclear Station, to discuss an

apparent violation of NRC requirements. The violation involved an error during maintenance,

which resulted in one train of the service water system and an emergency diesel generator

being inoperable for 21 days. During the conference, the licensee presented the results of both

the root cause analysis and risk analysis of the problem, as well as the corrective actions taken

to prevent recurrence.

Humboldt Bay - Public Meeting

On September 29, 2004, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) held a public meeting in Eureka,

California, to discuss the status of the licensee’s programs to control and account for licensed

radioactive material at the Humboldt Bay Power Plant. PG&E representatives discussed their

efforts to locate three spent fuel pin segments that were reported missing on August 17, 2004. 

The Regional Administrator, the Director, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, and staff

members from both Region IV and headquarters attended the meeting. 

Waterford - Meeting with Entergy Operations, Inc. (EOI)

On September 29, 2004, Region IV held a public meeting with representatives of EOI regarding

Waterford 3 Nuclear Power Plant. Discussion topics included, engineering issues stemming

from the licensee’s power uprate program, and the results from a recent engineering selfassessment and the associated improvement initiatives in the area of plant engineering.