INFORMATION REPORT

January 4, 2005 SECY-05-0003

For: The Commissioners

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

Subject: SECY-05-0003 WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK 

ENDING DECEMBER 24, 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
January 4, 2005 SECY-05-0003

For: The Commissioners

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

Subject: SECY-05-0003 WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK 

ENDING DECEMBER 24, 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\WeekD24.WPD

OEDO AO/OEDO

TJKim WMDean

01/04/05 01/04/05
WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING DECEMBER 24, 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 3 OPA *

RES 4 OIP 8

NSIR * SECY 9

OGC * Region I *

ADM 5 Region II *

CIO 6 Region III *

CFO * Region IV 10

HR * OEDO 11

SBCR 7 OCA *

OE *

*No input this week
December 24, 2004 ENCLOSURE A

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Items of Interest

Week Ending December 24, 2004

Oyster Creek - Issuance of Schedular Exemption on License Renewal Application

On December 22, 2004, NRC staff issued a schedular exemption for the Oyster Creek Nuclear

Generating Station (OCNGS) allowing the current operating license to remain in effect until the

NRC has rendered a final decision on the license renewal application in accordance with the

timely renewal provision specified in 10 CFR 2.109(b). The exemption is contingent upon the

following conditions being met: (1) on or before July 29, 2005, AmerGen Energy Company,

LLC, must submit a sufficient license renewal application for OCNGS which the NRC staff finds

acceptable for docketing in accordance with 10 CFR 2.101 and the requirements of 10 CFR

Part 54; and (2) AmerGen must provide any requested information as necessary to support the

completion of the NRC staff’s safety and environmental reviews in accordance with the review

schedule issued by the NRC. On December 16, 2004, NRC staff issued an environmental

assessment (EA) associated with the exemption and a press release announcing its plans to

issue the exemption. The EA was published in the Federal Register (69 FR 76795) on

December 22, 2004.

AmerGen had requested the exemption from part of the timely renewal provision that requires

a sufficient application for license renewal be submitted at least 5 years prior to the expiration of

the existing license on August 10, 2004. The current operating license for OCNGS is due to

expire on April 9, 2009, and therefore, AmerGen would had to have filed a sufficient application

for license renewal by April 9, 2004, in order to fully comply with the timely renewal provision of

10 CFR 2.109(b). 

D. C. Cook - Issuance of License Renewal Safety Evaluation Report with Open Items

On December 21, 2004, NRC staff issued a safety evaluation report related to the license

renewal application for the D. C. Cook, nuclear power plant. The Indiana Michigan Power

Company’s application was submitted on October 31, 2003. The staff’s safety evaluation report

contains two open items and two confirmatory items.
December 24, 2004 ENCLOSURE B

Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards

Items of Interest

Week Ending December 24, 2004

New Geophysical and Geodetic Data and Tectonic Interpretations of Yucca Mountain and

Vicinity Discussed at American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting

During the week of December 13, 2004, NRC staff and representatives of the Center for

Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses attended sessions on seismology, geodesy, volcanism,

and tectonics at the American Geophysical Union meeting held in San Francisco, California. 

Data on microseismicity, global positioning system locations, seismic P-wave tomography,

geophysical anomalies, and buried geologic structures in and around Yucca Mountain were

presented. The presenters included: (1) staff from the Department of Energy’s Office of

Civilian Radioactive Waste Management in Las Vegas; (2) investigators from the University of

Nevada-Reno Seismographic Institute; (3) representatives from California Institute of

Technology; and (4) representatives from the Smithsonian-Harvard Astronomical Observatory.

Meeting with Nuclear Energy Institute

On December 20, 2004, management from the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and

Safeguards met with representatives from the Nuclear Energy Institute. The purpose of the

meeting was to discuss issues of mutual interest. These included: (1) establishing systematic

and routine communications between the two organizations; (2) gaining a common

understanding of the status of Integrated Safety Assessment reviews; and (3) developing a

common understanding of the Interim Safety Guidance development process. The participants

agreed to another meeting in March 2005.
December 24, 2004 ENCLOSURE C

Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research

Items of Interest

Week Ending December 24, 2004

Completion of First Integrated Chemical Effects Test

On December 21, 2004, the first in a series of five integrated chemical effects tests was

completed at the University of New Mexico. In a post-LOCA [loss-of-coolant accident]

containment sump environment of a pressurized-water reactor, chemical reactions may

produce corrosion products and leaching of insulation material, significantly blocking the fiber

bed and adversely affecting sump performance by increasing head loss. The purpose of this

30-day integrated chemical effects tests was to determine, characterize, and quantify the

chemical reaction products and to identify any gelatinous material that may develop in a

representative post-LOCA containment sump environment. Results from this first test are being

analyzed to determine whether there were head loss increases due to chemical effects and

whether modifications to the testing plan and apparatus are necessary before the next test is

initiated. The second integrated chemical effects test is scheduled to start in January 2005.

Expert Group for Digital Instrumentation and Control (EGDIC) Meetings

From December 15 - 17, 2004, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research staff participated in

meetings of the Expert Group for Digital Instrumentation and Control (EGDIC) held under the

auspices of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Nuclear Energy

Agency (OECD/NEA) and hosted by the Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations

(CSNI). The purpose of the meetings was to develop recommendations to reduce the gap

between current CSNI research activities and the needs of the Committee on Nuclear

Regulatory Activities (CNRA) for additional information and regulatory methodologies. While

the research activities discussed mainly included the current CSNI and CNRA program of work

and NEA joint safety research projects, activities outside NEA were also discussed to identify

areas of potential collaborative research among CSNI and CNRA members. Seven areas of

potential research were identified: 1) regulatory requirements and practices; 2) fault tolerance;

3) environmental disturbances; 4) security of computer-based systems; 5) reliability of computer

based systems; 6) hardware and software life-cycle management; and 7) mid-term challenges

in the field of instrumentation and control. A second meeting of the EGDIC is tentatively

planned during the NRC’s Regulatory Information Conference in March 2005.

 
December 24, 2004 ENCLOSURE G

Chief Information Officer

Items of Interest

Week Ending December 24, 2004

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

December 17 through December 22, 2004

Dow AgroSciences, 9330 Zionville Rd., Indianapolis, IN, license 13-

26398-01 current in compliance, violations

FOIA/PA-2005-0080

Contract NRC-38-00-281, providing organizational intervention

services to NRC

FOIA/PA-2005-0081

Solicitation RS-HR-05-364, copy of past contracts related to current

solicitation

FOIA/PA-2005-0082

Name, mailing address, contact person and docket number for Part

30 licensees

FOIA/PA-2005-0083

Saint Mary’s Hospital, 135 S. Center St., Orange, Essex Co., NJ,

Block 113, Lot 10, License No. 29-20597-01, all records

FOIA/PA-2005-0084

General licensee list with registrant, company name, address, phone

number

FOIA/PA-2005-0085

FOIA/PA-2005-0045, copy of request, copy of response(s) FOIA/PA-2005-0086

BBA Nonwovens, Route 15 & Hafer Road, Lewisburg, PA, license,

inspection records

FOIA/PA-2005-0087

OI Report 1-2003-056, all associated attachments & exhibits,

transcripts of interviews, witness statements

FOIA/PA-2005-0088

 
December 24, 2004 ENCLOSURE I

Office of Human Resources

Items of Interest 

Week Ending December 24, 2004

Arrivals

Mark S. Abramovitz NUCLEAR SYSTEMS SCIENTIST NSIR

Zvi A. Band STUDENT IT SPECIALIST RES

Imari R. Niles CRIMINAL INVESTIGATOR OIG

James Polickoski PROJECT ENGINEER R-II

Richard E. Wardwell ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE ASLBP

Retirement

Marvin Peterson SR LVL ADV-NONPROLIF & INTL NUC SFTY OIP
December 24, 2004 ENCLOSURE J

Office of Small Business and Civil Rights

Items of Interest

Week Ending December 24, 2004

Issuance of Comprehensive Diversity Management Plan

NRC recently issued its first Comprehensive Diversity Management Plan (Plan). This Plan,

which was recently distributed to each NRC employee, represents a structured approach to

ensure NRC's continued progress in reaching its diversity management goals, promoting a

discrimination-free work environment, and providing opportunities for all employees to use their

diverse talents to support the agency's mission. NRC's goal is to build a high-performing,

diverse workforce based on mutual acceptance and trust. The Plan provides diversity

management implementation strategies and establishes agency-wide goals and measures for

evaluating progress. 
December 24, 2004 ENCLOSURE N

Office of International Programs

Items of Interest

Week Ending December 24, 2004

Japanese Delegation Visit to NRC’s Operations Center

A four person delegation from the Japanese Nuclear Cycle Development Institute, Japanese

Nuclear Emergency Assistance and Training Center, and Kanagawa University visited the

NRC’s Operations Center in Rockville, Maryland on December 17, 2004, for a briefing and tour

of the facility. Staff representatives from the Office of Public Affairs and the Office of Nuclear

Materials Safety and Safeguards briefed the delegation on (1) the preparation and flow of public

information from the Operations Center to the press/public; and (2) domestic tracking systems

of material shipments licensed by NRC, respectively. 
December 24, 2004 ENCLOSURE O

Office of the Secretary

Items of Interest

Week Ending December 24, 2004

Document Released

to Public

Date Subject

Information Paper

1. SECY-04-0232 12/21/04 Weekly Information Report - Week Ending

December 10, 2004

Memoranda

1. M041214B 12/20/04 Staff Requirements - Briefing on Emergency

Preparedness Program Initiatives

2. M041209 12/23/04 Staff Requirements - Briefing on Reactor

Safety and Licensing Activities

 
December 24, 2004 ENCLOSURE P

Region IV

Items of Interest

Week Ending December 24, 2004

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) - Corporate Management Change

On December 15, 2004, PG&E announced that Mr. Peter A. Darbee was appointed President

and Chief Executive Officer effective January 1, 2005. He succeeds Mr. Robert D. Glynn, who

will continue as Chairman of the Board through the end of 2005. 

 
December 24, 2004 ENCLOSURE Q

Office of the Executive Director for Operations

Items of Interest

Week Ending December 24, 2004

Differing Professional View (DPV) - Safety Requirements for a Proposed Mixed-Oxide (MOX)

Fuel Fabrication Facility

On December 3, 2004, the Executive Director for Operations (EDO) rendered a decision on an

appeal to the Director’s Decision issued by the Director, Office of Nuclear Materials Safety and

Safeguards, regarding a DPV on the modeling chemical consequences effects for determining

safety requirements for a proposed MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility. On September 21, 2004, an

NRC employee had requested that the subject DPV be considered under the Agency’s Differing

Professional Opinion (DPO) appeal process. Based on the review of the relevant information

and meetings with the involved individuals, the EDO concluded that the followup actions taken

by the staff in response to the Director’s Decision and the Action Memorandum were adequate,

and therefore, the appeal was denied.