INFORMATION REPORT

January 30, 2006 SECY-06-0017

For: The Commissioners

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

Subject: WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING

JANUARY 20, 2006

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

Office of Information Services 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

Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards/

Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste S*

*No input this week.

/RA/

William M. Dean

Assistant for Operations, OEDO

Contact:

U. Shoop, OEDO
January 30, 2006 SECY-06-0017

For: The Commissioners

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

Subject: WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING

JANUARY 20, 2006

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

Office of Information Services 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

Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards/

Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste S*

*No input this week.

/RA/

William M. Dean

Assistant for Operations, OEDO

Contact:

U. Shoop, OEDO

DISTRIBUTION:

Central File

Public Document Name: C:\WIR\week0120.WPD

OEDO AO/OEDO

UShoop:paa WMDean

01/30/06 01/30/06
WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING JANUARY 20, 2006

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

Headquarters and Regional Office activities. 

Contact: U. Shoop, OEDO by E-mail: USS@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 OIP *

NSIR 9 SECY 19

OGC * Region I *

ADM 10 Region II *

OIS 11 Region III *

CFO * Region IV 23

HR 15 EDO *

SBCR * OCA 24

OE * ACRS/ACNW *

*No input this week
January 20, 2006 ENCLOSURE A

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR)

Items of Interest

Week Ending January 20, 2006

Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 1 - Emergency Technical Specifications Amendment Issued

On January 13, 2006, the NRC staff approved an emergency Technical Specifications (TS) 

amendment for Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 1. The amendment lowered the OTSG Level - Low

allowable value of Limiting Condition for Operation. The amendment was needed because

phenomena related to the new, replacement once-through steam generators (OTSGs) in

ANO-1 tend to reduce the measured value of the level during normal operation by an amount

greater than anticipated. The lower allowable value was intended to alleviate concerns that

operating at 100 percent power with the current allowable value involved a risk of spurious

emergency feedwater initiation, and the actuation time delay was intended to minimize the

possibility of inadvertent actuations during anticipated transients such as main feedwater

transients and main turbine trip. To decrease the likelihood of an inadvertent actuation of

emergency feedwater, the licensee has been operating the ANO-1 facility at a derated power

level of approximately 98 percent full power. The licensee requested an emergency TS

amendment to avoid the continued derate of ANO-1 and allow for resumption of power to 100

percent. The NRC staff determined that emergency circumstances existed and that the

licensee used its best efforts to make a timely application and could not avoid the emergency

situation.

Nuclear Management Company, LLC - Request for Addiational Information Regarding Event

Notification 42129

On January 10, 2006, the NRC staff issued a request for additional information (RAI) to Nuclear

Management Company, LLC (NMC), related to a November 8, 2005, notification. NMC notified

the NRC that the design basis for long-term cooling at the Point Beach Nuclear Plant, Units 1

and 2, was not correctly modeled. The notification stated that, "These errors in the modeling

fidelity potentially impact the analytical basis for demonstrating compliance with the acceptance

criteria of 10 CFR 50.46(b)(5), Long-term cooling."

In order to make a regulatory determination, the NRC staff is reviewing NMC's actions to

establish that the requirements of 10 CFR 50.46(b)(5) continue to be met. It is anticipated that

NMC will provide the RAI response by February 6, 2006. 

Meeting with Westinghouse Owners Group

On January 17, 2006, the staff held a public meeting with the Westinghouse Owners Group to

discuss future activities on revising the Knowledge and Abilities Catalogs, NUREG-1122 and

NUREG-1123. The Catalogs are used for selecting operator examination content topics in the

development of operator license examinations.

Flowserve Inspection

From January 10-13, 2006, the staff conducted an inspection of the Appendix B quality

assurance program at the Flowserve facility in Raleigh, NC. Flowserve is a major supplier of
January 20, 2006 ENCLOSURE A

safety related valves and flow control devices to the nuclear industry. The focus of the

inspection was to review implementation of corrective actions from the August 2004 Nuclear

Procurement Issues Committee (NUPIC) audit, and to review Flowserve’s 10 CFR Part 21

program and commercial grade dedication process. Several potential findings in the areas of

corrective actions, procedure adequacy and procedural guidance were identified.

Dominion Nuclear North Anna, LLC Early Site Permit (ESP) Application Supplement

On January 13, 2006, Dominion Nuclear North Anna LLC submitted a supplement to the North

Anna ESP application to address a modified approach to the proposed Unit 3 cooling and to

ensure that the plant parameter envelope remains bounding. This supplement addresses the

safety and the environmental changes in the application resulting from the modified approach. 

Dominion plans to incorporate the information contained in this supplement in a future Revision

to the North Anna ESP application.
January 20, 2006 ENCLOSURE B

Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS)

Items of Interest

Week Ending January 20, 2006

Quarterly Management Meeting with USEC Inc. (USEC)

On January 12, 2006, staff from the Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards, Division of

Waste Management and Environmental Protection, and the Office of the General Counsel met

with USEC to discuss the status and schedule of NRC’s ongoing safety, safeguards, and

environmental reviews of USEC’s license application dated August 23, 2004, for the proposed

American Centrifuge Plant, in Piketon, OH. This was the fifth NRC/USEC quarterly senior

management meeting. Issues discussed included the status of NRC’s safety, safeguards, and

environmental reviews. NRC staff anticipates that the Final Environmental Impact Statement

will be issued in mid-April 2006, but issuance of the Safety Evaluation Report (SER) has been

delayed to mid-April 2006. NRC staff attributed the SER delay to a few complex issues that

have not been resolved. NRC noted that there was a common understanding on how to resolve

these issues and that issuance of the SER in mid-April was contingent upon USEC providing

NRC with the necessary information in a timely manner. USEC stated that it would work with

NRC to resolve the issues. 

Staff Attend the 23rd Spent Fuel Management Seminar

On January 11-13, 2006, staff attended the 23rd Spent Fuel Management Seminar of the

Institute of Nuclear Materials Management, in Washington, D.C. NRC staff and managers

presented papers on: (1) NRC activities on the potential Yucca Mountain high-level waste

repository; (2) spent fuel storage and transportation experience; and (3) studies of tunnel fires

and transportation packages. Other presentations at the meeting covered transportation and

storage, and the status and progress of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE’s) activities

pertaining to spent fuel transportation and repository surface facilities.

Staff Observes DOE Surveillance of Sandia National Laboratory (SNL) Data Qualification

Activities

On January 16-18, 2006, staff from NMSS and Region IV observed a DOE surveillance of work

on the Yucca Mountain Project. The surveillance covered work performed at SNL, associated

with the infiltration model for the proposed repository. The purpose of this surveillance was to

evaluate the adequacy, implementation, and effectiveness of data qualification activities for this

model. The NRC observers assessed how effective the DOE surveillance team was in

achieving the surveillance objectives.
January 20, 2006 ENCLOSURE C

Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES)

Items of Interest

Week Ending January 20, 2006

Agreement Between the NRC, the Russian Research Center (RRC) and the Nuclear Safety

Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IBRAE) Severe Accident Research

On January 12, 2006, the NRC’s Executive Director for Operations signed the subject

international agreement which defines the terms and conditions by which the NRC, RRC and

IBRAE will cooperate in the area of severe accident research. Aside from NRC gaining

additional data and knowledge related to severe accidents, this cooperative agreement will

allow for further verification and validation of the accuracy of the NRC’s MELCOR severe

accident code for different accident sequences. The NRC uses the MELCOR code to evaluate

potential risk and security scenarios for severe accidents, address regulatory and licensing

issues for operating plants, and to review new designs. This Agreement is effective for a period

of five years.

Integrated Chemical Effects Test # 5 Data Report

On January 13, 2006, the subject report, which provides the experimental results associated

with this test, was made publicly available through ADAMS (Accession No. ML053550433). 

This test simulated the chemical environment present in an ice-condenser pressurized water

reactor containment water pool after a loss-of-coolant accident using representative amounts of

containment materials. The report includes a description of the test observations and process

control parameters, and the results of post-test analysis.

Public Meeting with Industry to Discuss Cooperation on Materials Research

On January 17, 2006, staff held the subject meeting at NRC Headquarters in Rockville,

Maryland, as a preliminary meeting supporting the February 6, 2006, Commission Meeting on

Materials Issues. The industry outlined its program for defining materials degradation issues

and an approach for resolution. The staff presented the Proactive Materials Degradation

Assessment (PMDA) program, which analyzed plant components for susceptibility to

degradation. Staff and industry also discussed programs for identifying proactive materials

degradation research needs and areas for potential collaboration through the NRC/EPRI

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to ensure that neither party is unnecessarily duplicating

efforts.

Quick-Look Report on Chemical Effects Head Loss Testing

On January 20, 2006, the subject report was made publically available through ADAMS

(Accession No. ML060190713) as an attachment to Information Notice 2005-26, Supplement 1. 

Chemical effects/head loss tests were performed to assess potential formation of chemical

by-products in a pressurized water reactor containment sump pool environment and the effects

on sump clogging. Results showed that chemical products associated with tri-sodium

phosphate buffered environments containing dissolved calcium may significantly affect head

loss. A public meeting will be held on February 9, 2006, to discuss implications of these test

results.
January 20, 2006 ENCLOSURE D

Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response (NSIR)

Items of Interest

Week Ending January 20, 2006

Preliminary Notifications

1. PNO-III-06-001, Exelon Generation Co. - DEGRADED ACTUATORS FOR

ELECTROMAGNETIC RELIEF VALUES.

2. PNO-III-05-016B, Braidwood 1 and 2 - POTENTIAL OFF-SITE MIGRATION OF TRITIUM

CONTAMINATION (2ND UPDATE).

3. PNO-III-06-001A, Exelon Generation Co. - DEGRADED ACTUATORS FOR

ELECTROMAGNETIC RELIEF VALVES (UPDATE).
January 20, 2006 ENCLOSURE F

Office of Administration (ADM)

Items of Interest 

Week Ending January 20, 2006

Contract Award

On January 11, 2006, grant no. NRC-04-06-069 was awarded to the National Academy of

Sciences. The grantee shall provide a review of current industrial, research, and commercial

uses of radiation sources and shall identify technically and economically feasible replacements

for sources that pose a high risk to public health and safety in an accident or terrorist attack.

The total estimated cost is $647,704. The period of performance is fifteen months.

Acquisition Training for Project Managers

The five mandatory acquisition courses for Project Managers were offered between 

January 9-12, 2006. The Division of Contracts conducted the introductory “Overview”

acquisition course. The Office of the General Counsel conducted the Organizational Conflict of

Interest course. The remaining three courses were Preparing Statements of Work, Contract

Administration, and Developing an Independent Government Cost Estimate. Guest presenters

included staff from the Office of Administration, Office of Small Business and Civil Rights,

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, and the Office of the Inspector General. As a result of

this week long training session, 22 Project Managers obtained certifications.
January 20, 2006 ENCLOSURE G

Office of Information Services (OIS)

Items of Interest

Week Ending January 20, 2006

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Privacy Act Requests Received During the Period of

January 13, 2006 through January 19, 2006:

OIG report, case no. 05-02S FOIA/PA-2006-0086

Sealed source device registrations issued to International Isotopes

Idaho Inc., International Isotopes Inc., NRX Acquisition Corp.,

RadQual, LLC, etc., all records

FOIA/PA-2006-0087

Yale Univ., docket no. 030-00582 & other docket numbers, 1989, all

records including inspection reports, violations, orders, licensing

documents

FOIA/PA-2006-0088

NRC classified records inventory log FOIA/PA-2006-0089

Mailing list - Referral by GSA FOIA/PA-2006-0090
January 20, 2006 ENCLOSURE I

Office of Human Resources (HR)

Items of Interest

Week Ending January 20, 2006

Arrival

GUTIERREZ, MAURICIO GENERAL ENGINEER NRR

HITCHUK, BETTY J. SECRETARY (OA) R-II

KOZAL, JASON W. NUCLEAR SYSTEMS ENGINEER/SCIENTIST NSIR

LUPOLD, TIMOTHY R. MATERIALS ENGINEER NRR

ORTIZ MORALES, GRISEL M. STUDENT ENGINEER TRAINEE (CO-OP) RES

TESFAYE, GETACHEW REACTOR SYSTEMS ENGINEER NRR

Departures

GREENE, CHARLES A. MATERIALS ENGINEER RES

KAYE, KAREN M. IT SPECIALIST (PLCYPLN) IS

SCHOENGOLD, JOSEPH AARON STUDENT ACCOUNTANT (CO-OP) NSIR
January 20, 2006 ENCLOSURE M

Office of Public Affairs (OPA)

Items of Interest

Week Ending January 20, 2006

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

Federal indictments in the Davis-Besse reactor head corrosion investigation, and a Justice

Department fine against FirstEnergy for not providing accurate information to the NRC.

Local concerns of increased radiation emissions from Vermont Yankee if a power uprate is

approved and implemented.

Other Public Affairs Items:

Region III OPA assisted at the Justice Department’s press conference in Cleveland regarding

the Davis-Besse indictments.

Press Releases

Headquarters:

06-007 Diaz Names Jeanne Lopatto Federal/International Assistant (1/19)

Regions:

I-06-003 NRC, Constellation to Discuss License Renewal Inspection Conducted at Nine

Mile Point Nuclear Power Plant (1/19)

III-06-003 NRC Statement on Justice Department Davis-Besse Action (1/20)
January 20, 2006 ENCLOSURE O

Office of the Secretary (SECY)

Items of Interest

Week Ending January 20, 2006

Document Released

to Public

Date Subject

Decision Documents

COMSECY-06-0001 1/3/06 Status of Office of Nuclear Materials Safety

and Safeguards Business Process

Improvement Activities January-December

2005

SRM on COMSECY-06-0001 1/19/06 (same)

Commission Voting Record

on 06-0001

1/19/06 (same)

Information Papers

SECY-06-0013 1/18/06 Weekly Information Report - Week Ending

January 6, 2006

Federal Register Notices Issued

1. Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS), Meeting of the Subcommittee on

Plant License Renewal, notice of meeting (2/8/06). 

2. Proposed rule: Extension of comment period, 10 CFR Part 73, RIN 3150-AH60, Design

Basis Threat. 

3. Proposed rule: Extension of comment period, 10 CFR Part 50, RIN 3150-AH29, RiskInformed Changes to Loss-of-Coolant Accident Technical Requirements.

4. ACRS, notice of 529th meeting (2/9-11/06).

5. ACRS Subcommittee Meeting on Planning and Procedures, notice of meeting (2/8/06). 
January 20, 2006 ENCLOSURE P

Region IV (RIV)

Items of Interest

Week Ending January 20, 2006

Commissioner Merrifield Visit to Palo Verde

On January 18, 2006, Commissioner Merrifield, accompanied by the Regional Administrator,

visited the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station. The Commissioner toured the facility and

discussed current performance with plant employees, licensee management and the NRC

Resident Inspectors.
January 20, 2006 

Office of Congressional Affairs (OCA)

Items of Interest

Week Ending January 20, 2006

CONGRESSIONAL HEARING SCHEDULE, NO. 3

 OCAContact

 DATE & PLACE

TIME WITNESS SUBJECT 

Combs Week of

02/13/06TentativeSD-406

TBA DOE, EPA, NRC, NEI,

NWTB, NAS, State of NV

Status of Yucca Mountain licenseapplication and radiation standards

Senator IEnvironm

Combs 02/07/06

Tentative

TBA DOE Status of Yucca Mountain license

application

Senator DEnergy a

Shane mid-March

SD-406

TBA NRC NRC Oversight Senator V

Clean Air

 and NuEnvironm