INFORMATION REPORT

June 14, 2007 SECY-07-0099

For: The Commissioners

From: Vonna L. Ordaz, Assistant for Operations, Office of the EDO

Subject: WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING

JUNE 1, 2007

Contents Enclosure

Nuclear Reactor Regulation A

New Reactors B

Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards C

Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs D*

Nuclear Regulatory Research E

Nuclear Security and Incident Response F*

Administration G

Information Services H

Chief Financial Officer I*

Human Resources J

Small Business and Civil Rights K*

Enforcement L*

Public Affairs M

International Programs N*

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 by Tamara Bloomer Acting For/

Vonna L. Ordaz 

Assistant for Operations, OEDO

Contact:

L. Rakovan, OEDO
June 14, 2007 SECY-07-0099

For: The Commissioners

From: Vonna L. Ordaz, Assistant for Operations, Office of the EDO

Subject: WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING

JUNE 1, 2007

Contents Enclosure

Nuclear Reactor Regulation A

New Reactors B

Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards C

Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs D*

Nuclear Regulatory Research E

Nuclear Security and Incident Response F*

Administration G

Information Services H

Chief Financial Officer I*

Human Resources J

Small Business and Civil Rights K*

Enforcement L*

Public Affairs M

International Programs N*

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 by Tamara Bloomer Acting For/

Vonna L. Ordaz

Assistant for Operations, OEDO

Contact:

L. Rakovan, OEDO

DISTRIBUTION:

EDO R/F

AO R/F Document Name: C:\WIR\week601.WPD

OEDO US for AO/OEDO TB for

LRakovan:paa VLOrdaz

06/14/07 06/15/07
WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING JUNE 1, 2007

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

Headquarters and Regional Office activities. 

Contact: L. Rakovan, OEDO by E-mail: LJR2@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 1 OE *

NRO 2 OPA 9

NMSS 3 OIP *

FSME * SECY 10

RES 4 Region I *

NSIR * Region II *

ADM 5 Region III *

OIS 6 Region IV 23

CFO * EDO *

HR 7 OCA *

SBCR *

*No input this week
June 1, 2007 ENCLOSURE A

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR)

Items of Interest

Week Ending June 1, 2007

Information Notice (IN) 2007-19, "Fire Protection Equipment Recalls and Counterfeit Notices"

On May 21, 2007, the staff issued the subject IN to inform the industry and the public regarding

recent fire protection equipment recalls and counterfeit notices that have been issued by

various manufacturers. The IN discusses that the recalled and counterfeit fire protection

equipment may not be able to perform its intended function in the event of a fire, and that it is

important for the licensees to determine whether they have received this equipment and

preclude its use in fire detection and suppression systems credited in the fire protection plan.

Regulatory Issue Summary (RIS) 2005-25, Supplement 1, “Clarification of NRC Guidelines for

Control of Heavy Loads”

On May 29, 2007, the staff issued the subject Supplement 1 to RIS 2005-25 to 1) announce the

availability of guidance on handling systems, single failure proof cranes and calculational

methods for heavy load analyses, and 2) communicate regulatory expectations associated with

Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Sections 50.59 and 50.71(e), as these

requirements relate to the safe handling of heavy loads and load drop analyses.

Advanced Finite Element Analyses

On May 31 and June 1, 2007, staff conducted a public meeting with industry representatives on

the advanced finite element analyses that the industry is performing. Industry is performing

these analyses to address the staffs concerns regarding the potential for rupture without prior

evidence of leakage in pressurizer nozzle dissimilar metal welds susceptible to primary water

stress corrosion cracking. Industry is performing dozens of these analyses to reduce the

uncertainties involved in the analyses of the Wolf Creek flaws performed last Fall. The staff

has reached agreement with the industry representatives on the approach it uses for the

analysis, the methodology, and the matrix of cases that industry is analyzing. NRC staff

contractors are performing analyses to verify industry calculations. Industry representatives

indicated that the analyses are expected to be complete by the end of June and they plan to

provide a summary report by July 31.
June 1, 2007 ENCLOSURE B

Office of New Reactors (NRO)

Items of Interest

Week Ending June 1, 2007

Public Meeting with Nuclear Energy Institute to Discuss Seismic Issues for New Reactor Siting

On May 31, 2007, the staff met with Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), Electric Power Research

Institute (EPRI), and other industry representatives to discuss the progress of the industry

activities related to several seismic issues associated with new reactor siting and design. The

focus of the meeting was to establish an understanding on the content of a combined license

(COL) application in the seismic area. Considerable progress has been made to resolve the

seismic issues. However, the staff emphasized a need to place a high priority on this activity to

ensure timely closure of the issues. This highlighted because industry indicated that for some

sites, the final, confirmatory dynamic soil testing data will only become available during the later

phase of the reviews. 
June 1, 2007 ENCLOSURE C

Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS)

Items of Interest

Week Ending June 1, 2007

Emergency Planning for Yucca Mountain Project

On May 24, 2007, a meeting on the Yucca Mountain High-Level Waste program was held with

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) staff in Las Vegas, Nevada. This meeting was open to a

limited number of public observers. The purpose of the meeting was to improve the staff’s

understanding of the emergency planning aspects of the DOE program. No commitments were

made between the agencies and no written reports will be issued on this meeting.
June 1, 2007 ENCLOSURE E

Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES)

Items of Interest

Week Ending June 1, 2007

Draft NUREG/CR-6931 on CAROLFIRE issued for Public Comment

On May 23, 2007, two volumes of the subject report on the CAROLFIRE (CAble Response tO

Live FIRE) testing program were issued for a 45-day public comment period. Volume 1 of the

report presents the results of tests conducted to quantify the conditional probability of spurious

operation of nuclear power plant equipment as a result of electrical cable damage due to fire. 

Volume 2 provides cable and fire data that is currently being used by National Institute of

Standards and Technology and the University of Maryland to develop an algorithm to predict

electrical cable damage (and subsequent spurious operation) during fire exposure. This

algorithm will be used in future mathematical fire models to reduce the uncertainty of these

calculations. The two volumes and associated Federal Register Notice are available in ADAMS

at ML071300299. 

External Peer Review Meeting on Digital Systems Reliability Modeling

On May 23-24, 2007, staff led the subject meeting to review Brookhaven National Laboratory’s

(BNL) initial evaluation of traditional methods for modeling digital system reliability. The

external review panel included members from academia, industry, and the international

community. The panel provided substantial comments on traditional modeling methods and on

the draft criteria identified by BNL for evaluating digital system reliability models. Digital system

reliability modeling is important in light of the increased used of digital instrumentation and

control systems in nuclear power plants.

Molten Core-Concrete Interaction Follow-on (MCCI-2) Program Test Completed at Argonne

National Laboratory

On May 26, 2007, RES contractors completed a large-scale, eight-and-one-half hour, coreconcrete interaction test devised to achieve prototypical interaction behavior under both dry and

wet cavity conditions. The test addressed specific phenomena associated with the spatial and

temporal progression of how concrete is destroyed by cutting, abrading, or evaporating as a

function of melt composition. Data acquired from the MCCI-2 program will be used to assess

the NRC's treatment of core-concrete interactions in its severe accident models. The NRC has

12 partners in the MCCI-2 program, which is conducted under an international agreement with

the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Nuclear Energy Agency’s

Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations. 
June 1, 2007 ENCLOSURE G

Office of Administration (ADM)

Items of Interest 

Week Ending June 1, 2007

NASA Scientific Engineering Workstation Procurement Contract

A delivery order no. DR-09-07-339 was awarded to World Wide Technology, Inc. on May 22,

2007 through the competitive NASA Scientific Engineering Workstation Procurement Contract. 

The contractor will provide for the replacement of the Sun Microsystems servers which support

our current HRMS system. The total estimated cost is $167,115. The equipment is due to be

delivered by June 22, 2007.

Award for Secretarial Training Courses (NRC-38-07-367)

On May 29, 2007, a non-competitive contract was awarded to Performance Results

Corporation, under the Small Business Administration's 8(a) Program. The contractor will be

responsible for designing, updating and delivering secretarial training courses to NRC

administrative support staff. The period of performance of the contract is June 4, 2007, through

June 3, 2008, with four additional option years. The total estimated amount of the contract,

including option years, is $470,841.

Award for Software Upgrade and Maintenance

On May 30, 2007, a delivery order no. DR-09-07-132 was awarded to DLT Solutions, Inc.

through the competitive NASA Scientific Engineering Workstation Procurement contract. The

contractor will provide the agency-wide software for the HRMS upgrade to version 9.0 and one

year license maintenance support. The period of performance for this order is May 30, 2007,

through May 29, 2008. The total estimated cost is $554,374.

Award for New Recruitment Advertising Campaign (DR-38-07-370)

On June 1, 2007, a competitive delivery order was awarded to Bernard Hodges, under the

General Services Administration Federal Supply Schedules. The contractor will design and

develop a comprehensive and creative recruitment advertising campaign, including displays, for

the Office of Human Resources's recruitment efforts. The period of performance is from

June 1, 2007, through September 30, 2007. The total price of the delivery order is $296,036. 
June 1, 2007 ENCLOSURE H

Office of Information Services (OIS)

Items of Interest

Week Ending June 1, 2007

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

of May 25 through May 31, 2007:

RIV-2006-A-0084, entire file FOIA/PA-2007-0218

Announcement OIS/IRSD-2007-0002, application package of

selectee and rating panel scores of interviewees

FOIA/PA-2007-0219

Facilities licensed to use tritium; and currently registered tritium exit

signs

FOIA/PA-2007-0220

Interagency report of 1997 re: terrorism, both foreign and domestic as

described in FOIA/PA-2007-0059

FOIA/PA-2007-0221

Security breach at NRC dated August 16, 2004, all investigative

documents

FOIA/PA-2007-0222

Applied Science International LLC (ASI), extreme load for structures

explosive effects analysis software (ELS), all records relating to ASI

or ELS

FOIA/PA-2007-0223
June 1, 2007 ENCLOSURE J

Office of Human Resources (HR)

Items of Interest

Week Ending June 1, 2007

Arrivals

BOUGHAN, PATRICK STUDENT ENGINEER NRR

BRUNER, DOUGLAS PROJECT MANAGER NRO

FIGUEROA, GLADYS SUMMER ENGINEER RES

FISHER, STEPHEN LAW CLERK OGC

FOLEY, III, WILLIAM STUDENT ENGINEER NRR

GATELY, MATTHEW STUDENT IT SPECIALIST (CO-OP) RI

HURD, SAPNA SECRETARY (OA) CSU

MCGAFFIGAN, MARGARET STUDENT ENGINEER (CO-OP) NMSS

MURRAY, CAITLIN LAW CLERK OGC

RAMIREZ, ANNIE STUDENT ENGINEER (CO-OP) RES

SANCHEZ, ELBA STUDENT ENGINEER (SUMMER) RIII

SHAMS, MOHAMED STRUCTURAL ENGINEER NRR

SILBER, JACQUELINE CONSULTANT HR

SOTO-LUGO, SOLY STUDENT ENGINEER (CO-OP) RES

ST. PIERRE, JEAN HUMAN RESOURCES SPECIALIST HR

THOME, KATHREEN STUDENT ENGINEER NRO

TORRES, ANDRYA SUMMER ENGINEER RES

TREECE, JOSHUA LAW CLERK OGC

VAN BUREN, BRIDGET LAW CLERK OGC

VU, AN STUDENT ENGINEER NMSS

WITHEE, CARL CONSULTANT NMSS

Retirements

LOIS, LAMBROS SENIOR REACTOR ENGINEER, NUCLEAR NRR

SILBER, JACQUELINE DEP EX DIR FOR INFO SVCS & ADM/CIO EDO

SMITH, GREGORY SENIOR PHYSICAL SECURITY INSPECTOR ACRS
June 1, 2007 ENCLOSURE J

WITHEE, CARL SR CRITICALITY AND SHIELDING ENGINEER NMSS

Departures

ANDRUKAT, DENNIS GENERAL ENGINEER NRR

ASHAR, HANSRAJ PROJECT MANAGER NRR

CARUSO, RALPH SENIOR STAFF ENGINEER ACRS

RIVERA CAPELLA, GRETCHEN STUDENT ENGINEER (CO-OP) RES

SPRADLEY, LEAH STUDENT ENGINEER ACRS

WILLIAMS, LORETTA SECRETARY (OA) RII
June 1, 2007 ENCLOSURE M

Office of Public Affairs (OPA)

Items of Interest

Week Ending June 1, 2007

The OPA received significant media inquiries on the following:

Shut downs of Indian Point, Salem and Hope Creek nuclear power plants for various problems.

Inadvertent fax of false advisory notification of Indian Point counties to shelter residents.

New reactor licensing process.

Diablo Canyon’s ISFSI draft environmental assessment in response to the 9th Circuit case.

Other Public Affairs Items:

OPA arranged and assisted an interview with a UPI reporter and Region II Deputy Administrator

on agency hurricane preparations and procedures. 

OPA coordinated a Bloomberg News interview with the Office of Federal and State Materials

and Environmental Management programs management on NRC’s preparation for revival in the

uranium recovery industry. They discussed the 14 applications for new facilities that NRC is

expecting and the license application and review process. UPI also requested similar

information. 

OPA helped industry trade press coverage of the NRC all employee meeting on May 29. 

Press Releases

Headquarters:

07-067 NRC Seeks Public Comment on Supplemental Environmental Assessment

for Diablo Canyon Spent Fuel Storage Facility (5/29)

Regions:

I-07-0032 NRC to Discuss 2006 Assessment for James A. Fitzpatrick Nuclear Plant at

Public Meeting Scheduled for June 5 (5/30)

IV-07-016 NRC to Hold Two Public Meetings on Palo Verde Nuclear Generating

Station (5/30)
June 1, 2007 ENCLOSURE O

Office of the Secretary (SECY)

Items of Interest

Week Ending June 1, 2007

Document Released

to Public

Date Subject

Decision Documents

1. SECY-07-0081 5/15/07 Regulatory Options for Licensing Facilities

Associated with the Global Nuclear Energy

Partnership

2. SECY-07-0082 5/16/07 Rulemaking to make Risk-Informed

Changes to Loss-of-Coolant Accident

Technical Requirements; 10 CFR 50.46a,

“Alternative Acceptance Criteria for

Emergency Core Cooling Systems for LightWater Nuclear Power Reactors”

Information Papers

- SECY-07-0085 05/25/07 Weekly Information Report - Week Ending

May 4, 2007

Memoranda

- M070530A 5/30/07 Staff Requirements - Affirmation Session: I.

SECY-07-0079 - Shieldalloy Metallurgical

Corp. (Licensing Amendment Request for

Decommissioning of the Newfield, New

Jersey Facility), Docket No. 40-7102-MLA,

Appeal of Loretta Williams from LBP-07-05

Federal Register Notices Issued

1. Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste and Materials - Meeting Notice (06/19-21/07).

2. ACNW&M Meeting on Planning and Procedures - Meeting Notice (06/19/07).
June 1, 2007 ENCLOSURE P

Region IV (RIV)

Items of Interest

Week Ending June 1, 2007

Annual Assessment Public Meeting with Union Electric Company/Ameren UE

On May 31, 2007, the staff conducted a public meeting with Union Electric Company/Ameren

UE representatives to present the NRC’s assessment of the safety performance of the

Callaway Plant for the period of January 1 through December 31, 2006. The meeting was

attended by approximately 30 people including state and local officials, and local newspaper

reporters.