INFORMATION REPORT

August 12, 2005 SECY-05-0147

For: The Commissioners

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

Subject: SECY-05-0147 - “WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK 

ENDING AUGUST 5, 2005”

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*

*No input this week.

/RA/

William M. Dean

Assistant for Operations, OEDO

Contact:

T. Kim, OEDO
August 12, 2005 SECY-05-0147

For: The Commissioners

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

Subject: SECY-05-0147 - “WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK 

ENDING AUGUST 5, 2005”

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

*No input this week.

/RA/

William M. Dean

Assistant for Operations, OEDO

Contact:

T. Kim, OEDO

DISTRIBUTION:

Central File

Public Document Name: C:\WIR\week805.WPD

OEDO AO/OEDO

TJKim:paa WMDean

08/11/05 08/12/05
WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING AUGUST 5, 2005

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 5 OIP *

NSIR * SECY 19

OGC * Region I 20

ADM 10 Region II 21

OIS 11 Region III *

CFO * Region IV 23

HR 15 EDO *

SBCR * OCA *

OE *

*No input this week
August 5, 2005 ENCLOSURE A

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR)

Items of Interest

Week Ending August 5, 2005

NRC Information Notice (IN) 2005-23: Vibration-Induced Degradation of Butterfly Valves

On August 1, 2005, NRR issued the subject IN to inform power reactor licensees about

vibration-induced degradation of butterfly valves experienced at the San Onofre Nuclear

Generating Station. Degradation has occurred during plant operation as a result of the loss of

taper pins which are used to connect the valve disc to its stem. The degradation can involve

leakage and affect valve operation. No specific action or written response is required for the IN,

however, it is expected that recipients will review the information for applicability to their

facilities and consider actions, as appropriate, to avoid similar problems.

Draft Generic Letter: Inaccessible or Underground Cable Failures that Disable Accident

Mitigation Systems

On August 1, 2005, NRR published the subject draft generic letter (GL) in the Federal Register

(70 FR 44127) for public comment. The staff is proposing to issue the GL to: 1) alert licensees

to the potential susceptibility of certain electrical cables to affect the operability of multiple

accident-mitigation systems; and 2) request that addressees provide information regarding the

monitoring of the inaccessible or underground electrical cables in light of the information

provided in the GL. Adequate monitoring will help to prevent abrupt cable failures that could

cause plant transients or disable accident mitigation systems when they are needed. The

comment period expires on September 30, 2005.

NRC Information Notice (IN) 2005-24: Nonconservatism in Leakage Detection

Sensitivity

On August 3, 2005, NRR issued the subject IN to inform power reactor licensees about the

potential problems associated with the detection capabilities of containment radiation gas

channel monitors for a small reactor coolant system leak (i.e.,1 gallon-per-minute within 1 hour)

within the containment. No specific action or written response is required for the IN, however, it

is expected that recipients will review the information for applicability to their facilities and

consider actions, as appropriate, to avoid similar problems.
August 5, 2005 ENCLOSURE B

Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS)

Items of Interest

Week Ending August 5, 2005

Public Meeting on Louisiana Energy Services’ License Application for a Gas Centrifuge

Enrichment Plant

On August 2, 2005, staff from the Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards, Division of

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

Region II conducted a public meeting in Eunice, NM, to discuss the results of the staff's review

of the Louisiana Energy Services' license application for a gas centrifuge uranium enrichment

plant as documented in the Safety Evaluation Report (SER) and Final Environmental Impact

Statement (FEIS), and to answer questions from the public. The SER and FEIS were issued on

June 15, 2005. Prior to the public meeting, the staff met with local elected officials from

Andrews County, TX, and Lea County, NM, to discuss the current status of the project and to

answer questions.

National Source Tracking

On July 28, 2005, the proposed rule on National Source Tracking was published in the Federal

Register (70 FR 43646). The public comment period ends on October 11, 2005. The staff will

be holding two public meetings to allow stakeholders to provide their comments on the

proposed rule. The first meeting is scheduled for August 29, 2005, at NRC headquarters

offices in Rockville, MD. The second meeting will be held on September 20, 2005, in Houston,

TX, at the offices of the Texas Department of State Health Services in the Elias Ramirez State

Office Building.

Staff Approves Yankee Rowe License Termination Plan

On July 28, 2005, the staff approved the Yankee Rowe Nuclear Power Station License

Termination Plan (LTP). The LTP was submitted in March 2004. In response to a hearing

request filed by Citizens Awareness Network (CAN), the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board

(ASLB) admitted several contentions on November 22, 2004. The staff continued its review of

the LTP and on June 3, 2005, the Environmental Assessment was published in the Federal

Register. On June 29, 2005, the Commission affirmed the granting of the hearing request. On

July 11, 2005, Yankee Rowe and CAN filed a joint motion for approval of a settlement

agreement and termination of the proceeding. On July 21, 2005, the ASLB approved the

settlement agreement between Yankee Atomic Electric Company and Citizens Awareness

Network.

Briefing of National Academy of Sciences

On July 26, 2005, Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection staff held a 

teleconference briefing of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on the “Management

of Certain Radioactive Waste Streams in Tanks at Three Department of Energy Sites.” The

briefing included NRC's previous review of an incidental waste determination for high-level

waste tanks at the Idaho National Laboratory, completed in 2003. This meeting was also

attended by representatives of the State of Idaho, Shoshone Bannock Nation, and Idaho

National Laboratory Citizens Advisory Board.
August 5, 2005 ENCLOSURE C

Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES)

Items of Interest

Week Ending August 5, 2005

Management Directive 6.4, "Generic Issues Program”

On July 29, 2005, the Executive Director for Operations approved Management Directive (MD)

6.4, "Generic Issues Program (GIP)," for publication. MD 6.4 was revised to address one of the

recommendations in the Davis-Besse Lessons Learned Task Force (DBLLTF) Report. The

objective of this limited MD revision was not only to simplify the process for proposing candidate

generic issues but to also encourage increased participation in the GIP by the staff and other

stakeholders.

Approval by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) of the American Nuclear Society

(ANS) standard, ANSI/ANS-5.1-2005, "Decay Heat Power in Light Water Reactors"

On July 22, 2005, the subject ANSI/ANS-5.1-2005 standard was approved by ANSI, replacing

the 1994 version of the standard. The revised 2005 standard contains the main features of the

1994 standard with relatively minor changes and corrections described in the new standard. 

One notable addition to the new standard is the statement that except for 239U (Uranium-239)

and 239Np (Neptunium-239) "...decay heat power from other actinides and activation products is

not included in the standard and shall be evaluated by the user and appropriately included in

any analysis of shutdown power." The possible implementation of this standard for emergency

core cooling system (ECCS) analyses was discussed extensively in Research Information

Letter 0202 dated June 20, 2002 (ML021720744).

Meeting with North American Electric Reliability Council Representatives

On July 28-29, 2005, staff members from RES and the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

met with the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) in Princeton, New Jersey. 

Working under a Memorandum of Agreement, this meeting initiated a collaborative effort to

incorporate nuclear power plants (NPP) in more detail within the NERC grid model. NERC grid

models are used for seasonal operation reviews that are of interest to the NRC. They can be

used to provide confidence that a NPP shutdown will not initiate a large-scale system

disturbance and conversely a small scale system disturbance should not shutdown an NPP. 
August 5, 2005 ENCLOSURE F

Office of Administration (ADM)

Items of Interest 

Week Ending August 5, 2005

Contract Award

On July 27, 2005, a competitive fixed price contract (no. NRC-09-05-320), was awarded to G3

Visa and Passport Services. The contractor will provide professional visa and passport

services which include verifying applications are filled out correctly and transporting the

applications to and from embassies. The total estimated cost is $94,448.00. The period of

performance is for five years (base plus four 1-year options).
August 5, 2005 ENCLOSURE G

Office of Information Services (OIS)

Items of Interest

Week Ending August 5, 2005

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

July 29 through August 4, 2005:

Office of Inspector General Case 04-79D FOIA/PA-2005-0310

Baltimore Tunnel fire, 7-18-01 (Referral by the National

Transportation Safety Board [NTSB])

FOIA/PA-2005-0311

Baltimore Tunnel fire, 7-18-01 (Referral by NTSB) FOIA/PA-2005-0312

Baltimore Tunnel fire, 7-18-01 (Referral by NTSB) FOIA/PA-2005-0313

Baltimore Tunnel fire, 7-18-01 (Referral by NTSB) FOIA/PA-2005-0314

FOIA requests from news media for the past 2 years, responses &

released records

FOIA/PA-2005-0315

Allegation, RI-2005-A-0035, all records FOIA/PA-2005-0316
August 5, 2005 ENCLOSURE I

Office of Human Resources (HR)

Items of Interest

Week Ending August 5, 2005

Arrival

GANONG, JAMES W. STUDENT ENGINEER R-II

MARTINEZ-NAVEDO, TANIA REACTOR SYSTEMS ENGINEER RES

MCDERMOTT, JEFFREY L. SENIOR CONTRACT SPECIALIST ADM

NICHOLS, RUSSELL A. TEAM LEADER OIS

OFFUTT, DAVID TEAM LEADER OIS

RALPH, MELISSA COOK OFFICE AUTOMATION ASSISTANT NRR

RODRIGUEZ, TOMAS REACTOR ENGINEER (NSPDP) R-III

SHAFFNER, JAMES PROJECT MANAGER NMSS

YEE, ON GENERAL ENGINEER (NSPDP) NRR

Retirements

BURKE, KEVIN D. SR. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS OFFICER OIP

DUNNINGTON, EILEEN T. LICENSING ASSISTANT NRR

WINFREY, TANYA X. ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT ACRS

Departures

CARTER, DANIEL R. SENIOR HEALTH PHYSICIST R-IV

DYKES, JONATHAN M. STUDENT ENGINEER OIG

ERICKSON, REBECCA I. SENIOR BUDGET ANALYST OCFO

GRIFFITH, CANDICE D. STUDENT ENGINEER (SUMMER) RES

SOBEL, PHYLLIS A. SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER NMSS

WILSON, STACEY MAE STUDENT ENGINEER (SUMMER) NRR
August 5, 2005 ENCLOSURE M

Office of Public Affairs (OPA)

Items of Interest

Week Ending August 5, 2005

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

The impact of the energy bill on the NRC.

The future of the nuclear power industry and new reactor licensing.

Other OPA Items of Interest:

OPA arranged an interview for the Cleveland Plain Dealer with the NRC’s Chairman on the

energy bill and the future of nuclear power.

OPA assisted at public meetings regarding the Global Nuclear Fuels facility in North Carolina

and the proposed uranium enrichment plant in New Mexico.

Press Releases

Headquarters:

05-108 NRC Proposes Further Strengthening Drug-Testing and Worker Fatigue

Provisions for Nuclear Workers (8/3)

Regions:

I-05-041 NRC Bans Former Technician at Pennsylvania Company From NRC-Licensed

Activities (8/5)

I-05-042 NRC Proposes $3,250 Fine for N.J. Firm for Nuclear Gauge Violations (8/5)
August 5, 2005 ENCLOSURE O

Office of the Secretary (SECY)

Items of Interest

Week Ending August 5, 2005

Document Released

to Public

Date Subject

Decision Documents

1. SECY-05-0126 7/15/05 Summary of Activities Related to Generic Safety

Issues (WITS198300621)

2. COMJSM-05-0001 7/27/05 Staff Formal Membership in Committees and

Outside Groups

SRM-COMJSM-05- 

0001

8/3/05 (same)

Voting Record -

COMJSM-05-0001

8/3/05 (same)

3. SRM-SECY-05-0121 8/4/05 Request to Consider Developing a Formal Tribal

Consultation Protocol

Commission Voting

Record on 05-0121

8/4/05 (same)

4. SECY-05-0130 7/21/05 Policy Issues Related to New Plant Licensing

and Status of the Technology-Neutral

Framework for New Plant Licensing

Memoranda

1. M050804 8/4/05 Staff Requirements - Affirmation Session: I.

COMSECY-05-0027 - Dominion Nuclear

Connecticut, Inc. (Millstone Nuclear Power

Station, Units 2 and 3), Docket Nos. 50-336-LR

& 50-423-LR

Commission Correspondence

1. Letter to Senator James M. Jeffords, dated July 29, 2005, responds to letter regarding a

Severity Level II Notice of Violation sent to Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station.

2. Letter to Congress, dated July 28, 2005, provides NRC’s responses to recommendations

made by GAO in its report “Internet Protocol Version 6: Federal Agencies Need to plan

for Transition and Management Security Risks” (GAO-05-471).

Federal Register Notices Issued

1. Proposed rule: 10 CFR Part 26, RIN 3150 - AF12, Fitness-for-Duty Programs.
August 5, 2005 ENCLOSURE P

Region I (RI)

Items of Interest

Week Ending August 5, 2005

Calvert Cliffs - Congressional Member Visit

On August 1, 2005, Congressman Steny Hoyer (Maryland - 5th District), visited Calvert Cliffs to

tour the site and discuss the security program at the plant. Congressman Hoyer met with

Constellation senior management during his visit. 

Periodic Management Meetings with South Carolina Agreement State Program

On August 2, 2005, staff from Region I and the Office of State and Tribal Programs met with

representatives of the South Carolina Bureau of Radiological Health and Division of Waste

Management to discuss the status of the South Carolina Agreement State program. Topics of

discussion included staffing and training, status of each group’s progress in adopting NRC

amendments required for compatibility and the Barnwell low-level waste disposal facility. No

performance issues were identified as a result of the discussions.
August 5, 2005 ENCLOSURE P

Region II (RII)

Items of Interest

Week Ending August 5, 2005

Licensee Performance Review Meeting at Global Nuclear Fuels - Americas, LLC.

On August 2-3, 2005, the Regional Administrator visited the Global Nuclear Fuel facility for a

site tour and conducted the Licensee Performance Review Meeting in Wilmington, North

Carolina.

Fuel Facility Inspection Procedures Workshop

On August 4, 2005, the Division of Fuel Facility Inspection hosted the Fuel Facility Inspection

Procedures Workshop in the Regional Office. The purpose of the meeting was to solicit

stakeholder feedback on revised inspection procedures for the fuel facilities.
August 5, 2005 ENCLOSURE P

Region IV (RIV)

Items of Interest

Week Ending August 5, 2005

NRC Senior Management Visit to Waterford and River Bend Stations

On August 2-3, 2005, the Deputy Executive Director for Reactor and Preparedness Programs

(DEDR) visited the Waterford and River Bend nuclear power reactor facilities for plant tours and

discussions with the resident inspectors and licensee managers. On August 4, the DEDR

visited the Region IV office and met with regional staff.