INFORMATION REPORT

May 11, 2005 SECY-05-0081

For: The Commissioners

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

Subject: SECY-05-0081 - “WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK 

ENDING APRIL 29, 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
May 11, 2005 SECY-05-0081

For: The Commissioners

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

Subject: SECY-05-0081 - “WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK 

ENDING APRIL 29, 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\week429.WPD

OEDO AO/OEDO

TKim:paa WMDean

05/10/05 05/11/05
WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING APRIL 29, 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 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 *

*No input this week
April 29, 2005 ENCLOSURE A

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR)

Items of Interest

Week Ending April 29, 2005

Grand Gulf Early Site Permit - Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Public Comment

On April 21, 2005, NRR issued NUREG -1817, "Draft Environmental Impact Statement for an

Early Site Permit (ESP) at the Grand Gulf ESP Site," for public comment. A 75-day public

comment period is scheduled to begin on or about April 29, 2005, with the Notice of Availability

of the draft EIS published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The staff has

scheduled public meetings on June 28, 2005, to present its analyses and to accept public

comments on the draft EIS.

Quad Cities Unit 2 - Public Meeting to Discuss Start Up Test Plan and Steam Dryer Analyses

From April 25-27, 2005, NRC staff from Region III and NRR held a public meeting with the

licensee representatives at Exelon's corporate office in Warrenville, Illinois. The purpose of the

meeting was to discuss the start-up test plan proposed for the new instrumented steam dryer

for Quad Cities Unit 2. Contractors from Argonne National Laboratory and Penn State

University provided staff support. The licensee presented the latest developments in acoustic

circuit analysis for prediction of flow-induced vibration loads on the steam dryer. The staff also

performed a preliminary sampling audit of the structural finite element analysis of the dryer. 

Public Meeting: Proposed Rule on the Post-Fire Operator Manual Actions Proposed

On April 27, 2005, NRR staff held a Category 3 public meeting on the subject issue to provide

members of the public and industry representatives opportunities to make comments and

address the Commission questions posted in the Federal Register Notice (70 FR 10901) dated

March 7, 2005. The meeting was supported by staff from NRR’s Divisions of Systems Safety

and Analysis, Regulatory Improvement Programs and Inspection Program Management, as

well as Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research staff, and was attended by members from the

industry, the Nuclear Energy Institute, Union of Concerned Scientists, and industry consultants. 

The staff received initial feedback on the three requests for comments related to time margin,

fire suppression systems, and rule acceptance criteria applicability to sections III.G.1 and 2 of

Appendix R. The staff also engaged the stakeholders on the Commissions’ request to get a

clear understanding of the likelihood that the proposed rule would achieve its underlying

purpose. Throughout the meeting the staff reiterated to stakeholders that it would like to

receive written comments with supporting details. Presentations from the industry focused on

its perspectives of the proposed rule with respect to regulatory, safety, risk, and cost

considerations. The deadline for the public to submit written comments is May 23, 2005. 
April 29, 2005 ENCLOSURE B

Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS)

Items of Interest

Week Ending April 29, 2005

NRC Meeting with the Advisory Committee on the Medical Uses of Isotopes

On April 20-21, 2005, the Advisory Committee on the Medical Uses of Isotopes (ACMUI) held

its spring meeting at the Bethesda North Marriott Conference Center. On April 20, the ACMUI

briefed the Commission on its views concerning: (1) the training and experience final rule in

10 CFR Part 35; (2) the draft 2005 recommendations of the International Commission on

Radiological Protection; and (3) NRC’s report on dose reconstruction methods. The ACMUI

also briefed the Commission on its continued efforts to amend the medical event reporting

criteria in 10 CFR Part 35. Other topics of interest to the medical community were presented

during the meeting, including the physical presence requirement relating to gamma stereotactic

radiosurgery in 10 CFR 35.615(f)(3).

Decommissioning Workshop

On April 20-21, 2005, the Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection

conducted a 2-day public workshop on decommissioning, attended by approximately 200

people, consisting of industry representatives, consultants, representatives from other Federal

agencies, and State representatives. The first day of the workshop had opening presentations

on topics including: (1) finality/Environmental Protection Agency Memorandum of

Understanding; (2) incentives; (3) alignment of NRC decommissioning program with States;

(4) improved communications; and (5) revised decommissioning guidance. Those

presentations were followed by breakout sessions, on topics related to the License Termination

Rule analysis, that included: (1) restricted release/institutional controls; (2) realistic scenarios;

(3) mixing of contaminated soil; (4) financial assurance; (5) operational changes; and (6) onsite

burials. The second day focused on lessons-learned and also included a presentation by

Commissioner Merrifield.

Meeting with U.S. Enrichment Corporation (USEC) Related to the American Centrifuge Plant

On April 25, 2005, staff from the Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards, Office of the

General Counsel, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, Office of Nuclear Security and Incident

Response, and ICF Consulting met with USEC representatives. The meeting was held to

discuss USEC’s responses to the NRC staff’s requests for additional information about the

American Centrifuge Plant license application, in the areas of criticality safety, decommissioning

funding, human factors, and material control and accounting.

Meeting with Packaging Technology on TRUPACT-III

On April 27, 2005, staff from the Spent Fuel Project Office met with representatives from

Packaging Technology to discuss submittal of the redesigned TRUPACT-III transportation

package, which will be used for transporting transuranic wastes in large boxes to the Waste

Isolation Pilot Plant. The TRUPACT-III design was submitted to NRC in March 2004. However,

the application was withdrawn in August 2004 because of some structural issues. Packaging

Technology is planning to submit a revised application in July 2006.
April 29, 2005 ENCLOSURE C

Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES)

Items of Interest

Week Ending April 29, 2005

Fire Dynamics Seminar for Region IV Fire Protection Inspectors

On April 21, 2005, RES staff presented a fire dynamics training seminar for Region IV fire

protection inspectors. This training was requested by the Region and was coordinated with the

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. The seminar focused on the tools and techniques

described in NUREG-1805, "Fire Dynamics Tools Quantitative Fire Hazard Analysis Methods

for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Fire Protection Inspection Program." The

objective of the training was to help regional fire protection inspectors better understand riskinformed, performance-based fire protection requirements.

Letter of Agreement Between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the OECD/NEA

Relating to International Common-Cause Failure Data Exchange (ICDE) Project

On April 25, 2005, the NRC’s Executive Director for Operations signed the subject Letter of

Agreement between NRC and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and

Development/Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD/NEA). This Letter of Agreement defines the

terms and conditions by which the NRC and OECD/NEA will continue to cooperate in the

exchange of international common-cause failure data on the basis of mutual benefit and

reasonable equity and reciprocity. Participation in the project gives the NRC access to

proprietary foreign data that would not otherwise be available to us. These data augment the

NRC’s common-cause failure database with foreign experience and enable us to compare our

operating experience with that of other countries to glean insights for use in our quantitative risk

studies and inspection activities. This Agreement will become effective upon signature and will

remain in effect for three years (through March 31, 2008).
April 29, 2005 ENCLOSURE D

Nuclear Security and Incident Response (NSIR)

Items of Interest

Week Ending April 29, 2005

Preliminary Notifications

1. PNO-I-05-018, Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Company - EQUIPMENT FIRE

INSIDE CONTAINMENT STRUCTURE AT DECOMMISSIONING REACTOR SITE

2. PNO-I-05-018A, Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Company - SUPPLEMENT TO

EQUIPMENT FIRE INSIDE CONTAINMENT STRUCTURE AT DECOMMISSIONING

REACTOR SITE

3. PNO-1-05-019, Craig Testing Laboratories, Inc. - MISSING PORTABLE MOISTURE

DENSITY GAUGE
April 29, 2005 ENCLOSURE F

Office of Administration (ADM)

Items of Interest 

Week Ending April 29, 2005

Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material; Solicitation of Comments on

Proposed Changes (Part 71)

On April 27, 2005, a document was published in the Federal Register (70 FR 21684)

announcing that the NRC and the Department of Transportation (DOT) are jointly soliciting

comments on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regulations for the Safe Transport

of Radioactive Material. The proposed changes to IAEA’s regulations will likely require

compatibility rulemakings by both DOT and the NRC. The comment period for this action

closes July 1, 2005.
April 29, 2005 ENCLOSURE G

Office of Information Services (OIS)

Items of Interest

Week Ending April 29, 2005

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

April 22 through April 28, 2005:

Final Office of Investigation (OI) report 03-2004-001 FOIA/PA-2005-0212

OI Report 3-2002-006 & list of attachments FOIA/PA-2005-0213

Order Prohibiting Involvement in NRC licensed activities issued to

(named individual) on 4-21-05 & OI report 3-2002-006 & supporting

documents

FOIA/PA-2005-0214

Copies of NRC’s ten oldest open & pending FOIA requests FOIA/PA-2005-0215

Honeywell facility, Metropolis, IL, information related to the release or

leak of uranium hexafluoride (UF6) or other radioactive materials,

2000 through present

FOIA/PA-2005-0216

Referral by Dept of Energy, Precision Castparts Corp., Portland, OR,

thorium oxide, all records

FOIA/PA-2005-0217

Thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD) reports on named individual, 1-

at Three Mile Island & 2-period of April, 1984 thru June 1986; NRC

Health Unit records, June 1986 thru December 1992

FOIA/PA-2005-0218

OI Report 3-2002-006 FOIA/PA-2005-0219
April 29, 2005 ENCLOSURE I

Office of Human Resources (HR)

Items of Interest

Week Ending April 29, 2005

Demonstration of NRC’s Strategic Workforce Planning System

On April 27, 2005, HR staff members conducted a demonstration of NRC’s Strategic Workforce

Planning System for representatives of the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of

Personnel Management (OPM). 

Arrivals

Manash K. Bagchi Cost Analyst NRR

Vivian L. Bush HR Specialist (Co-Op) HR

Valerie Kerben Sr. Personnel Security Specialist ADM

Carla Roque-Cruz Reactor Systems Engineer NRR

Benjamin A. Wilson Nuclear Engineer (Criticality) NMSS

Retirements

George Benoit Director, DRMA R-IV

Roger W. Broseus Health Physicist NMSS

Helen R. Byrd Office Assistant (OA) OCAA

John W. Craig Deputy Director, RES RES

Billy F. Dean Space Management Specialist ADM

Susan B. Hopkins Sr. Policy Analyst ADM

Ellis W. Merschoff Deputy EDO for Reactor Programs EDO

Gary L. Pirtle Physical Security Inspector R-III

Hester Thompson Management Assistant OIS

Departures

Hollie Krex Secretary (OA) R-II

lan E. Levin Sr. Technical Advisor RES

Mark Livingston Reactor Security Specialist NSIR
April 29, 2005 ENCLOSURE M

Office of Public Affairs (OPA)

Items of Interest

Week Ending April 29, 2005

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

A Troxler gauge missing - and later found - in Chester County, Pennsylvania.

Exelon’s announcement that it intends to apply for renewal of its operating license for Three

Mile Island, Unit 1. 

NRC’s decision to put Texas’ radiation protection program on “heightened oversight.”

NRC’s finding that the fire-retardant material “Hemyc” does not perform according to

specifications.

Other Public Affairs Items:

A Region I public affairs officer wrote a “for-the-record” submission for the Brattleboro Reformer

objecting to an editorial in the paper suggesting that the “R” in NRC stands for “rubber-stamp.”

OPA staff assisted at several end-of-cycle public meetings for nuclear plants.

Press Releases

Headquarters:

05-072 NRC Chairman Stresses Safety while Updating Senate on New Reactor

Licensing Issues and Challenges (4/26)

05-073 NRC Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards to Meet May 5-6 in Rockville,

Maryland (4/27)

05-074 NRC Issues Confirmatory Order to Virginia Firm in Whistleblower Case (4/28)

Regions:

I-05-025 Missing Gauge Containing Radioactive Material Found in Pennsylvania (4/29)

II-05-023 Media Advisory: Availability of NRC Chairman Nils J. Diaz on Campus of

Florida International University Tuesday, May 3 (4/28)

II-05-024 NRC to Meet with Progress Energy Officials to Discuss Safety Performance at

Crystal River Nuclear Power Plant (4/28)

III-05-020 NRC Staff Schedules Public Meeting for April 28 to Discuss License Renewal

Process for Palisades Nuclear Plant (4/25)

IV-05-014 NRC to Discuss 2004 Performance Assessment for San Onofre Nuclear

Generating Station (4/26)
April 29, 2005 ENCLOSURE M

IV-05-015 NRC to Discuss 2004 Performance Assessment for South Texas Project

Nuclear Plant (4/26)
April 29, 2005 ENCLOSURE O

Office of the Secretary (SECY)

Items of Interest

Week Ending April 29, 2005

Document Released

to Public

Date Subject

Decision Documents

1. SECY-05-0061 4/12/2005 Final Rule to Amend 10 CFR Part 9,

Subpart A, “Freedom of Information Act

Regulations,” and Subpart B, “Privacy Act

Regulations”

Information Papers

1. SECY-05-0071 4/26/05 Weekly Information Report - Week Ending

April 15, 2005

Memoranda

1. M050407 4/25/05 Staff Requirements - Meeting with the

Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards

(ACRS)

2. M050329A 4/27/05 Staff Requirements - Briefing on NSIR

Programs, Performance, and Plans

Commission Correspondence

1. Letter to Congress, dated April 18, 2005, provides the February 2005 monthly report on the

status of NRC’s licensing and regulatory duties.

Federal Register Notices Issued

1. Request to Amend a License for the Export of Radioactive Waste.

2. Report to Congress on Abnormal Occurrences, Fiscal Year 2004, Dissemination of

Information.

3. Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards, Meeting of the Subcommittee on Early Site

Permits, notice of meeting (5/16/05). 

4. Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards, Subcommittee Meeting on Fire Protection,

notice of meeting (5/17/05). 
April 29, 2005 ENCLOSURE P

Region IV (RIV)

Items of Interest

Week Ending April 29, 2005

Wolf Creek

On April 26, 2005, thirty-seven member delegation of the Kansas State House, Senate, and

Utilities Commission toured the Wolf Creek plant. The licensee provided a presentation and

site tour for the group, with plant security being the focus of the visit. The resident inspectors

attended the licensee’s presentation and provided the visitors with an overview of the NRC and

the inspection program.
April 29, 2005 

Office of Congressional Affairs (OCA)

Items of Interest

Week Ending April 29, 2005

CONGRESSIONAL HEARING SCHEDULE, NO. 17

 OCAContact

 DATE & PLACE

TIME WITNESS SUBJECT 

Combs TBA

SD-366

TBA DOE, NRC Status of Yucca Mountain Senators 

Energy a

Combs April 13

2247RHOBPostponed

10:00 TBA Yucca Mountain Project: Digging for

the Truth

Reps PorFederal WOrganizaGovernm

The Senate is in recess. The chamber will reconvene at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, May 9, 2005, and resume consideratio

transportation bill (HR 3).