INFORMATION REPORT

October 26, 2006 SECY-06-0215

For: The Commissioners

From: Michael R. Johnson, Assistant for Operations, Office of the EDO

Subject: WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING

OCTOBER 20, 2006

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*

Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards/

Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste S*

*No input this week.

/RA/

Michael R. Johnson 

Assistant for Operations, OEDO

Contact:

R. Taylor, OEDO
October 26, 2006 SECY-06-0215

For: The Commissioners

From: Michael R. Johnson, Assistant for Operations, Office of the EDO

Subject: WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING

OCTOBER 20, 2006

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*

Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards/

Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste S*

*No input this week.

/RA/

Michael R. Johnson

Assistant for Operations, OEDO

Contact:

R. Taylor, OEDO

DISTRIBUTION:

EDO R/F

AO R/F Document Name: C:\WIR\week1020.WPD

OEDO AO/OEDO

RTaylor:paa MRJohnson

10/30/06 10/30/06
WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 20, 2006

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

Headquarters and Regional Office activities. 

Contact: R. Taylor, OEDO by E-mail: rxt2@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 OE *

NRO * OPA 17

NMSS * OIP *

FSME SECY 19

RES * Region I *

NSIR * Region II *

ADM 11 Region III *

OIS 12 Region IV 23

CFO * EDO *

HR 16 OCA *

SBCR * ACRS/ACNW *

*No input this week
October 20, 2006 ENCLOSURE A

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR)

Items of Interest

Week Ending October 20, 2006

Boiling Water Reactor Vessel and Internals Project (BWRVIP) In-Vessel Visual Inspection 

Training Course

During the week of October 9-13, 2006, NRR and the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research

(RES) attended the subject training course at the General Electric (GE) Facility in San Jose,

CA. The BWRVIP representatives provided training for NRR and RES staff as well as NRC

inspectors from regional offices. The course allowed participants to become familiar with how

various BWRVIP-required inspections of the BWR reactor pressure vessels (RPVs) and RPV

internals components are conducted. Participants toured the BWR RPV mock-up and had the

opportunity to gain a better understanding of the layout and functions of the BWR RPV and the

RPV internals components. A representative from GE provided an overview of the materials of

construction and design features of the RPV and RPV internals for the Advanced Boiling Water

Reactor and Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR) designs.

American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Nuclear Quality Assurance (NQA)

Subcommittee and Main Committee Meetings

During October 10 and 11, 2006, Division of Engineering staff participated in several ASME

NQA-1 Subcommittee and Main Committee meetings held in St. Louis, MO. The staff

discussed a number of concerns previously identified with the NQA-1-2004 edition of the quality

standard. The staff continues to work with the ASME/NQA-1 committee to resolve concerns. 

Changes that address concerns will be reflected in a later edition of the NQA-1 standard.

Instrumentation and Control Issues Meeting between NRC and Nuclear Power Industry 

On October 19, 2006, staff held a public meeting at NRC Headquarters with nuclear power

industry representatives and members of the public. The Division of Engineering staff

organized the meeting to address issues that stakeholders had expressed at earlier public

meetings and comments on DG-1145 (guidance for combined license applications). The four

issues were communication between safety channels and between safety and non-safety

systems, improved defense-in-depth and diversity methodologies, cyber-security issues related

to Regulatory Guide 1.152, “Criteria for Digital Computers in Safety Systems of Nuclear Power

Plants,” and human factors and advanced control room design. The meeting provided a

platform for discussions of the three meeting objectives: common understanding of the four

priority issues, discussion of industry and NRC plans to address the issues, and agreement on

the path forward to resolve the issues.

Reactor Oversight Process

On October 10, 2006, the Division of Inspection & Regional Support issued and published in the

Federal Register a survey seeking public comments on its implementation of the Reactor

Oversight Process. Copies of the survey are also being mailed out to external stakeholders. A

press release announcing the survey was issued on October 16, 2006.
October 20, 2006 ENCLOSURE A

Staff Holds First Combined Public Scoping Meetings on Environmental Issues and License

Renewal Process Pertaining to the License Renewal of James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power

Plant (JAFNPP)

On October 12, 2006, the staff conducted two meetings to solicit comments from the public on

the scope of the environmental review of the JAFNPP license renewal application and to

provide information about the overall license renewal process. Approximately 25 people

attended the meetings, including members of the public, representatives of the NRC staff,

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Entergy Nuclear, local citizen organizations, and local

news media. Public comments and questions were mainly focused on socioeconomic issues,

spent fuel storage and disposal and emergency planning. 

The public scoping period ends on November 14, 2006. The draft supplemental environmental

impact statement (SEIS) is scheduled to be published in June 2007 and the final SEIS is

scheduled to be published in January 2008.

Staff Issues Palisades License Renewal Final Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact

Statement

On October 12, 2006, the staff issued the Final Supplement 27 to NUREG-1437, “Generic

Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants,” regarding Palisades

Nuclear Plant. The SEIS represents the completion of the staff’s environmental review of the

license renewal application submitted by Nuclear Management Company. The SEIS includes

the staff’s final analysis in which the staff considers and weighs the environmental effects of the

proposed action, the environmental impacts of alternatives to the proposed action, and

mitigative measures available for reducing or avoiding adverse impacts. The report contains

the NRC’s finding that there are no environmental impacts that would preclude license renewal

for an additional 20 years of operation. 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected to issue the Notice of Availability of the

final SEIS in the October 20, 2006, Federal Register. The NRC can then proceed with the

renewal actions after a 30-day period expires (November 20, 2006), provided that no Federal

agency refers matters in dispute in the final SEIS to the Council on Environmental Quality.

ESBWR Design Certification Status Meeting

On October 12, 2006, the staff conducted a public meeting with GE to discuss the status and

schedule for the ESBWR design certification review. The staff discussed the content of its

October 5, 2006, letter, which established a third milestone for issuance of Requests for

Additional Information (RAIs) (January 31, 2007), and reaffirmed its schedule for issuance of

the safety evaluation report with open items (October 11, 2007). GE discussed their planned

revisions to the design control document (DCD) to incorporate RAI responses, design changes,

and resolution of many of the combined license (COL) action items currently contained in the

DCD. GE also discussed plans to submit additional topical reports aimed at reducing the scope

of design acceptance criteria. Lastly, GE discussed plans to coordinate future revisions of the

DCD with revisions to the COL applications after they are submitted.
October 20, 2006 ENCLOSURE A

Hope Creek - Extended Power Uprate (EPU) Application Accepted

On October 18, 2006, the NRC staff accepted the Hope Creek EPU application for review. 

PSEG submitted the application on September 18, 2006, and provided supplemental

information on October 10, 2006. PSEG plans to implement the EPU following startup from the

fall 2007 refueling outage.

Public Meeting with Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) to Discuss Main Steam and Feedwater

Isolation Valves (MSIVs) Operability Determination

On October 12, 2006, the staff held a public meeting with NEI representatives to discuss

concerns related to determining the operability of MSIVs with dual actuator trains. Although this

issue was initially raised specific to the Callaway plant, the staff’s determination of the MSIV

operability had generic implications for other nuclear facilities with similar MSIV designs. The

meeting was held at NEI’s request and the staff expects further interaction with NEI on this

issue in the future.

NEI Licensing Forum

During October 16-18, 2006, the NRR Director and staff attended a Licensing Forum conducted

by NEI in Baltimore, MD. The purpose of the forum was for the industry and NRC staff to

discuss various licensing related topics. The NRR Director provided the keynote address at the

forum.
October 20, 2006 ENCLOSURE E

Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES)

Items of Interest

Week Ending October 20, 2006

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) Examination of Inter-Granular Stress Corrosion

Cracks (IGSCC) Specimens at Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Non-Destructive

Examination (NDE) Center

On October 2-13, 2006, using advanced ultrasonic testing techniques at the EPRI NDE center,

PNNL staff examined the welds containing inter-granular stress corrosion cracks, which are

used by industry to qualify NDE techniques and personnel. The results of this examination will

be used in the staff’s evaluation and comparison of various NDE technologies, and will be

published in a NUREG/CR report in 2007. This work supports the development of the NRC’s

position on American Society of Mechanical Engineers boiler and pressure vessel codes

regarding NDE.

Meeting with Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) Regarding ACRS Review of

Draft and Revised Regulatory Guides (DGs and RGs) Identified as High Priority to Support New

Reactor Licensing

On October 4, 2006, RES and Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) staff met with the

ACRS to present an overview of the subject RGs and DGs. This meeting was scheduled as a

follow-up to the memoranda sent by RES and NRR to ACRS on August 24 (ML062360563),

and September 5, 2006 (ML062430334), in which the staff identified those Standard Review

Plan (SRP) Sections and RGs that could be waived from ACRS review, and others that the staff

recommended ACRS review. The ACRS is evaluating the information provided by the staff and

is expected to provide a determination on the waivers shortly.

Examination at NAC International of Legal Weight Truck (LWT) Cask for Potential Testing

On October 10, 2006, RES and Office of Nuclear Materials Safety and Safeguards, as well as

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) staff, participated in the subject

examination in support of the development of a proposed fire test plan to test the shipping cask

for beyond-design-basis fire accidents.

Issuance of Revised Policy Statement on Abnormal Occurrence (AO) Criteria

On October 12, 2006, the subject revised policy statement was published in the Federal

Register. The AO criteria were amended to ensure consistency with the NRC's Strategic Plan

and 10 CFR 35, “Medical Use of Byproduct Material.” The amendments include the addition of

risk-informed criteria based on the NRC Accident Sequence Precursor Program and Reactor

Oversight Process for selecting AOs at commercial nuclear power plants. Also, the security

criteria have been amended to capture high risk significant events as determined by 10 CFR

110, “Export and Import of Nuclear Equipment and Material.” The AO criteria are used to

determine which events are significant from the standpoint of public health and safety and are

published annually in NUREG-0090, “Report to Congress on Abnormal Occurrences.”
October 20, 2006 ENCLOSURE G

Office of Administration (ADM)

Items of Interest 

Week Ending October 20, 2006

List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: HI-STORM 100 Revision 3 (AH98 - Part 72)

On October 16, 2006, the NRC published a direct final rule in the Federal Register (71 FR

60659) that amends the entry for the HI-STORM 100 cask system in the list of approved spent

fuel storage casks (Amendment 3) (AH98 - Part 72). This action eliminates cooling of the multipurpose canister before flooding with water as part of cask unloading operations, allows linear

interpolation between minimal soluble boron concentrations for certain fuel enrichments, and

modifies several definitions. The direct final rule becomes effective January 2, 2007.

On October 16, 2006, the NRC published the companion proposed rule to this direct final rule in

the Federal Register (71 FR 260672). The comment period closes November 15, 2006.

Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants; Supplemental Proposed Rule

(AG24- Parts 2, 50, 51, & 52)

On October 17, 2006, the NRC published a proposed rule in the Federal Register (71 FR

61330) that supplements the March 13, 2006, proposed rule in the Federal Register (71 FR

12782) presenting proposed revisions to the regulations governing the licensing and approval

processes for nuclear power plants contained in 10 CFR Part 52. This supplemental proposed

rule would amend the regulations applicable to limited work authorizations and modify the

scope of activities that are considered construction requiring a limited work authorization. The

comment period for this action closes November 16, 2006.
October 20, 2006 ENCLOSURE H

Office of Information Services (OIS)

Items of Interest

Week Ending October 20, 2006

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

of October 13 through October 19, 2006:

Office of Inspector General report on the Public Document Room FOIA/PA-2007-0016

Nuclear regulatory compliance re: specific document types in ADAMS

(enforcement documents)

FOIA/PA-2007-0017

Post-Fire Safe Shutdown Circuit Analysis Spurious Actuations,

minutes of meeting held on 4-25-06, presentation materials, review

package resubmitted to Committee to Review Generic Requirements

on 5-11-06

FOIA/PA-2007-0018
October 20, 2006 ENCLOSURE J

Office of Human Resources (HR)

Items of Interest

Week Ending October 20, 2006

Arrivals

BOATRIGHT, ALEEM E. HEALTH PHYSICIST NRR

GONZALEZ, SARAH H. GEOPHYSICIST NRR

HAQ, SALMAN TRAINING PROGRAM SPECIALIST HR

SCALES, KERBY V. OPERATIONS ENGINEER NRR

XI, ZUHAN MECHANICAL ENGINEER NRR

Departure

NOLAN, KATHRYN BARBER LEGAL COUNSEL OCM
October 20, 2006 ENCLOSURE M

Office of Public Affairs (OPA)

Items of Interest

Week Ending October 20, 2006

The OPA received significant media inquiries on the following:

Commissioner Merrifield’s announcement that he will not seek a third term.

The NRC’s plans to conduct a State of the Art Reactor Consequence Analysis.

The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board’s decision to admit contentions in the Pilgrim license

renewal review.

Other Public Affairs Items:

OPA assisted technical staff at public meetings regarding USEC, Vogtle and Areva (Richland,

WA).

Chairman Klein was interviewed on C-Span for a program broadcast Oct. 22.

Press Releases

Headquarters:

06-129 NRC Seeks Public Comment on Implementation of Reactor Oversight Process

(10/16)

06-130 NRC Issues Technical Evaluation for the Idaho National Laboratory Tank Farm

Facility (10/20)

06-131 NRC Commissioner Merrifield Will Not Seek Third Term (10/20)

Regions:

I-06-056 NRC, FirstEnergy to Discuss Apparent Violation at Beaver Valley Nuclear Power

Plant (10/17)

III-06-031 NRC Licensing Board to Hold Hearing on Clinton Early Site Permit; Public

Comments to Be Heard November 8 in Clinton (10/19)
October 20, 2006 ENCLOSURE O

Office of the Secretary (SECY)

Items of Interest

Week Ending October 20, 2006

Document Released

to Public

Date Subject

Decision Documents

1. SECY-06-0205 09/29/06 Final Rule: National Source Tracking of

Sealed Sources (RIN 3150-AH48)

2. Attachment to

COMSECY-06-0048

10/3/06 Statement of Policy on Conduct of New

Reactor Licensing Proceedings

3. COMSECY-06-0046 09/29/06 Recommendation on Establishing a Single,

Visible, High-Level Point of Contact in the

Office of the Executive Director for

Operations for the Tribes

SRM on COMSECY-06-

0046

10/19/06 (same)

Voting Record on

COMSECY-06-0046

10/19/06 (same)

Information Papers

- SECY-06-0209 10/11/06 Weekly Information Report - Week Ending

September 29, 2006

Federal Register Notices Issued

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

and Procedures, notice of meeting (11/01/06). 

2. ACRS Subcommittee Meeting on Fire Protection, notice of meeting (10/31/06). 

3. ACRS Subcommittee Meeting on Regulatory Policies and Practices, notice of meeting

(10/31/06). 

4. ACRS, notice of 537th meeting (11/1-3/06). 

5. Request for a License to Import Radioactive Waste, UniTech Services Group, Inc.

6. Request for a License to Export Radioactive Waste, UniTech Services Group, Inc.
October 20, 2006 ENCLOSURE P

Region IV (RIV)

Items of Interest

Week Ending October 20, 2006

Commissioner Merrifield’s Visit to South Texas Project

On October 18, 2006, Commissioner Jeffrey S. Merrifield toured South Texas Project Electric

Generating Station, and met with plant management and staff. Commissioner Merrifield was

accompanied by the Region IV Administrator.