INFORMATION REPORT

May 18, 2009 SECY-09-0074

For: The Commissioners 

From: Vonna L. Ordaz 

 Assistant for Operations 

 Office of the Executive Director for Operations 

Subject: WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING 

MAY 8, 2009 

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/ 

Vonna L. Ordaz 

Assistant for Operations, OEDO 

Contact: 

U. Shoop, OEDO 
May 18, 2009 SECY-09-0074

For: The Commissioners 

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

Subject: WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING 

MAY 8, 2009 

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/ 

Vonna L. Ordaz 

Assistant for Operations, OEDO 

Contact: 

U. Shoop, OEDO 

DISTRIBUTION: 

EDO R/F 

AO R/F Document Name: G:\AO\WIR\2009\Week0514.doc 

OEDO AO/OEDO 

UShoop VLOrdaz ML091390821

05/18/09 05/18/09 
WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING MAY 8, 2009

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

Headquarters and Regional Office activities. 

Contact: Undine Shoop, OEDO by E-mail: Undine.Shoop@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 4 OIP * 

FSME 6 SECY 19 

RES * Region I 20 

NSIR 10 Region II 21 

ADM 11 Region III 22 

OIS 12 Region IV 23 

CFO * EDO * 

HR 16 OCA 24 

SBCR * 

*No input this week 
May 8, 2009 ENCLOSURE A 

 Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) 

 Items of Interest 

 Week Ending May 8, 2009 

Meeting with the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI)

On May 1, 2009, the staff held a public meeting with NEI for staff and industry representatives to 

discuss Spent Fuel Pool criticality and neutron absorber issues. Presentations were made by 

NEI and the industry. NEI and the industry agreed to prepare an Industry Guidance Document 

for spent fuel storage criticality analyses which will discuss the technical content of fuel storage 

criticality license amendment requests. 

Electronic Distribution of Published Federal Register Notices of Consideration of Issuance of 

Amendments and Notices of Issuance of Amendments

On May 6, 2009, the staff began sending out Biweekly Notices of Issuance of Amendment and 

Notices of Consideration of Issuance of Amendment by e-mail. Previously these had been 

mailed out through a mailing list maintained by the staff. There were over 300 personnel on the 

old mailing list and each mailing contained approximately 10 pages. The staff continues to 

receive positive feedback from the public and stakeholders on their transition to electronic 

mailings. 

Extension Request for Beaver Valley Issued

On May 5, 2009, the staff issued an extension for Beaver Valley Unit 1 to complete certain 

corrective actions for Generic Letter (GL) 2004-02, PWR Sump Performance. The licensee, as 

it was removing known fibrous insulation to address the GL, found unexpected fibrous insulation 

on the Reactor Pressure Vessel nozzles. The licensee requested deferring replacement of this 

insulation until its fall 2010 outage because of concerns about radiation exposure and the 

difficulty of access to the material. The staff considered the risk posed by this insulation to be 

very small and therefore found the extension to be acceptable. 

Battery Industry Meeting

From April 26 to 29, 2009, NRC staff attended Battcon in Orlando, Florida. Battcon is a battery 

industry meeting where battery technology and designs relevant to existing and new nuclear 

power plant designs are discussed. The staff trained on various battery design applications. 
May 8, 2009 ENCLOSURE B 

 Office of New Reactors (NRO) 

 Items of Interest 

 Week Ending May 8, 2009 

Progress Energy Withdraws Limited Work Authorization (LWA) Request for Levy County

In a letter dated May 1, 2009, Progress Energy formally withdrew a LWA request associated with 

the Levy County site in Florida. This action does not change the overall Levy County combined 

license review schedule, which includes proposed issuance of the Final Environmental Impact 

Statement in September, 2010, and proposed issuance of the Final Safety Evaluation Report in 

May, 2011. In its letter, Progress Energy indicated a continued commitment to construct and 

operate two AP1000 units at the proposed Levy County site. 
May 8, 2009 ENCLOSURE D 

 Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs (FSME) 

 Items of Interest 

 Week Ending May 8, 2009 

Management Review Board (MRB) Meetings Held

On May 4, 2009, a Management Review Board met to discuss recent periodic meetings held 

with Florida and Nebraska and a recent orientation meeting held with Pennsylvania. No 

performance issues were identified, and the MRB agreed that the next Integrated Materials 

Performance Evaluation Program (IMPEP) reviews for each of the programs should proceed as 

currently scheduled. 

On May 5, 2009, the MRB met to consider the findings of the North Carolina IMPEP review. The 

program was found satisfactory for all indicators reviewed. Overall, the program was found to be 

adequate to protect public health and safety and compatible with NRC’s program. This marked 

the fourth consecutive review that resulted in these findings, a period spanning 15 years. 
May 8, 2009 ENCLOSURE E 

 Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES) 

 Items of Interest 

 Week Ending May 8, 2009 

Withdrawal of Regulatory Guide (RG) 4.8, “Environmental Technical Specifications for Nuclear 

Power Plants”

On May 6, 2009, the NRC published a Federal Register Notice announcing the withdrawal of RG 

4.8 titled, “Environmental Technical Specifications for Nuclear Power Plants.” The RG provided 

guidance to applicants on the preparation of proposed environmental technical specifications 

and included a standard format and an identification of their principal content. RG 4.8 is no 

longer needed because environmental technical specifications are no longer used. The 

information is now contained in Environmental Protection Plans that generally appear in 

Appendix B to the operating license. 
May 8, 2009 ENCLOSURE G 

 Office of Administration (ADM) 

 Items of Interest 

 Week Ending May 8, 2009 

Physical Protection of Byproduct Material, Availability of Preliminary Draft Rule Language 

(10 CFR Part 37) (RIN 3150–AI12)

On May 1, 2009, the NRC published a document (74 FR 20235) in the Federal Register to make 

available preliminary draft proposed rule language to amend its regulations to add a new Part 37 

to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The new Part 37 will contain the security 

(physical protection) requirements that are designed to provide reasonable assurance of 

preventing the theft or diversion of Category 1 and Category 2 quantities of radioactive material 

as designated by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The new provisions will 

address background investigations, access control, physical security during use, and physical 

security during any transport of Category 1 and Category 2 quantities of radioactive material. At 

this time, the staff is only posting the preliminary draft language on the proposed requirements of 

physical security during use and storage. These requirements will be contained in Subpart C of 

the new Part 37. The draft preliminary language for the transportation security was noticed in 

November 2008 (73 FR 69590; November 19, 2008). Draft preliminary language for background 

investigations and access control programs was noticed on April 20, 2009 (74 FR 17794). The 

availability of the preliminary draft rule language is intended to inform stakeholders of the current 

status of the NRC's activities and solicit public comments on the information being provided at 

this time. The comment period for this preliminary draft proposed rule expires June 15, 2009. 
May 8, 2009 ENCLOSURE H 

 Office of Information Services (OIS) 

 Items of Interest 

 Week Ending May 8, 2009 

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

of May 1, 2009 through May 7, 2009: 

Quarterly updates of the status of new reactor licensing activities & 

future planning for new reactors, generated by Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission (FERC), 8-31-07 to 3-31-09 

FOIA/PA-2009-0157 

Office of Investigations (OI) Annual Report FY2006 (NUREG-1830, 

Vol. 3) 

FOIA/PA-2009-0158 

United Nuclear Corporation’s former employee petition requesting all 

site employees be designated a class in the Special Exposure Cohort – 

Referral from Department of Health and Human Services 

REF-2009-0006 

OI report 2-2008-038, all documents including transcripts FOIA/PA-2009-0159 

Millstone Unit 3 containment steel lining & containment for evidence of 

corrosion or other defects, records for the past 3 years 

FOIA/PA-2009-0160 

Allegation NRR-1999-A-0060, including all correspondence between 

NRC & named individual 

FOIA/PA-2009-0161 

EA-02-026, EA-02-261, EA-03-039, EA-03-086, RG 5.69, RG 5.70, 

Radiological Shortage Adversary Characteristics document, etc. 

FOIA/PA-2009-0162 

Leaks from nuclear power plants in the State of Florida since 2005 FOIA/PA-2009-0163 

___________ 

REF = Referral requests from other agencies: a new DOJ requirement to track referrals 

separately from FOIA/PA requests. 
May 8, 2009 ENCLOSURE J 

 Office of Human Resources (HR) 

 Items of Interest 

 Week Ending May 8, 2009 

Arrivals 

Beavers, James Emergency Preparedness Inspector RII 

Botwin, Harrison Student Engineer (Co-Op) NRO 

Branley, Justin Student Engineer (Summer) RII 

Colon, Jessica Reactor Systems Engineer (NSPDP) RES 

Elam, Amy Secretary (OA) RIV 

Harper, Richard Summer Law Clerk 2009 OGC 

Hixon, Amy Student Scientist FSME 

Hudson, Jody Associate Director for Human Resources 

Training & Development 

 HR 

Kolb, Elaine Senior Management Analyst / Senior Auditor OIG 

Lin, Chien-Ting Senior Program Analyst NRO 

Miller, Douglas Student Engineer RES 

Nietmann, Kevin Technical Advisor OIG 

Pederson, Perry Security Specialist (Cyber) NSIR 

Rule, David Branch Chief, Financial Resources Br RI 

Rutledge, Nicholas Student Engineer HR 

Sircar, Madhumita Mechanical Engineer NRR 

Tatum, James Senior Reactor Systems Engineer NRO 

Watkins, John Reactor Inspector RIV 

Weil, Jenny Congressional Affairs Officer OCA 

Wolfsheimer, Amy Summer Law Clerk 2009 OGC 

Departures 

Cochran, Peter Reactor Systems Engineer (NSPDP) RES 

Jackson, Diane Senior Reactor Systems Engineer NRR 

Monch, Alfred Project Manager NRO 
May 8, 2009 ENCLOSURE M 

 Office of Public Affairs (OPA) 

 Items of Interest 

 Week Ending May 8, 2009 

OPA Received Significant Media Inquiries on the Following

Potential leakage related to the Unit 2 condensate storage tank at the Indian Point nuclear plant 

in Buchanan, New York 

Tritium leaks at the Oyster Creek nuclear plant near Toms River, New Jersey 

New reactors and the status of anticipated applications for new reactor designs and licensing 

A forced shutdown due to a steam leak at the Turkey Point nuclear plant in Homestead, Florida 

and subsequent discovery of a bent fuel rod problem 

Status of the license renewal application for the Pilgrim nuclear power plant near Plymouth, 

Mass. and additional concerns about the plant’s spent nuclear fuel pool 

Other Public Affairs Items

OPA coordinated an NRC Fiscal Year 2010 budget brief for members of the media by the NRC 

Chief Financial Officer. 

Press Releases

Headquarters:

09-081 NRC to Hold Public Meetings May 19 in Wilmington, North Carolina, on 

Environmental Review for Proposed Enrichment Plant (5/5) 

09-082 NRC FY2010 Budget Slides Available (5/7) 

Regions:

III-09-012 NRC Schedules Open House to Discuss Nuclear Power Issues and 2008 

Performance of Clinton Nuclear Power Plant (5/4) 

III-09-013 NRC to Discuss 2008 Performance Assessment for Prairie Island Nuclear Power 

Plant (5/6) 

III-09-014 NRC to Discuss 2008 Performance Assessment for Dresden Nuclear Power Plant 

May 14 (5/7) 

 
May 8, 2009 ENCLOSURE O 

 Office of the Secretary (SECY) 

 Items of Interest 

 Week Ending May 8, 2009 

Document Released 

to Public 

Date Subject 

Decision Documents

1. SRM-SECY-09-0006 05/04/09 Critical Research Facilities for Severe 

Accident Research at Light Water and 

Advanced Reactors 

 Commission Voting 

 Record on SECY-09-0006 

05/04/09 (same) 

2. SRM-SECY-09-0034 05/04/09 Proposed Rulemaking – Environmental 

Protection Regarding the Update of the 1996 

Generic Environmental Impact Statement for 

Nuclear Power Plant License Renewal 

 Commission Voting 

 Record on SECY-09-0034 

05/04/09 (same) 

Memoranda

 M090416 5/8/09 Staff Requirements – Briefing on Human 

Capital and Equal Opportunity (EEO) 

Federal Register Notices Issued

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

Services, Inc. (DSSI), XW008/03. 

2. Tennessee Valley Authority, Notice of Receipt of Update to Application for Facility 

Operating License and Notice of Opportunity for Hearing for the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, 

Unit 2 and Order Imposing Procedures for Access to Sensitive Unclassified NonSafeguards Information and Safeguards Information for Contention Preparation, Docket 

No. 50-391, NRC-2008-0369. 

3. Establishment of Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB), Luminant Generation 

Company LLC (Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant, Units 3 and 4). 

4. Proposed rule, 10 CFR Parts 50 and 52, Enhancements to Emergency Preparedness 

Regulations. 

5. Applications and Amendments to Facility Operating Licenses Involving Proposed No 

Significant Hazards Considerations and containing Sensitive Unclassified NonSafeguards Information or Safeguards Information and Order Imposing Procedures for 

Access to Sensitive Unclassified Non-Safeguards Information or Safeguards Information. 

6. Establishment of ASLB, South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company (South Texas 

 Project Units 3 and 4).