INFORMATION REPORT

September 21, 2007 SECY-07-0165

For: The Commissioners 

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

Subject: WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING 

SEPTEMBER 14, 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 Tamara E. Bloomer Acting For/ 

Vonna L. Ordaz 

Assistant for Operations, OEDO 

Contact: 

L. Quinones, OEDO 
September 21, 2007 SECY-07-0165

For: The Commissioners 

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

Subject: WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING 

SEPTEMBER 14, 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 Tamara E. Bloomer Acting For/ 

Vonna L. Ordaz 

Assistant for Operations, OEDO 

Contact: 

L. Quinones, OEDO 

DISTRIBUTION: 

EDO R/F 

AO R/F Document Name: G:\Melissa\WIR\ week0914.doc 

OEDO AO/OEDO ML072670331 

LQuinones VLOrdaz 

09/20/07 09/21/07 
WEEKLY INFORMATION REPORT - WEEK ENDING SEPTEMBER 14, 2007

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

Headquarters and Regional Office activities. 

Contact: L. Quinones, OEDO by E-mail: lnq@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 
September 14, 2007 ENCLOSURE A 

 Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) 

 Items of Interest 

 Week Ending September 14, 2007 

Meeting with Waterford 3

 

On September 6, 2007, the staff held a public meeting with the Waterford Unit 3 licensee. The 

topic of the meeting was the steam generator internals failures, parts termed “batwings,” 

identified in the last two refueling outages at the plant. Specifically, the licensee described 

inspection plans for its mid-cycle outage, including the scope of the inspections and contingency 

plans (both additional inspections and possible repairs, if warranted) depending on the results of 

the planned inspections. NRR staff will provide full support to the regional oversight of the 

licensee inspection findings as necessary. 

Direct Transfers of Four Reactor Licenses from the General Electric Company (GE) to 

GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas, LLC

On September 6, 2007, the staff issued an Order approving direct transfers of four reactor 

licenses from GE to GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas, LLC. The reactors are at the 

Vallecitos Nuclear Center, and include three permanently shutdown facilities (the Vallecitos 

Boiling Water Reactor, the General Electric Test Reactor, the ESADA Vallecitos Experimental 

Superheat Reactor), and one operating research reactor (the Nuclear Test Reactor). 

Purdue Starts High-Enriched Uranium (HEU) to Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) Fuel Conversion

On September 7, 2007, Purdue University started conversion of its research reactor (PUR-1). 

The PUR-1 is a 1 kilowatt thermal power, heterogeneous, pool-type reactor that uses Materials 

Testing Reactor-type plate fuel. No requests for a hearing on the conversion order were 

received. The first LEU fuel element was placed on the grid plate on September 8, 2007. This 

action meets the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) definition of reactor conversion. The 

licensee continues with its critical experiment and hope to reach criticality this week. 

Regulatory Issue Summary (RIS) 2007-18

On September 7, 2007, the staff issued RIS 2007-18, “Data for Updating the Interim Inventory of 

Radioactive Sources.” RIS 2007-18 informs addressees of a forthcoming survey of data for 

input into the interim inventory of radioactive sources. The submission of this information will be 

voluntary. 

Discussion with FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC) - Davis Besse’s Proposed 

Conversion to Improved Technical Specifications

On September 11-12, 2007, the staff held public meetings with FENOC representatives to 

discuss FENOC’s August 3, 2007, application for conversion to Improved Technical 

Specifications (ITS) for the Davis Besse Nuclear Power Station. The purpose of the meetings 

was to initiate communications between the NRC staff and FENOC regarding the NRC staff’s 

review of the proposed license amendment request. 
September 14, 2007 ENCLOSURE A 

Discussion topics included the proposed schedule/milestones for the review of the application, 

the treatment of beyond scope items, and the project plan revision process. FENOC has 

requested approval of the ITS conversion license amendment by August 1, 2008. 

Corrective Action Program Owners Group Meeting

On September 12-14, 2007, the staff attended the Corrective Action Program Owners Group 

meeting to present information on the interfaces between the Reactor Oversight Process safety 

culture initiative and corrective action programs and the results from Problem Identification and 

Resolution inspections. Sessions at the meeting covered a variety of topics related to corrective 

action programs, including the progress on an industry white paper to define significant 

conditions adverse to quality. 
September 14, 2007 ENCLOSURE B 

 Office of New Reactors (NRO) 

 Items of Interest 

 Week Ending September 14, 2007 

Order to New Reactor Vendors

On September 12, 2007, the staff issued an Order to new reactor vendors (Westinghouse, GEHitachi Nuclear Energy [GEH], AREVA, and Mitsubishi) imposing requirements for the protection 

of safeguards information (SGI). Vendors must comply with the requirements imposed by the 

Order before they can receive SGI-level aircraft impact characteristics. These characteristics 

can be used as a reasonable input by reactor vendors for performing an assessment of their 

designs, which an upcoming rulemaking will require. The Order is similar to the ones issued 

previously to Westinghouse and GEH, with additional provisions regarding access to SGI by 

foreign nationals and restrictions on storage locations. This Order supercedes the earlier 

Orders. 

Awarding of NRO New Reactor Review Commercial Technical Assistance Contracts

On September 13, 2007,the staff completed the notification process related to awarding four 

NRO new reactor review commercial technical assistance contracts. The contracts were 

awarded to three local companies, including two small businesses. These contracts extend for 

five years and encompass all activities from pre-application, environmental, combined license, 

design certification, regulatory infrastructure and litigation support. 

Meeting with the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) to Discuss Operator Licensing White Papers

On September 13, 2007, management and staff met with NEI to discuss industry initiatives and 

issues related to the training, qualification, and licensing of control room operators. Topics 

discussed included licensed operator experience requirements, use of partial scope simulators 

for training, licensed operator training challenges, and NUREG changes. No new policy issues 

were identified during the meeting. The staff raised questions and asked for clarification on 

White Papers submitted by NEI. 

NEI agreed to clarify issues and respond to the questions related to the White Papers. 
September 14, 2007 ENCLOSURE C 

 Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS) 

 Items of Interest 

 Week Ending September 14, 2007 

Munich, Germany, Presentation on Repository Natural Analog Studies 

From August 24-September 3, 2007, a Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses staff 

member presented a paper; attended two conferences in Munich, Germany; and visited the 

Institute for Nuclear Waste Disposal, in Germany. The conferences focused on the geochemical 

aspects of nuclear waste disposal, and the Institute visit focused on potential future collaborative 

radionuclide-transport studies. 

Eastman Kodak Facility Site Trip

On September 11, 2007, NMSS and Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response (NSIR) 

staff members visited the Eastman Kodak facility in Rochester, NY, to discuss security measures 

Kodak will use during the disassembly, packaging, and shipping of the neutron-flux multiplier. 

Other attendees included staff from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), and 

the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). They visited the labyrinth and vault and observed the 

security Kodak has in place for the flux multiplier. Attendees discussed the disassembly process 

and special security measures Kodak will use during flux-multiplier disassembly, packaging, and 

transport to the loading dock. 

Global Nuclear Energy Partnership Interagency Agreement (IA)

The IA between the NRC and DOE, for the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) program, 

was finalized on September 12, 2007. Under the IA, DOE will reimburse NRC up to $1 million 

for certain GNEP-related efforts, expended by NRC staff through April 30, 2008. The IA 

authorizes DOE to commit additional funds, up to a total of $6 million, over the IA’s durational 

period of August 22, 2007, to August 21, 2009. NRC staff’s GNEP-related efforts covered by the 

IA include: (1) participation in technical-information-exchange meetings; (2) review and analysis 

of GNEP reports and engineering studies; (3) observation of tests, simulations, and 

demonstrations; (4) participation in facility tours, meetings, and conferences; and (5) 

development of its knowledge base in GNEP. 
September 14, 2007 ENCLOSURE E 

 Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES) 

 Items of Interest 

 Week Ending September 14, 2007 

Agreement Between the NRC and the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT) in the Area 

of Severe Accident Research

On September 10, 2007, the NRC’s Executive Director for Operations signed the subject 

international Agreement which defines the terms and conditions by which the NRC and the VTT 

will cooperate in the area of severe accident research. Aside from the NRC gaining additional 

data and knowledge related to severe accidents, this cooperative agreement will allow for the 

independent verification of the accuracy of the NRC’s MELCOR severe accident code for 

different accident sequences. The NRC uses the MELCOR code to evaluate potential risk and 

security scenarios for severe accidents, address regulatory and licensing issues for operating 

plants, and to review new designs. This Agreement will remain in effect for a period of 3 years. 

Visit by RES to the Building and Fire Research Lab (BFRL) at the National Institute of Standards 

and Technology (NIST)

On September 13, 2007, RES staff, accompanied by the Office and Deputy Office Director, 

visited NIST's BFRL to discuss current fire research projects between NRC and NIST. Staff 

witnessed a fire test that NIST is conducting as part of on-going efforts to validate NISTdeveloped computer fire models, which have been evaluated in NUREG-1824, “Validation and 

Verification of Selected Fire Models for Nuclear Power Plant Applications, Vols. 1-7.” NIST has 

been a significant partner with the NRC in developing useful tools and guidance for fire modeling 

and fire testing. 
September 14, 2007 ENCLOSURE H 

Office of Information Services (OIS) 

 Items of Interest 

 Week Ending September 14, 2007 

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

of September 7-September 13, 2007: 

National Security Telecommunications & Information Systems Security 

Committee, meeting minutes (Referral by the National Security Agency) FOIA/PA-2007-0322 

Logs of correspondence between members of Congress & NRC 

between July 1, 2007 & August 30, 2007 FOIA/PA-2007-0323 

Leaks of radioactive water from Indian Point 1 & 2 into groundwater & 

the Hudson River, all correspondence between NRC & Entergy Nuclear 

Northeast LLC & any NY State agencies between 4-3-07 & 9-7-07 FOIA/PA-2007-0324 

Louisiana Energy Services, LBP-06-17 & LBP-06-15, Third Partial Initial 

Decision, 2006; Private Fuel Storage, LLC, Docket 72-22-Independent 

Spent Fuel Storage Instillations (ISFSI), Memorandum & Order, 2003 & 

2004 

FOIA/PA-2007-0325 

Huntington Empire Soils Inc., 398 Lincoln Boulevard, Middlesex, NJ, 

08846, license 29-30191-01, records on environmental issues FOIA/PA-2007-0326 

Contract NRC3307360, awarded to Telecommunications Solutions Inc., 

copy of releasable sections A-J & statement of work FOIA/PA-2007-0327 

SECY-99-013 & attachments, dated March 12, 1999 FOIA-PA-2007-0328 

Case I-2006-054, transcripts or audiotapes of any & all interviews FOIA/PA-2007-0329 

Requests Completed:

2007-0236 

2007-0244 

2007-0248 

2007-0262 

2007-0264 (No PDR) 

2007-0292 (No PDR) 

2007-0317 (No PDR) 

2007-0319 
September 14, 2007 ENCLOSURE J 

 Office of Human Resources (HR) 

 Items of Interest 

 Week Ending September 14, 2007 

ARRIVALS

BOWEN, JEREMY ENGINEER NRR 

BRIGGS, ANTHONY CONTRACT SPECIALIST (NSPDP) ADM 

COOPER, LATOYA SECRETARY (OA) NMSS 

EUDY, MICHAEL PROJECT MANAGER NRO 

HERNANDEZ, CAMMIE SECRETARY (OA) RIII 

IBARROLA, SHERLYN REACTOR ENGINEER (NSPDP) RI 

LIM, SHARON ACQUISITION DATABASE MANAGER ADM 

MOORE, TIFFANY SECRETARY (OA) NRO 

NEWELL, BRIAN PARALEGAL SPECIALIST OGC 

OJEDA, JENNIFER PROGRAM ANALYST CFO 

PRICE, SHIRLEY BUDGET TECHNICIAN CFO 

SAGE, ALAN SENIOR IT SPECIALIST (INFOSEC) IS 

SCHMIDT, COLLEEN SECRETARY (OA) RIII 

SHAH, MARIA SECRETARY (OA) CFO 

SIMON, MARCIA LEGAL INTERN OGC 

TAYLOR, THOMAS REACTOR ENGINEERING/RESIDENT 

INSPECTOR 

RIII 

XU, JIM SENIOR STRUCTURAL ENGINEER NRO 

DEPARTURES

EMRIT, RONALD SENIOR REACTOR INSPECTOR RI 

KURTH, MICHAEL RESIDENT INSPECTOR (BWR) RIII 

MURRY, MAISHA STUDENT HEALTH PHYSICIST RI 

SITEK, MARK RESIDENT INSPECTOR (PWR) RIV 

TIJERINA, PATRISHA STUDENT LAW CLERK OGC 
September 14, 2007 ENCLOSURE O 

 Office of the Secretary (SECY) 

 Items of Interest 

 Week Ending September 14, 2007 

 Document Released 

 to Public 

 Date Subject 

Decision Documents

1. SRM-SECY-07-0101 09/10/07 Staff Recommendations Regarding a RiskInformed and Performance-Based Revision 

to 10 CFR Part 50 

 Voting Record on SECY-

 07-0101 

09/10/07 (same) 

2. SRM-SECY-07-0104 09/11/07 Proposed Rulemaking – Alternate Fracture 

Toughness Requirements for Protection 

Against Pressurized Thermal Shock Events 

(RIN 3150-A101) 

 Voting Record on SECY-

 07-0104 

09/11/07 (same) 

3. SRM-SECY-07-0112 09/12/07 Staff Evaluation and Proposed Revision to 

the Public Radiation Safety Significance 

Determination Process to Address 

Radioactive Liquid Spills and Leaks 

 Voting Record on SECY- 

 07-0112 

09/12/07 (Same) 

Information Papers

1. SECY-07-0151 08/31/07 Weekly Information Report – Week Ending 

August 24, 2007 

2. SECY-07-0154 09/07/07 Weekly Information Report – Week Ending 

August 31, 2007 

Memoranda

1. M070822 09/07/07 Periodic Briefing on New Reactor Issues 

2. M070904 09/12/07 Briefing on Radioactive Materials Security 

and Licensing 

Commission Correspondence

1. Letter to Jennifer Granholm, Governor of Michigan, dated September 6, 2007, responds to 

letter announcing the State of Michigan’s intent to establish an Agreement with NRC. 
September 14, 2007 ENCLOSURE O 

Federal Register Notices Issued

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

Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor Design Certification, notice of meeting 

(10/2-3/2007). 

2. ACRS, Subcommittee Meeting on Planning and Procedures, notice of meeting (10/3/2007). 

3. Final rule, 10 CFR Parts 20, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 50, 61, 62, 72, 110, 150, 170, and 171, RIN: 

3150-AH84, Requirements for Expanded Definition of Byproduct Material.