Headquarters Daily Report JULY 24, 1997 *************************************************************************** REPORT NEGATIVE NO INPUT ATTACHED INPUT RECEIVED RECEIVED HEADQUARTERS û û REGION I û REGION II û REGION III û REGION IV û PRIORITY ATTENTION REQUIRED MORNING REPORT - HEADQUARTERS JULY 24, 1997 MR Number: H-97-0091 NRR DAILY REPORT ITEM GENERIC COMMUNICATIONS Information Notice 97-55, "CALCULATION OF SURFACE ACTIVITY FOR CONTAMINATED EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS," was issued on July 23, 1997. This notice was issued to all uranium recovery licensees to alert them to an incoreect method used to calculate the surface activity of contaminated materials. During recent inspections at uranium recovery sites, inspectors found that some licensees used the 2-pi efficiency factor when converting counts per minute (cpm) to disintegrations per minute (dpm) for the purpose of releasing equipment and materials for unrestricted use. The 4-pi efficiency factor is the appropriate factor to use when determining activity levels for releasing equipment and materials. Contact: Elaine Brummett, NMSS 301-415-6606 E-mail: esb@nrc.gov _ REGION I MORNING REPORT PAGE 2 JULY 24, 1997 Licensee/Facility: Notification: Northeast Utilities MR Number: 1-97-0043 Millstone 1 2 3 Date: 07/23/97 Waterford,Connecticut Dockets: 50-245,50-336,50-423 BWR/GE-3,PWR/CE,PWR/W-4-LP Subject: PERSONNEL DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS Discussion: Twenty-two Northeast Utilities (NU) Nuclear employees received formal disciplinary actions for individual performance problems identified during past Training Department activity. The discipline ranged from letters of reprimand to separation. The disciplinary action followed several critical NU audits, inspections and self-assessments of Millstone's operator training performance. About two-thirds of the employees involved held management or supervisory positions at the time of the performance issues. Contact: JACQUE DURR (610)337-5224 _ REGION III MORNING REPORT PAGE 3 JULY 24, 1997 Licensee/Facility: Notification: Wisconsin Electric Power Co. MR Number: 3-97-0082 Point Beach 2 Date: 07/24/97 Two Rivers,Wisconsin RESIDENT INSPECTOR STAFF Dockets: 50-301 PWR/W-2-LP Subject: REACTOR COOLANT PUMP SEAL LEAK DELAYS STARTUP Discussion: On July 23, 1997, the licensee decided to delay the planned startup of Unit 2 after efforts to reduce excessive leakoff flow from the "B" reactor coolant pump No. 1 seal were unsuccessful. Operations personnel had attempted earlier in the week to reduce the leakage by adjusting reactor coolant system pressure, seal injection temperature, and stopping the reactor coolant pump. Unit 2 was scheduled to resume full power operations sometime in late July after completion of a refueling and steam generator replacement outage which began in October 1996 and completion of approximately 81 initiatives to improve the quality of operations, engineering, and maintenance. On July 24, 1997, the licensee commenced a cooldown of the reactor coolant system in preparation for repair or replacement of the pump seal. The seal replacement is expected to delay restart by about 12 days. Unit 1 remains shut down and is scheduled to resume full power operations sometime after Unit 2 is returned to service. Regional Action: The Unit 2 cooldown, heatup, and reactor coolant pump seal repair will be monitored by the resident inspectors. Regional inspectors will augment the resident inspector staff when startup activities resume. Contact: J. W. MCCORMICK-BARG (630)829-9872 _