Platts - Friday, July 15, 2005 http://www.platts.com ------------ NRC proposes fine for sleeping supervisor incident at Entergy Washington (Platts)--15Jul2005 NRC is proposing a $60,000 fine against Entergy Nuclear for violations involving a control room supervisor who fell asleep for several minutes while on duty June 29, 2004. In a letter issued yesterday to Entergy, NRC cited several other violations stemming from that incident, including the failure of a shift manager and reactor operator to take appropriate action after observing their "inattentive" co-worker. The violations were consolidated into one Severity Level III problem, the second lowest severity rating in NRC's four-scale system, and credit was given to Entergy for corrective actions taken. Separately, NRC issued a Severity Level III violation to the control room supervisor and a letter of reprimand to the shift manager. Entergy has 30 days to pay or protest the penalty, or 10 days to contact the Institute on Conflict Resolution at Cornell University if it chooses to pursue an alternative dispute resolution. ------------ Task force recommends NNSA consolidate nuclear weapons activities New York (Platts)--14Jul2005 A task force is recommending that NNSA consolidate all nuclear weapons activities, from warhead production to dismantlement, at one site and that DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) immediately begin its site selection process. The "Overskei Report" that the Secretary of Energy's Advisory Board (SEAB) released today said the consolidation of cutting-edge nuclear component production, manufacturing, and assembly technologies at one location would establish a cost-effective production center. Special nuclear materials also should be consolidated at the site, according to the report (http://www.seab.energy.gov/news.htm). For more information, take a trial to Platts Nuclear News Flashes at http://nuclearnews.platts.com. ------------ Report recommends NNSA consolidate nuclear activities at one site Washington (Platts)--14Jul2005 A task force is recommending that DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) consolidate all nuclear weapons activities, from warhead production to dismantlement, at one site and that NNSA immediately begin its site selection process. The "Overskei Report" that the Secretary of Energy's Advisory Board (SEAB) released today said the consolidation of cutting-edge nuclear component production, manufacturing, and assembly technologies at one location would establish a cost-effective production center. Special nuclear materials also should be consolidated at the site, according to the report(http://www.seab.energy.gov/news.htm). ------------ Industry to discuss ways to guarantee enrichment supply Paris (Platts)--13Jul2005 World enrichers will meet in September under World Nuclear Association (WNA) auspices to begin discussions of industry's role in any multilateral initiative on guaranteeing enrichment supply. Adrian Collings of the WNA, representing its director general John Ritch, told an international conference in Moscow today that industry involvement is essential in any international discussions of mechanisms to guarantee fuel supply for nonproliferation reasons. He said WNA believes that the existing commercial structure could be used with "a minimum of complexity" to provide the supply assurances proposed by international initiatives. Collings told Platts that WNA is concentrating on enrichment supply, though most of the meeting's discussion was on the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle. ------------ NRC judge: DOE's refusal to give draft LA to Nevada lacks merit Washington (Platts)--12Jul2005 DOE's insistence that Nevada should not receive a copy of its draft repository license application (LA) lacks merit, an NRC administrative judge said today. Judge Alan Rosenthal told DOE attorney Michael Shebelskie that he didn't understand what the department could gain by withholding the document from the state and that DOE's refusal to release it would likely delay licensing. Rosenthal's comment came during a hearing of a special NRC licensing board panel today on a Nevada motion asking the board to order DOE to release the draft LA. Nevada, which opposes DOE's planned repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev., wants the draft LA given by waste program contractor Bechtel SAIC Co. to DOE last July, so the state can begin work on contentions it will file during licensing. DOE's refusal to release the document now likely will produce several applications for "substantial extensions" on the basis that DOE had 20 years to file a document 10,000 pages long and Nevada had only a few months to review it, Rosenthal said. The three-judge panel gave no indication on when it might rule on the Nevada motion. ------------