External scratching of spent fuel canisters is "not unusual" and doesnot pose a threat to the safety of those containers, Holtec Internationalofficials told NRC staff during an April 10 public meeting at NRCheadquarters in Rockville, Maryland.The meeting was held in the wake of an August 3 incident involvingthe lowering of a canister into a storage system at Southern CaliforniaEdison's permanently shut San Onofre plant.“Scratches on plates and shells … are not unusual. In fact, they area common occurrence,” Charles Bullard II, Holtec’s director ofengineering mechanics, said during the meeting.Bullard said canister shell scratching occurs in manufacturing,transport and operations. "The localized scratches are not a safety concern,” do not affect functionality, and do not violate any design orlicensing requirements of the final safety analysis report of Holtec'sHi-Storm Umax canister storage system, he said.
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