IR 05000220/2008302

Er 05000220-08-302, on October 6-23, 2008, Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, Unit 1; Initial Operator Licensing Examination Report

ML083310075
Person / Time
Site:	Nine Mile Point
Issue date:	11/26/2008
From:	Hansell S Operations Branch I
To:	Polson K Nine Mile Point
Shared Package
ML081060454	List: IR 05000220/2008302 ML081620386 ML082770233 ML082980037 ML083040099 ML083040103 ML083040108 ML083040111 ML083040117 ML083120374 ML083220034 ML083230106 ML083230120 ML083230370 ML083230376 ML083230387 ML083230427 ML083230440 ML083230507 ML090330469
References
ER-08-302
Download: ML083310075 (39)

Text

ber 26, 2008

SUBJECT:

NINE MILE POINT NUCLEAR STATION, UNIT 1 - NRC EXAMINATION REPORT 05000220/2008302

Dear Mr. Polson:

On October 13, 2008 the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) completed an examination at Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, Unit 1. The enclosed report documents the examination findings, which were discussed on November 14, 2008, with Mr. Robert Brown and other members of your staff.

The examination included the evaluation of three applicants for reactor operator licenses, five applicants for instant senior operator licenses and one applicant for an upgrade senior operator license. The written and operating examinations were developed using NUREG-1021,

"Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors," Revision 9, Supplement 1.

The license examiners determined that four of the nine applicants satisfied the requirements of 10 CFR Part 55, and the appropriate licenses have been issued. The issuance of two of these four licenses is on hold pending completion of deferred eligibility requirements.

No findings of significance were identified during this examination.

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the NRC's "Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter and its enclosure will be available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRCs document system (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (the Public Electronic Reading Room).

Sincerely,

/RA/

Samuel L. Hansell, Jr., Chief Operations Branch Division of Reactor Safety Enclosure: NRC Examination Report 05000220/2008302

Mr. Keith

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

ER 05000220/2008302; October 6-23, 2008; Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, Unit 1; Initial

Operator Licensing Examination Report.

NRC examiners evaluated the competency of three applicants for reactor operator licenses, five applicants for instant senior operator licenses and one applicant for an upgrade senior operator license at Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, Unit 1. The facility licensee developed the examinations using NUREG-1021, "Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors," Revision 9, Supplement 1. The written examination was administered by the facility on October 13, 2008. Three NRC examiners administered the operating tests on October 6-10, 2008. The license examiners determined that four of the nine applicants satisfied the requirements of 10 CFR Part 55, and the appropriate licenses have been issued.

NRC-Identified and Self-Revealing Findings

No findings of significance were identified.

Licensee-Identified Violations

None.

REPORT DETAILS

4OA5 Other Activities (Initial Operator License Examination)

.1 License Applications

a. Scope

The examiners reviewed all nine license applications submitted by the licensee to ensure the applications reflected that each applicant satisfied relevant eligibility requirements. The applications were submitted on NRC Form 398, Personal Qualification Statement, and NRC Form 396, Certification of Medical Examination by Facility Licensee. The examiner also audited two of the license applications in detail to confirm that they accurately reflected the subject applicants qualifications. This audit focused on the applicants experience and on-the-job training, including control manipulations that provided significant reactivity changes.

b. Findings

No findings of significance were identified.

.2 Operator Knowledge and Performance

a. Examination Scope

On October 13, 2008, the licensee proctored the administration of the written examinations to all nine applicants. The licensee staff graded the written examinations, analyzed the results, and presented their analysis to the NRC on October 23, 2008.

The NRC examination team independently graded the written examinations. The NRC results were consistent with the licensee grades.

The NRC examination team administered the various portions of the operating examination to all nine applicants on October 6-10, 2008. The three applicants for reactor operator licenses participated in two dynamic simulator scenarios, in a control room and facilities walkthrough test consisting of eleven system tasks, and an administrative test consisting of four administrative tasks. The five applicants seeking an instant senior operator license participated in three dynamic simulator scenarios, a control room and facilities walkthrough test consisting of ten system tasks, and an administrative test consisting of five administrative tasks. The one applicant for an upgrade senior operator license participated in three dynamic simulator scenarios, a control room and facilities walkthrough test consisting of five system tasks, and an administrative test consisting of five administrative tasks.

b. Findings

Four of the applicants passed all parts of the operating test. One reactor operator applicant failed the written examination. One reactor operator applicant, one senior reactor operator upgrade applicant, and two senior reactor operator instant applicants failed the simulator portion of the operating test. For the written examinations, the reactor operator applicants average score was 83.09 percent and ranged from 79.45 to 89.04 percent, the senior operator applicants average score was 88.27 percent and ranged from 80.4 to 92.7 percent. The overall written examination average was 86.54 percent. The text of the examination questions, the licensees examination analysis, and the licensees post-examination comments may be accessed in the ADAMS system under the accession numbers noted in the attachment.

Chapter ES-403 and Form ES-403-1 of NUREG 1021 require the licensee to analyze the validity of any written examination questions that were missed by half or more of the applicants. The licensee conducted this performance analysis for eight questions that met these criteria and submitted the analysis to the chief examiner.

On October 23, 2008, the licensee submitted post-examination comments for 6 questions. The licensee recommended deleting two questions, changing the correct answer for two questions, and accepting two answers for two questions. After reviewing the licensees comments, the NRC decided to delete three questions, accept two responses for one question, change the answer for one question, and make no change to the remaining question. See Attachment 2 for the licensee comments and 3 for NRC responses.

.3 Initial Licensing Examination Development

a. Examination Scope

The facility licensee developed the examinations in accordance with NUREG-1021, Revision 9, Supplement 1. All licensee facility training and operations staff involved in examination preparation and validation were on a security agreement. The facility licensee submitted both the written and operating examination outlines on July 24, 2008. The chief examiner reviewed the outlines against the requirements of NUREG-1021, Revision 9, Supplement 1, and provided comments to the licensee. The facility licensee submitted the draft examination package on August 14, 2008. The chief examiner reviewed the draft examination package against the requirements of NUREG-1021, Revision 9, Supplement 1, and provided comments to the licensee on the examination on August 21, 2008. The NRC conducted an onsite validation of the operating examinations and provided further comments during the week of September 15, 2008. The licensee satisfactorily completed comment resolution on September 29, 2008.

b. Findings

The NRC approved the initial examination outline and advised the licensee to proceed with the operating examination development.

The examiners determined that the written and operating examinations initially submitted by the licensee were within the range of acceptability expected for a proposed examination.

No findings of significance were identified.

.4 Simulation Facility Performance

a. Examination Scope

The examiners observed simulator performance with regard to plant fidelity during the examination validation and administration.

b. Findings

No findings of significance were identified.

.5 Examination Security

a. Examination Scope

The examiners reviewed examination security for examination development and during both the onsite preparation week and examination administration week for compliance with NUREG-1021 requirements. Plans for simulator security and applicant control were reviewed and discussed with licensee personnel.

b. Findings

No findings of significance were identified.

4OA6 Meetings, Including Exit

The chief examiner presented the examination results to Mr. Robert Brown, General Supervisor of Operations Training and other members of the licensee's management staff on November 14, 2008.

The licensee did not identify any information or materials used during the examination as proprietary.

ATTACHMENT 1:

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

KEY POINTS OF CONTACT

Licensee Personnel

Tom Shortell, Operations Training Manager

Robert Brown, General Supervisor, Operations Training

NRC Personnel

Joseph DAntonio, Senior Operations Engineer

ITEMS OPENED, CLOSED, AND DISCUSSED

Opened

NONE

Opened and Closed

NONE

Closed

NONE

Discussed

NONE