IR 05000237/2002301

Er 05000237-02-301(DRS), Er 05000249-02-301(DRS), on 06/03-06/14/02, Exelon Generation Company, LLC, Dresden Nuclear Power Station. Initial License Examination Report

ML022070185
Person / Time
Site:	Dresden
Issue date:	07/25/2002
From:	Grobe J Division of Reactor Safety III
To:	Skolds J Exelon Generation Co, Exelon Nuclear
References
ER-02-301
Download: ML022070185 (14)

Text

uly 25, 2002

SUBJECT:

DRESDEN NUCLEAR POWER STATION NRC INITIAL LICENSE EXAMINATION REPORT50-237/02-301(DRS);

50-249/02-301(DRS)

Dear Mr. Skolds:

On June 14, 2002, NRC examiners completed initial operator licensing examinations at your Dresden Nuclear Power Station. The enclosed report presents the results of the examination.

The NRC examiners administered an initial license examination operating test during the weeks of June 3 and June 10, 2002. A written examination was administered by Dresden Station training personnel on June 14, 2002. Six Reactor Operator (RO) and eight Senior Reactor Operator (SRO) applicants were administered license examinations. The results of the examinations were finalized on July 22, 2002. Eleven applicants passed all sections of their respective examinations and were issued applicable operator licenses. One SRO applicant will be issued a Senior Reactor Operator license restricted to Reactor Operator responsibilities.

Upon your certification, in writing to the NRC, that the individual has completed six months of responsible power plant experience you may request we remove the restriction. One Senior Reactor Operator applicant and two Reactor Operator applicants failed the operating examination and were issued proposed license denial letters.

The NRC staff considered three operating examination failures out of a total of fourteen applicants examined to be an unusually high failure rate. Your staff should evaluate this unusually high failure rate and incorporate any lessons learned into your initial licensed operator training program.

In accordance with 10 CFR Part 2.790 of the NRCs "Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter and its enclosures 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). We will gladly discuss any questions you have concerning this examination.

Sincerely,

/RA by Roy Caniano Acting For/

John A. Grobe, Director Division of Reactor Safety Docket Nos. 50-237; 50-249 License Nos. DPR-19; DPR-25

Enclosures:

1. Operator Licensing Examination Report 50-237/02-301(DRS); 50-249/02-301(DRS)

2. Post Examination Comments and Resolution 3. Simulation Facility Report 4. Written Examinations and Answer Keys (RO & SRO)

REGION III==

Docket Nos: 50-237; 50-249 License Nos.: DPR-19; DPR-25 Report No: 50-237/02-301(DRS); 50-249/02-301(DRS)

Licensee: Exelon Generation Company, LLC Facility: Dresden Nuclear Power Station Location: 6500 North Dresden Road Morris, IL 60450 Dates: June 3 through June 14, 2002 Examiners D. McNeil, Chief Examiner P. Young, Examiner R. Walton, Examiner Approved by: John A. Grobe, Director Division of Reactor Safety

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS ER 05000237-02-301(DRS), 05000249-02-301(DRS), on 06/03-06/14/02, Exelon Generation Company, LLC, Dresden Nuclear Power Station. Initial License Examination Report.

The announced operator licensing initial examination was conducted by regional NRC examiners in accordance with the guidance of NUREG-1021, Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors, Revision 8, Supplement 1.

Examination Summary:

• Eleven applicants passed all sections of their respective examinations and were issued applicable operator licenses. One SRO applicant will be issued a Senior Reactor Operator license restricting the individual to Reactor Operator duties. Upon completion of all requirements to obtain a Senior Reactor Operators license, the license restriction can be removed (Section 4OA5.1).

• One Senior Reactor Operator applicant and two Reactor Operator applicants failed the operating examination and were issued proposed license denial letters (Section OA5.1).

Report Details 4. OTHER ACTIVITIES (OA)

4OA5 Other

.1 Initial Licensing Examinations a. Examination Scope The NRC examiners conducted an announced operator licensing initial examination during the weeks of June 3 and June 10, 2002. The facilitys training staff used the guidance established in NUREG-1021, Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors, Revision 8, Supplement 1, to prepare the examination outline and to develop the written examination and operating test. The NRC examiners administered the operating test during the weeks of June 3 and June 10, 2002. Dresden Station training staff members administered the written examination on June 14, 2002. Six Reactor Operator and eight Senior Reactor Operator applicants were examined.

b. Findings Written Examination The licensee developed the written examination. During their initial review, the examiners determined that the examination, as submitted by the licensee, was within the range of acceptability expected for a proposed examination. During examination validation the week of April 29, 2002, examination changes agreed upon between the NRC and the licensee were incorporated according to the guidance contained in NUREG-1021.

During grading of the written examination, NRC examiners determined that one question on the SRO examination had two correct answers. The licensee agreed with the modification and had no post examination comments on the written examination. The answer key was modified to accept answers c. and d. as correct answers. See Enclosure 2, Post Examination Comments and Resolution, for details of this change.

Operating Test The NRC examiners determined that the operating test, as originally submitted by the licensee, was within the range of acceptability expected for a proposed examination.

Examination changes, agreed upon between the NRC and the licensee, were made according to NUREG-1021.

Examination Results Six Reactor Operator applicants and eight Senior Reactor Operator applicants were administered written examinations and operating tests for initial operator licensing.

Eleven applicants passed all sections of their respective examinations and were issued applicable operator licenses. One Senior Reactor Operator applicant and two Reactor

Operator applicants failed the operating examination and were issued proposed license denial letters. They will have approximately twenty days to appeal the proposed denial.

.2 Examination Security a. Scope The examiners reviewed and observed the licensees implementation of examination security requirements during the examination preparation and administration.

b. Findings The following findings document three violations of NRC examination security requirements:

• While validating the proposed examination, the licensee identified that a modem connected to the simulation facility could have allowed individuals to access simulator software data. The licensee conservatively replaced six job performance measures and two scenarios after discovering this potential examination compromise.

• As a result of a licensee in-house review, the licensee identified operators who had signed the examination security agreement were observing applicants performing training-related tasks. The operators were then signing the applicants qualification journals signifying completion of the tasks. This could have been classified as training and not in accordance with the examination security agreement. To address this concern, the licensee replaced some questions on the written examination and counseled the operators concerning allowed activities after signing an examination security agreement.

• During performance of a scenario, the examiners identified a failure to erase place-keeping marks in one procedure between dynamic simulator scenarios.

This could give an applicant an unfair advantage while completing the dynamic simulator scenario. In this particular case, there was no affect on the outcome of the operating test.

These violations were considered minor in nature; therefore, they would not be subject to enforcement action. These findings have been entered into the licensees corrective action program.

4OA6 Meetings Exit Meeting The chief examiner presented the examination team's preliminary observations and findings on June 14, 2002, to Mr. Bowman and other members of the Operations and Training Department staff. On June 22, 2002, the chief examiner presented additional issues to Mr. Hovey and other members of licensee management. The licensee acknowledged the observations and findings presented.

PARTIAL LIST OF PERSONS CONTACTED Licensee R. Hovey, Vice President, Dresden Station D. Bost, Plant Manager F. Cerovac, Training Director J. Hansen, Manger, Reg. Assurance J. Henry, Operations Manager M. Otten, Examination Developer S. Russell, MWROG Exam Development R. Rybak, Licensing Engineer C. Symonds, Operations Training Manager J. Sypek, Manager, Nuclear Oversight NRC D. Smith, Senior Resident Inspector, Dresden ITEMS OPENED, CLOSED AND DISCUSSED Opened None Closed None Discussed None LIST OF ACRONYMS ADAMS Agency-Wide Document Access and Management System DRS Division of Reactor Safety NRC Nuclear Regulatory Commission PARS Publicly Available Records RO Reactor Operator SRO Senior Reactor Operator

Enclosure 2 Post Examination Comments and Resolution Question #50 on the Senior Reactor Operator examination was reviewed:

QUESTION: 050 (1.00)

Unit 3 is a rated conditions when a transient occurs resulting in the following:

- Total Steam flow is 9.8 Mlbm/hr

- Total Feed flow is 8.7 Mlbm/hr

- Reactor Water Level is currently at +27 inches.

What is the expected trend for Reactor Water Level and what procedure will be required to be entered if operator actions to correct the problem are UNSUCCESSFUL?

LEVEL PROCEDURE a. Trending up DEOP 100, RPV Control b. Trending up DOA 600-1, Transient Level Control c. Trending down DEOP 100, RPV Control d. Trending down DOA 600-1, Transient Level Control The as-written question assumed that DOA 600-1 has already been enter and executed and failed to correct the situation. An applicant could assume that this has NOT been done yet. If the applicant makes that assumption, choice "d." becomes a correct answer.

Resolution: NRC examiners and licensee training personnel agreed that this would result in two correct answers for this question. The SRO answer key was modified to accept answers c. and d. as correct answers for this question.

Enclosure 3 SIMULATION FACILITY REPORT Facility Licensee: Dresden Station Facility Docket No.: 50-237; 50-249 Operating Tests Administered: June 3 - 13, 2002 The following documents observations made by the NRC examination team during the initial operator license examination. These observations do not constitute audit or inspection findings and are not, without further verification and review, indicative of non-compliance with 10 CFR 55.45(b). These observations do not affect NRC certification or approval of the simulation facility other than to provide information which may be used in future evaluations. No licensee action is required in response to these observations.

During the conduct of the simulator portion of the operating tests, the following items were observed:

ITEM DESCRIPTION When operating the control switch for the SBGT system, it was found there is a mid-position for the control switch not sampled by the simulators computer. This causes the simulator to energize alarms SBGT associated with the switch when it passes slowly through the non-sampled position. A simulator discrepancy report had already been issued concerning this item.

Enclosure 4 WRITTEN EXAMINATIONS AND ANSWER KEYS (RO/SRO)

RO Initial Examination ADAMS Accession # ML022060534 SRO Initial Examination ADAMS Accession # ML022060555