IR 05000263/2020301

NRC Initial License Examination Report 05000263/2020301

ML20343A369
Person / Time
Site:	Monticello
Issue date:	12/09/2020
From:	Patricia Pelke NRC/RGN-III
To:	Conboy T Northern States Power Company, Minnesota
Zoia C
References
IR 2020301
Download: ML20343A369 (10)

Text

December 9, 2020

SUBJECT:

MONTICELLO NUCLEAR GENERATING PLANTNRC INITIAL LICENSE EXAMINATION REPORT 05000263/2020301

Dear Mr. Conboy:

On November 3, 2020, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) completed the initial operator licensing examination process for license applicants employed your Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant. The enclosed report documents the results of those examinations. Preliminary observations noted during the examination process were discussed on October 23, 2020, with you and other members of your staff. An exit meeting was conducted by telephone on November 9, 2020, between Mr. P. Albares of your staff and Mr. C. Zoia, Senior Operator Licensing Examiner, to review the proposed final grading of the written examination for the license applicants. During the telephone conversation, the NRCs resolution of the stations post-examination comments, initially received by the NRC on November 3, 2020, were also discussed.

The NRC examiners administered an initial license examination operating test during the week of October 19, 2020. The written examination was administered by Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant training department personnel on October 27, 2020. Four Senior Reactor Operator and five Reactor Operator applicants were administered license examinations.

The results of eight the examinations were finalized on November 13, 2020. Nine applicants passed all sections of their respective examinations; four were issued senior operator licenses and four were issued operator licenses. One operator applicants license was finalized on November 30, 2020, to include a required license condition before issuing the license.

The written examination and operating test, as well as documents related to the development and review (outlines, review comments and resolution, etc.) of the examination will be withheld from public disclosure until November 3, 2022, as requested. This letter, its enclosure, and your response (if any) will be made available for public inspection and copying at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html and at the NRC Public Document Room in accordance with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 2.390, Public Inspections, Exemptions, Requests for Withholding.

Sincerely, Patricia J. Digitally signed by Patricia J. Pelke Pelke Date: 2020.12.09 09:43:54 -06'00'

Patricia J. Pelke, Chief Operations Branch Division of Reactor Safety Docket No. 50-263 License No. DPR-22

Enclosures:

1. Operator Licensing Examination Report 05000263/2020301 2. Simulation Facility Fidelity Report

REGION III==

Docket No: 50-263 License No: DPR-22 Report No: 05000263/2020301 Enterprise Identifier: L-2020-OLL-0042 Licensee: Northern States Power Company, Minnesota Facility: Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant Location: Monticello, MN Dates: October 19, 2020, through November 3, 2020 Examiners: C. Zoia, Senior Operations Engineer, Chief Examiner R. Baker, Senior Operations Engineer, Examiner D. Reeser, Operations Engineer, Examiner J. Nance, Operations Engineer, Examiner-in-Training L. Rodriguez, Operations Engineer, Examiner-in-Training J. Robbins, Operations Engineer, Examiner-in-Training Approved By: P. Pelke, Chief Operations Branch Division of Reactor Safety Enclosure 1

SUMMARY

Examination Report 05000263/2020301; October 19, 2020, through November 3, 2020;

Northern States Power Company, Minnesota, Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant.

Initial License Examination Report.

The announced initial operator licensing examination was conducted by regional U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission examiners in accordance with the guidance of NUREG-1021,

Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors, Revision 11.

Examination Summary:

Nine of nine applicants passed all sections of their respective examinations. Four applicants were issued senior operator licenses and five applicants were issued operator licenses.

(Section 4OA5.1).

REPORT DETAILS

4OA5 Other Activities

.1 Initial Licensing Examinations

a. Examination Scope

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) examiners and members of the facility licensees staff used the guidance prescribed in NUREG-1021, Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors, Revision 11, to develop, validate, administer, and grade the written examination and operating test. The written examination outlines were developed by the NRC staff and were transmitted to the facility licensees staff. Members of the facility licensees staff prepared the operating test outlines and developed the written examination and operating test. During the on-site validation week, the examiners audited two license applications for accuracy.

The NRC examiners, with the assistance of members of the facility licensees staff, administered the operating test, consisting of job performance measures and dynamic simulator scenarios, during the period of October 19 through October 22, 2020. The facility licensee administered the written examination on October 27, 2020.

b. Findings

(1) Written Examination The NRC examiners determined that the written examination, as proposed by the licensee, was within the range of acceptability expected for a proposed examination.

Less than 20 percent of the proposed examination questions were determined to be unsatisfactory and required modification or replacement.

During the validation of the written examination, several questions were modified or replaced. All changes made to the written examination were made in accordance with NUREG-1021, Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors, and documented on Form ES-401-9, Written Examination Review Worksheet. The Form ES-401-9, the written examination outlines (ES-401-2 and ES-401-3), and both the proposed and final written examinations, will be available electronically in the NRC Public Document Room or from the Publicly Available Records component of NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS), will be temporarily withheld from public disclosure per your request (ADAMS Accession Numbers ML19127A312, ML19127A315, ML19127A317, and ML19127A318, respectively).

On November 3, 2020, the licensee submitted documentation noting that there were no post-examination comments for consideration by the NRC examiners when grading the written examination.

The NRC examiners graded the written examination on November 3, 2020, and conducted a review of each missed question to determine the accuracy and validity of the examination questions.

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

Following the review and validation of the operating test, minor modifications were made to several Job Performance Measures, and some minor modifications were made to the dynamic simulator scenarios. All changes made to the operating test were made in accordance with NUREG-1021, Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors, and were documented on Form ES-301-7, Operating Test Review Worksheet. The Form ES-301-7, the operating test outlines (ES-301-1, ES-301-2, and ES-D-1s), and both the proposed and final operating tests, will be available electronically in the NRC Public Document Room or from the Publicly Available Records component of NRCs ADAMS, with exam files to be temporarily withheld from public disclosure per your request (ADAMS Accession Numbers ML19127A312, ML19127A315, ML19127A317, and ML19127A318, respectively).

The NRC examiners completed operating test grading on November 12, 2020.

(3) Examination Results The results of eight the examinations were finalized on November 13, 2020.

Nine applicants passed all sections of their respective examinations; four were issued senior operator licenses and four were issued operator licenses. One operator applicants license was finalized on November 30, 2020, to include a required license condition before issuing the license.

.2 Examination Security

a. Scope

The NRC examiners reviewed and observed the licensees implementation of examination security requirements during the examination validation and administration to assure compliance with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 55.49, Integrity of Examinations and Tests. The examiners used the guidelines provided in NUREG 1021, Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors, to determine acceptability of the licensees examination security activities.

b. Findings

None.

4OA6 Management Meetings

.1 Debrief

The chief examiner presented the examination teams preliminary observations and findings on October 23, 2020, to Mr. T. Conboy, Site Vice President, and other members of the Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant staff, by telephone. The licensee was specifically asked whether any of the material used to develop or administer the examination should be considered proprietary. No proprietary or sensitive information was identified either during the examination or at the debrief meeting.

.2 Exit Meeting

The chief examiner conducted an exit meeting on November 9, 2020, with Mr. P. Albares, Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant (MNGP) Training Manager, by telephone. The NRCs final disposition of the stations written exam grading and post-examination comments were disclosed and discussed with Mr. Albares during the telephone discussion.

ATTACHMENT:

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

KEY POINTS OF CONTACT

Licensee

T. Conboy, Site Vice President

M. Kelly, Site Performance and Operations Support Director

T. Shortell, Xcel Nuclear Fleet Training General Manager

D. Barber, Technical Training General Fleet Supervisor

D. Barker, Plant Manager

D. Wood, Radiation Protection Manager

P. Albares, MNGP Training Manager

M. Petersen, Simulator General Fleet Supervisor

G. Allex, Xcel Nuclear Fleet General Supervisor Operations Training

M. Plautz, Assistant Operations Manager

J. Tygum, Shift Manager

J. Lapp, MNGP Initial License Training Supervisor

D. Cox, Training Supervisor, Operations

J. Lapp, Training Supervisor, Operations

G. Hernandez, Site Regulatory Affairs Manager

M. Emanuelson, Fleet Regulatory Affairs Analyst

R. Becker, MNGP NRC Exam Developer

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

J. Harvey, Acting Senior Resident Inspector

C. Zoia, Chief Examiner

R. Baker, Examiner

D. Reeser, Examiner

ITEMS OPENED, CLOSED, AND DISCUSSED

Opened, Closed, Discussed

None

LIST OF ACRONYMS USED

ADAMS Agencywide Document Access and Management System

MNGP Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant

NRC U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

SIMULATION FACILITY FIDELITY REPORT

Facility Licensee: Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant

Facility Docket No: 50-263

Operating Tests Administered: October 19, 2020, through October 22, 2020

The following documents observations made by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

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 Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 55.45(b).

These observations do not affect U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 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

None N/A

2