IR 05000282/2022301

NRC Initial License Examination Report 05000282/2022301; 05000306/2022301

ML22242A241
Person / Time
Site:	Prairie Island
Issue date:	08/31/2022
From:	Robert Orlikowski, Chuck Zoia NRC/RGN-III/DRS/OLB
To:	Domingos C Northern States Power Company, Minnesota
Zoia C
Shared Package
ML21188A218	List: IR 05000282/2022301 ML22027A801 ML22213A185
References
50-282/22-301, 50-306/22-301 50-282/OL-22, 50-306/OL-22
Download: ML22242A241 (10)

Text

SUBJECT:

PRAIRIE ISLAND NUCLEAR GENERATING PLANTNRC INITIAL LICENSE EXAMINATION REPORT 05000282/2022301; 05000306/2022301

Dear Mr. Domingos:

On August 22, 2022, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) completed the initial operator licensing examination process for license applicants employed at your Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant. The enclosed report documents the results of those examinations.

Preliminary observations noted during the examination process were discussed on August 15, 2022, with Mr. Tim Borgen and other members of your staff. An exit meeting was conducted by teleconference on August 26, 2022, between Mr. Harlan Hanson of your staff and Mr. Chuck Zoia, Chief Operator Licensing Examiner, to review the proposed final grading of the written examination for the license applicants. During the teleconference, the NRC resolutions of any post-examination comments submitted by the facility, initially received by the NRC on August 22, 2022, were discussed.

The NRC examiners administered an initial license examination operating test during the week of August 8, 2022. The written examination was administered by Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant training department personnel on August 12, 2022. Two Senior Reactor Operator and five Reactor Operator applicants were administered license examinations. The results of the examinations were finalized on August 25, 2022. Seven applicants passed all sections of their respective examinations. Two were issued senior operator licenses and five were issued operator licenses.

The as-administered written examination and operating test, as well as documents related to the development and review (outlines, review comments and resolutions, etc.) of the examination will be withheld from public disclosure until August 22, 2024.

August 31, 2022 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, Robert J. Orlikowski, Acting Branch Chief Operations Branch Division of Reactor Safety Docket Nos. 50-282; 50-306 License Nos. DPR-42; DPR-60

Enclosures:

1. Examination Report 05000282/2022301; 05000306/2022301 2. Simulator Fidelity Report

REGION III==

Docket Nos:

50-282; 50-306 License Nos:

DPR-42; DPR-60 Report Nos:

05000282/2022301; 05000306/2022301 Enterprise Identifier L-2022-OLL-0022 Licensee:

Northern States Power Company, Minnesota Facility:

Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant Location:

Welch, MN Dates:

August 9 - 22, 2022 Examiners:

C. Zoia, Chief Examiner, Senior Operations Engineer J. Nance, Operations Engineer L. Rodriguez, Senior Reactor Inspector Approved By:

R. Orlikowski, Acting Branch Chief Operations Branch Division of Reactor Safety

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

ER 05000282/2022301; 05000306/2022301; 08/09/2022-08/22/2022; Prairie Island Nuclear

Generating Plant; Initial License Examination Report.

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

Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors, Revision 12.

Examination Summary:

Seven of seven applicants passed all sections of their respective examinations. Two 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 12, to develop, validate, administer, and grade the written examination and operating test. The written examination outlines were prepared by the NRC staff and were transmitted to the facility licensees staff. Members of the facility licensees staff developed the operating test outlines and developed the written examination and operating test. The NRC examiners validated the proposed examination during the week of June 27, 2022, with the assistance of members of the facility licensees staff. 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 August 9, 2022, through August 11, 2022. The facility licensee administered the written examination on August 12, 2022.

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 validation of the written examination, several questions were modified or replaced. All changes made to the proposed written examination, were made in accordance with NUREG-1021, Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors, and documented on Form 2.3-5, Written Examination Review Worksheet.

The Form 2.3-5, the written examination outlines, 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) on August 22, 2024, (ADAMS Accession Numbers ML21188A222, ML21188A221, ML21188A220, and ML21188A223 respectively).

On August 22, 2022, 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 August 23, 2022, 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.

During the validation of the operating test, several Job Performance Measures (JPMs)required minor modifications, two required replacements, and some modifications were made to the dynamic simulator scenarios. All changes made to the operating test portion of the examination, were made in accordance with NUREG-1021, Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors, and documented on Form 2.3-3, Operating Test Review Worksheet. The Form 2.3-3, the operating test outlines, and both the proposed and final as administered dynamic simulator scenarios and JPMs, will be available electronically in the NRC Public Document Room or from the Publicly Available Records component of NRC's ADAMS on August 22, 2024, (ADAMS Accession Numbers, ML21188A222, ML21188A221, ML21188A220, and ML21188A223 respectively).

The NRC examiners completed operating test grading on August 25, 2022.

(3) Examination Results Two applicants at the Senior Reactor Operator (SRO) level and five applicants at the Reactor Operator (RO) level were administered written examinations and operating tests. Seven applicants passed all portions of their examinations and were issued their respective operating licenses on August 25, 2022.

.2 Examination Security

a. Scope

The NRC examiners reviewed and observed the licensee's implementation of examination security requirements during the examination validation and administration to assure compliance with Title10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Section 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

There were no exam security issues identified during the exam process.

4OA6 Meetings

.1 Debrief

The chief examiner presented the examination teams preliminary observations and findings on August 15, 2022, to Mr. T. Borgen, General Manager Enterprise and Nuclear Training and other members of the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant Operations and Training Department staff.

.2 Exit Meeting

The chief examiner conducted an exit meeting on August 26, 2022, with Mr. H. Hanson, Plant Manager, by teleconference. The NRCs final disposition of the stations grading of the written examination were disclosed and discussed during the teleconference. The chief examiner asked the licensee whether any of the retained submitted material used to develop or administer the examination should be considered proprietary. No proprietary or sensitive information was identified during the examination or debrief/exit meetings.

ATTACHMENT:

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

KEY POINTS OF CONTACT

Licensee

C. Domingos, Site Vice President

H. Hanson Jr., Plant Manager

T. Borgen, General Manager Enterprise and Nuclear Training

C. Boegeman, Director of Nuclear Training

S. Skoyen, Director of Operations

J. Bremer, Site Regulatory Affairs Manager

G. Lange, Training Manager

Z. Elbert, Training Supervisor Operations

T. Gagliardo, Area Vice President Enterprise Learning and Technical Training

J. Laughlin, Vice President Engineering and Technical Services

E. Sonnenberg, Principle Operation Training

F. Collins, NRC Exam Developer

J. Hasner, Senior Operations Instructor

J. Maunu, Principle Operations Training

M. Petersen, Fleet Simulator General Supervisor

P. Johnson, Regulatory Analyst

C. Waits, Operations Site Representative

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

P. Pelke, Operations Branch Chief

D. Tesar, Senior Resident Inspector

K. Pusateri, Resident Inspector

C.Zoia, Senior Operations Engineer, Chief Examiner

J. Nance, Operations Engineer, Examiner

L. Rodriguez, Senior Reactor Inspector, Examiner

R. Baker, Senior Operations Engineer

G. Roach, Senior Operations Engineer

ITEMS OPENED, CLOSED, AND DISCUSSED

Opened, Closed, and Discussed

None

LIST OF ACRONYMS USED

ADAMS

Agencywide Document Access and Management System

JPMs

Job Performance Measures

NRC

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

RO

Reactor Operator

SRO

Senior Reactor Operator

SIMULATION FACILITY FIDELITY REPORT

Facility Licensee:

Northern States Power Company, Minnesota

Facility Docket Nos.:

50-282; 50-306

Operating Tests Administered:

August 9-11, 2022

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

Commission (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 Title 10 of the Code of Federal

Regulations, Section 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 item was

observed:

ITEM

DESCRIPTION

Sim WO - C2D-049

Control Switch CS-46930, D2 Start/Stop switch had intermittent issues