IR 05000298/2009301

Er 05000298-09-301, on September 21, 2009, Cooper Nuclear Station, Initial Operator Licensing Examination Report

ML093080636
Person / Time
Site:	Cooper
Issue date:	11/04/2009
From:	Garchow S Operations Branch IV
To:	Minahan S Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD)
References
ER-09-301
Download: ML093080636 (11)

Text

UNITED STATES NUC LE AR RE G UL AT O RY C O M M I S S I O N ber 4, 2009

SUBJECT:

COOPER NUCLEAR STATION - NRC EXAMINATION REPORT 05000298/2009301

Dear Mr. Minahan:

On September 25, 2009, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) completed an initial operator license examination at Cooper Nuclear Station. The enclosed report documents the examination findings and licensing decisions. The preliminary examination findings were discussed on September 25, 2009, with yourself and other members of your staff. A telephonic exit meeting was conducted on October 14, 2009, with Mr. M. Joe, who was provided the NRC licensing decisions.

The examination included the evaluation of seven applicants for reactor operator licenses, three applicants for instant senior reactor operator licenses and three applicants for upgrade senior reactor operator licenses. The license examiners determined that all of the applicants satisfied the requirements of 10 CFR Part 55, and the appropriate licenses have been issued. There were no post-examination comments submitted by your staff. The enclosure to this letter contains the details of this report.

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/

Stephen M. Garchow, Acting Chief Operations Branch Division of Reactor Safety

Nebraska Public Power District -2-Docket: 50-298 License: DPR-46

Enclosure:

NRC Examination Report 05000298/2009301

REGION IV==

Docket: 50-298 License: DPR-46 Report: 05000298/2009301 Licensee: Nebraska Public Power District Facility: Cooper Nuclear Station Location: Brownville, Nebraska Dates: September 21, 2009 Inspectors: S. Garchow, Senior Operations Engineer R. DeVercelly, Senior Technical Training Instructor G. Apger, Operations Engineer Approved By: Stephen M. Garchow, Acting Chief Operations Branch Division of Reactor Safety 1 Enclosure

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

ER05000298/2009301; September 21, 2009; Cooper Nuclear Station; Initial Operator Licensing

Examination Report.

NRC examiners evaluated the competency of seven applicants for reactor operator licenses, three applicants for instant senior reactor operator licenses and three applicants for upgrade senior reactor operator licenses at Cooper Nuclear Station.

The 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 licensee on September 18, 2009. NRC examiners administered the operating tests on September 21-25, 2009.

The examiners determined that all of the applicants satisfied the requirements of 10 CFR Part 55, and the appropriate licenses have been issued.

NRC-Identified and Self-Revealing Findings

The Operating Test submitted was considered unsatisfactory in that it did not meet the requirements of NUREG-1021, Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors.

Licensee-Identified Violations

None.

REPORT DETAILS

4OA5 Other Activities (Initial Operator License Examination)

.1 License Applications

a. Scope

NRC examiners reviewed all license applications submitted to ensure each applicant satisfied relevant license eligibility requirements. The examiners also audited four 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 Examination Development

a. Scope

NRC examiners reviewed integrated examination outlines and draft examinations submitted by the licensee against the requirements of NUREG-1021. The NRC examination team conducted an onsite validation of the operating tests.

b. Findings

NRC examiners provided outline, draft examination and post-validation comments to the licensee. The licensee satisfactorily completed comment resolution prior to examination administration.

The Operating Test submitted by the licensee was considered unsatisfactory because the simulator scenarios did not meet the requirements of NUREG-1021, Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors. Specifically, for some individuals there were an insufficient number of events for a valid exam and in some cases the scenarios were not logical. For example, in one scenario a critical task was identified that stated the crew was to emergency depressurize following a large break LOCA. In addition, some individuals were to be given credit for simulator scenario events where there were no required operator actions and this is contrary to the guidance in the examination standard.

.3 Operator Knowledge and Performance

a. Scope

On September 18, 2009, the licensee proctored the administration of the written examinations to all thirteen applicants. The licensee staff graded the written examinations, analyzed the results, and presented their analysis to the NRC on September 30, 2009.

The NRC examination team administered the various portions of the operating tests to all thirteen applicants on September 21-25, 2009.

b. Findings

No findings of significance were identified.

All of the applicants passed the written examination and all parts of the operating test.

The final written examinations and post-examination analysis may be accessed in the ADAMS system under the accession numbers noted in the attachment. There were no post-examination comments as indicated in the licensee submittal.

The examination team noted generic weaknesses in the areas of annunciator control and a quick restart of a reactor feed pump using the hard card.

.4 Simulation Facility Performance

a. Scope

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

b. Findings

No findings of significance were identified.

.5 Examination Security

a. Scope

The NRC examiners reviewed examination security during both the onsite preparation week and examination administration week for compliance with 10 CFR 55.49 and NUREG-1021. 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 preliminary examination results to Messrs. Demetrius Willis, Rod Penfield, David VanDerKamp, and other members of the staff on September 25, 2009. A telephonic exit was conducted on October 14, 2009, between Messrs. S.

Garchow, Chief Examiner, and M. Joe.

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

ATTACHMENT:

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

KEY POINTS OF CONTACT

Licensee Personnel

M. Joe, Operator Training Supervisor, ILT

J. Boyd, ILT Program Guardian

W. Gilbert, Exam Developer

D. Sealock, Training Manager

D. Werner, Operator Training Supervisor

NRC Personnel

M. Chambers