IR 05000298/2024301
| ML24192A172 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Cooper  (DPR-046) |
| Issue date: | 07/12/2024 |
| From: | Heather Gepford NRC/RGN-IV/DORS/OB |
| To: | Dia K Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) |
| References | |
| IR 2024301 | |
| Download: ML24192A172 (1) | |
Text
July 12, 2024
SUBJECT:
COOPER NUCLEAR STATION - NRC EXAMINATION REPORT 05000298/2024301
Dear Mr. Dia:
On July 9, 2024, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) completed an initial operator license examination at Cooper Nuclear Station. The enclosed report documents the examination results and licensing decisions. The preliminary examination results were discussed on June 13, 2024, with Mr. B. Chapin, General Manager, Plant Operations, and other members of your staff.
A telephonic exit meeting was conducted on July 9, 2024, with Mr. A. Vaughn, Superintendent, Simulator & Training Support, who was provided the NRC licensing decisions.
The examination included the evaluation of four applicants for reactor operator licenses, four applicants for instant senior reactor operator licenses, and two applicants for upgrade senior reactor operator licenses. The license examiners determined that nine of the ten 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 contains details of this report.
No findings were identified during this examination. 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 10 CFR 2.390, Public Inspections, Exemptions, Requests for Withholding.
Sincerely, Heather J. Gepford, Ph.D., Chief Operations Branch Division of Operating Reactor Safety Docket No. 05000298 License No. DPR-46 Enclosure:
Examination Report 05000298/2024301 Electronic distribution via LISTSERV Signed by Gepford, Heather J.
on 07/12/24
ML24192A172 SUNSI Review:
ADAMS:
Non-Publicly Available Non-Sensitive Keyword:
By: JCK Yes No Publicly Available Sensitive NRR-079 OFFICE OB:SOE OB:SOE OB:OE OB:OE C:OB NAME JKirkland NHernandez KMurphy DYou HGepford SIGNATURE
/RA/
/RA/
/RA/
/RA/
/RA/
DATE 07/10/24 07/10/24 07/10/24 07/10/24 07/12/24
Enclosure U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Examination Report Docket Number:
05000298 License Number:
DPR-46 Report Number:
05000298/2024301 Enterprise Identifier:
L-2024-OLL-0027 Licensee:
Nebraska Public Power District Facility:
Cooper Nuclear Station Location:
Brownville, Nebraska Inspection Dates:
June 10, 2024 to July 9, 2024 Examiners:
J. Kirkland, Senior Operations Engineer (Chief Examiner)
N. Hernandez, Senior Operations Engineer K. Murphy, Operations Engineer D. You, Operations Engineer P. Breidenbach, Operations Engineer (under instruction)
C. Harrington, Operations Engineer (under instruction)
Approved By:
Heather J. Gepford, Ph.D., Chief Operations Branch Division of Operating Reactor Safety
SUMMARY Examination Report 05000298/2024301; June 10 - July 9, 2024; Cooper Nuclear Station; Initial Operator Licensing Examination Report The NRC examiners evaluated the competency of four applicants for reactor operator licenses, four applicants for instant senior reactor operator licenses, and two applicants for upgrade senior reactor operator licenses at Cooper Nuclear Station.
The NRC developed the examinations using NUREG-1021, "Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors," Revision 12. The written examination was administered by the licensee on June 18, 2024. The NRC examiners administered the operating tests on June 10-13, 2024.
The NRC examiners determined that nine applicants satisfied the requirements of 10 CFR Part 55, and the appropriate licenses have been issued.
A.
NRC-Identified and Self-Revealing Findings None.
B.
Licensee-Identified Violations None.
REPORT DETAILS OTHER ACTIVITIES - INITIAL LICENSE EXAMINATION
.1 License Applications a.
Scope The NRC examiners reviewed all license applications submitted to ensure each applicant satisfied relevant license eligibility requirements. The NRC examiners 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 were identified.
.2 Examination Development a.
Scope The NRC examiners developed the outlines, operating tests, and written examinations using the requirements of NUREG-1021, Revision 12. The NRC examiners conducted onsite validation of the operating tests the week of May 13, 2024.
b.
Findings The NRC examiners provided outline, draft examination, and post-validation comments to the licensee. The licensee satisfactorily completed comment resolution prior to examination administration.
.3 Operator Knowledge and Performance a.
Scope On June 18, 2024, the licensee proctored the administration of the written examinations to all applicants. The licensee staff graded the written examinations, analyzed the results, and presented their analysis to the NRC on June 24, 2024.
The NRC examination team administered the various portions of the operating tests to all applicants on June 10-13, 2024.
b.
Findings No findings were identified.
Nine of ten applicants passed the written examination, and all applicants passed all parts of the operating tests. The final written examinations and post-examination analysis may be accessed in the ADAMS system under the accession numbers noted at the end of this document. There were no post-examination comments as indicated in the licensee submittal.
The examination team noted no generic weaknesses associated with applicant performance on the operating tests. Post-examination analysis revealed four generic weaknesses associated with applicant performance on the written examination. The weaknesses were associated with indications of a ground on a DC bus, definition of the thermal time constant, guidance for implementing fire impairments, and guidance of reducing suppression pool temperature with a stuck open safety relief valve. These deficiencies were captured in the licensees corrective action program as work task WT-2022-0055-007. Copies of all individual examination reports were sent to the facility training manager for evaluation and determination of appropriate remedial training.
.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 were identified.
.5 Examination Security a.
Scope The NRC examiners reviewed examination security for examination development during both the onsite preparation week and examination administration week for compliance with 10 CFR 55.49 and NUREG-1021. Plans for examination security and applicant control were reviewed and discussed with licensee personnel.
b.
Findings No findings were identified.
EXIT MEETINGS AND DEBRIEFS Exit Meeting Summary The chief examiner presented the preliminary examination results to Mr. B. Chapin, General Manager, Plant Operations, and other members of the staff on June 13, 2024. A telephonic exit was conducted on July 9, 2024, between J. Kirkland, chief examiner, and Mr. A. Vaughn, Superintendent, Simulator & Training Support. The licensee did not identify any information or materials used during the examination as proprietary.
ADAMS DOCUMENTS REFERENCED Accession No. ML24192A010 - FINAL WRITTEN EXAMS Accession No. ML24192A008 - FINAL OPERATING TEST Accession No. ML24192A011 - POST-EXAMINATION ANALYSIS