IR 05000368/2006302

IR 05000368-06-302; Entergy Operations; July 14-21, 2006; Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 2: Initial Operator License Examination Report

ML062210143
Person / Time
Site:	Arkansas Nuclear
Issue date:	08/04/2006
From:	Gody A Operations Branch IV
To:	Forbes J Entergy Operations
References
IR-06-302
Download: ML062210143 (9)

Text

ust 4, 2006

SUBJECT:

ARKANSAS NUCLEAR ONE, UNIT 2 - NRC EXAMINATION REPORT 05000368/2006302

Dear Mr. Forbes:

On July 21, 2006, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) completed an examination at your Arkansas Nuclear One, Units 1 and 2. The enclosed examination report documents the development, review, and administration of the examination which were discussed on July 21, 2006, with Ms. Sherry Cotton, and other members of your staff.

The examination included the evaluation of 7 applicants for reactor operator licenses, 1 applicant for an instant senior operator license and 5 applicants for upgrade senior operator licenses. The written and operating examinations were developed using NUREG-1021,

"Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors," Revision 9. The license examiners determined that all 13 applicants satisfied the requirements of 10 CFR Part 55, and the appropriate licenses have been issued.

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 NRC's 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/

Anthony T. Gody, Chief Operations Branch Division of Reactor Safety Dockets: 50-368 Licenses: NPF-6

Entergy Operations, Inc. -2-

Enclosure:

Inspection Report 05000313/2006302; 05000368/2006302 w/Attachment Supplemental Information

REGION IV==

Docket: 50-368 License: NPF-6 Report No.: 05000368/2006302 Licensee: Entergy Operations, Inc.

Facility: Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 2 Location: Junction of Hwy. 64W and Hwy. 333 South Russellville, Arkansas Dates: July 14-21, 2006 Inspector(s): T. O. McKernon, Senior Operations Engineer P. C. Gage, Senior Operations Engineer S. M. Garchow, Operations Engineer Approved By: Anthony T. Gody, Chief Operations Branch Division of Reactor Safety Enclosure

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

IR 05000368/2006302; July 14-21, 2006; Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 2: Initial Operator

License Examination Report.

NRC examiners evaluated the competency of 7 applicants for reactor operator licenses, applicant for an instant senior operator license, and 5 applicants for upgrade senior operator licenses at Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 2. The facility licensee developed the examinations using NUREG-1021, "Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors," Revision 9. The written examination was administered by the facility on July 14, 2006. NRC examiners administered the operating tests on July 17-21, 2006. The license examiners determined that all 13 applicants satisfied the requirements of 10 CFR Part 55, and the appropriate licenses have been issued.

NRC-Identified and Self Revealing Findings

No findings of significance were identified.

B. Licensee-Identified Findings None.

REPORT DETAILS

4OA5 Other Activities (Initial Operator License Examination)

1. License Applications

a. Scope

The examiners reviewed the applications submitted by the licensee for each of the license applicants. The applications were submitted on NRC Form 398, "Personal Qualification Statement," and NRC Form 396, "Certification of Medical Examination by Facility Licensee." The examiners also audited a sample of the license applications 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. Operator Knowledge and Performance

a. Examination Scope

On July 14, 2006, the licensee proctored the administration of the written examinations to all 13 applicants. The licensee staff graded the written examinations, analyzed the results, and presented their analysis to the NRC on July 20, 2006.

The NRC examination team administered the various portions of the operating examination to all 13 applicants on July 17-21, 2006. The 7 applicants for reactor operator licenses participated in two dynamic simulator scenarios, control room and facilities walkthrough test consisting of 11 system tasks, and an administrative test consisting of 4 administrative tasks. The applicant seeking an instant senior operator license participated in two dynamic simulator scenarios, a control room and facilities walkthrough test consisting of 10 system tasks, and an administrative test consisting of 5 administrative tasks. The 5 applicants for upgrade senior operator licenses participated in one dynamic simulator scenario, a control room and facilities walkthrough test consisting of 5 system tasks, and an administrative test consisting of 5 administrative tasks.

b. Findings

All 13 of the applicants passed all parts of the operating test and the written examination.

For the written examinations, the reactor operator applicants average score was 87.3 percent and ranged from 84.0 to 97.3 percent, and the senior operator applicants average score was 89.9 percent and ranged from 83.8 to 97.9 percent.

Chapter ES-403 and Form ES-403-1 of NUREG-1021 require the licensee to analyze the validity of any written examination questions that were missed by half or more of the applicants. The licensee conducted this performance analysis for the four questions that met this criteria and submitted the analysis to the chief examiner on July 21, 2006.

This analysis concluded that three of the questions (11, 33, and 38) were technically accurate and required no post-examination changes. The licensee recommended one question

(94) be deleted from the examination because of there being no correct answer among the choices. The recommended change had no impact on any of the applicants passing or failing the written examination.

The licensees recommendation was reviewed and accepted by the NRC.

The licensees post-examination comments and the final written reference examination may be accessed through the NRCs Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of the NRCs document system (ADAMS) under accession numbers ML06206016 and ML062060220, respectively.

3. Initial Licensing Examination Development

a. Examination Scope

The licensee developed the examinations in accordance with NUREG-1021, Revision 9.

All licensee facility training and operations staff involved in examination preparation and validation were on a security agreement. The facility licensee submitted the integrated examination outlines on April 10, 2006. The chief examiner reviewed the outlines against the requirements of NUREG-1021, Revision 9, and provided comments to the licensee.

The facility licensee submitted the draft examination package on May 24, 2006. The chief examiner reviewed the draft examination package against the requirements of NUREG-1021, Revision 9, and provided comments to the licensee on the examination on June 12, 2006. The NRC conducted an onsite validation of the operating examinations and provided further comments during the week of June 26, 2006. The licensee satisfactorily completed comment resolution on June 30, 2006.

b. Findings

The NRC approved the initial examination outline and advised the licensee to proceed with the operating examination development.

The examiners determined that the written and operating examinations initially submitted by the licensee were within the range of acceptability expected for a proposed examination.

No findings of significance were identified.

4. Simulation Facility Performance

a. Examination Scope

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

b. Findings

No findings of significance were identified.

5. Examination Security

a. Examination Scope

The examiners reviewed examination security for examination development and during both the onsite preparation week and examination administration week for compliance with NUREG-1021 requirements. 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

On July 21, 2006, the chief examiner presented the inspection results to Ms. S. Cotton, and other members of her staff, who acknowledged the findings. The chief examiner confirmed that proprietary information was not provided during this examination.

ATTACHMENT:

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

-5- Enclosure

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

KEY POINTS OF CONTACT

Licensee personnel

S. Cotton, Training Manager

R. Byford, Operations Training Supervisor

R. Martin, Unit 1 Operations Training Supervisor

T. Mayfield, Unit 2 Operations Training Supervisor

C. Simpson, Trainer

Attachment