IR 05000373/2003301
| ML031770501 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | LaSalle  |
| Issue date: | 06/25/2003 |
| From: | Lanksbury R Division of Reactor Safety III |
| To: | Skolds J Exelon Generation Co, Exelon Nuclear |
| References | |
| 50-373/03-301, 50-374/03-301, NUREG-1021 50-373/03-301, 50-374/03-301 | |
| Download: ML031770501 (14) | |
Text
June 25, 2003
SUBJECT:
LASALLE COUNTY STATION, UNITS 1 AND 2 NRC INITIAL LICENSE EXAMINATION REPORT 50-373/03-301; 50-374/03-301(DRS)
Dear Mr. Skolds:
On May 23, 2003, the NRC completed administration of initial operator licensing examinations at your LaSalle County Station, Units 1 and 2. The enclosed report presents the results of the examinations.
NRC examiners administered the operating test during the week of May 19, 2003. Members of the LaSalle County Station training staff administered the written examination on May 23, 2003.
Four Reactor Operator (RO) and three Senior Reactor Operator (SRO) applicants were administered license examinations. The results of the examinations were finalized on June 13, 2003. Six applicants passed all sections of their respective examinations. One SRO applicant that failed the written examination and operating test will not be issued an operator license. One RO applicant scored an 80 percent on the written examination and, in accordance with the guidelines of NUREG 1021, "Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors," ES-501.D.3.c, that RO applicants license will be withheld until any appeal rights of the proposed SRO applicant failure are exhausted.
In accordance with 10 CFR Part 2.790 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). We will gladly discuss any questions you have concerning this examination.
Sincerely,
/RA/
Roger D. Lanksbury, Chief Operations Branch Division of Reactor Safety Docket No. 50-373; 50-374 License No. NPF-11; NPF-18
Enclosures:
1.
Operator Licensing Examination Report 50-373/03-301(DRS); 50-374/03-301(DRS)
2.
Post Exam Comments and Resolution 3.
Simulation Facility Report 4.
Written Examinations and Answer Keys (RO & SRO)
REGION III==
Docket Nos:
50-373, 50-374 License Nos:
50-373/03-301; 50-374/03-301 Licensee:
Exelon Generation Company, LLC Facility:
LaSalle County Station, Units 1 and 2 Location:
2601 N. 21st Road Marseilles, IL 61341 Dates:
May 19 through 23, 2003 Examiners:
M. Bielby, RIII NRC Chief Examiner C. Phillips, RIII NRC Examiner K. Walton, RIII NRC Examiner C. Zoia, RIII NRC Examiner in certification R. Caniano, RIII NRC Observer R. Lanksbury, RIII NRC Observer C. Rogue-Cruz, RIII NRC Observer Approved by:
Roger Lanksbury, Chief Operations Branch Division of Reactor Safety
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS ER 05000373-03-301(DRS), ER 05000374-03-301(DRS); Exelon Generation Company, LLC; on 5/19-23/2003, LaSalle County Station; Units 1 & 2; Initial License Examination Report.
The announced operator licensing initial examination was conducted by regional examiners in accordance with the guidance of NUREG-1021, Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors, Revision 8, Supplement 1.
Examination Summary:
Seven examinations (four Reactor Operator (RO) and three Senior Reactor Operator (SRO)) were administered.
- One SRO applicant failed the written examination and operating test and will not be issued an operator license. (Section 4OA5.1)
Six applicants (four RO and two SRO) passed all sections of their respective examinations. Five applicants were issued applicable operator licenses. One applicant scored an 80 percent on the written examination and will not receive an RO license until appeal rights of the SRO applicant who failed the examination are exhausted.
(Section 4OA5.1)
REPORT DETAILS 4.
OTHER ACTIVITIES (OA)
4OA5 Other
.1 Initial Licensing Examinations a.
Examination Scope The NRC examiners conducted an announced operator licensing initial examination during the week of May 19, 2003. The facilitys training staff used the guidance established in NUREG-1021, Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors, Revision 8, Supplement 1, Addendum 1, to prepare the examination outline and to develop the written examination and operating test. The NRC examiners administered the operating test during the week of May 19, 2003. Members of the LaSalle training department administered the written examination on May 23, 2003.
Four Reactor Operator (RO) and three Senior Reactor Operator (SRO) applicants were examined.
b.
Findings Written Examination The licensee developed the written examination. During their initial review, the NRC examiners determined that the examination, as submitted by the licensee, was within the range of acceptability expected for a proposed examination. During examination validation the week of April 28, 2003, examination changes agreed upon between the NRC and the licensee were incorporated according to the guidance contained in NUREG-1021.
Operating Test The NRC examiners determined that the operating test, as originally submitted by the licensee, was within the range of acceptability expected for a proposed examination.
Examination changes, agreed upon between the NRC and the licensee, were made according to NUREG-1021.
Examination Results Four RO applicants and three SRO applicants were administered written examinations and operating tests for initial operator licensing. Six applicants passed all sections of their respective examinations. One SRO applicant failed the written examination and operating test and will not be issued a license. One RO applicant scored an 80 percent on the written examination and will not receive a license until all appeal rights of the SRO applicant that failed the written examination and operating test are exhausted.
Should the senior reactor operator candidate who failed the written examination and operating test appeal, a subsequent review of the written exam may result in question deletions or changes which may affect the licensing decision of the RO applicant with a score of 80.
The other five applicants were issued applicable operator licenses.
.2 Examination Security a.
Inspection Scope The NRC examiners briefed the facility contact on the NRCs requirements and guidelines related to examination physical security (e.g., access restrictions and simulator considerations) and integrity (e.g., predictability and bias). The examiners observed the implementation of examination security and integrity measures (e.g., security agreements, sampling criteria, bank use, and test item repetition)
throughout the examination process.
b.
Findings The NRC examiners determined that the licensees examination security practices associated with the development and administration of these operator license examinations were satisfactory.
4OA6 Meetings Exit Meeting The chief examiner presented the examination team's preliminary observations and findings on May 23, 2003, to Mr. Barnes and other members of the Operations and Training Department staff. The licensee acknowledged the observations and findings presented.
PARTIAL LIST OF PERSONS CONTACTED Licensee G. Barnes, Site Vice President C. Dieckmann, Training Director D. Enright, Operations Manager M. Entwistle, Operations Training Manager G. Kaegi, Regulatory Assurance Manager S. Landahl, Station Manager J. Rappeport, NOS Lead Assessor S. Russell, MWROG, Operations Training NRC M. Bielby, Chief Examiner D. Kimble, Senior Resident Inspector C. Zoia, Examiner in Training
LIST OF ACRONYMS USED ADAMS Agency-Wide Document Access and Management System DRS Division of Reactor Safety NRC Nuclear Regulatory Commission PARS Publicly Available Records RO Reactor Operator SRO Senior Reactor Operator
Enclosure 2 Post Examination Comments and Resolution Question #56 on the Reactor Operator and Senior Reactor Operator examination was reviewed:
QUESTION: 056 (1.00)
Unit 1 Primary Containment Chillers A & C are off.
Unit 1 Primary Containment Chiller B trips.
Which below describes...
(1) the status of containment cooling, AND (2) the expected IMMEDIATE (within one minute) effect on Unit 1 Drywell pressure?
A.
(1) All cooling is lost.
(2) Drywell pressure will rise.
B.
(1) All cooling is lost.
(2) Drywell pressure will remain constant.
C.
(1) Limited cooling is still maintained.
(2) Drywell pressure will rise.
D.
(1) Limited cooling is still maintained.
(2) Drywell pressure will remain constant.
Comment: The answer key stated the correct answer was C. The correct answer is D. The explanation in the answer key supports D as the correct answer.
Resolution: The submitted lesson plan reference (with applicable paragraph circled) for the question was entitled 096 Primary Containment Cooling, page 16 of 56, paragraph 7. Chiller Unit Trip, LIC Objective 096.00.12 was also identified. The identified reference did not support question answer D. As stated in the reference, the Holdup Tank provides enough cooling to allow starting standby equipment; however, the same paragraph also states that Drywell air temperature and pressure will begin to rise when the chiller unit trips. As a result, the reference supports the original answer C.
Question #80 on the Senior Reactor Operator examination was reviewed:
QUESTION: 080 (1.00)
Unit 1 is Refuel.
Spent fuel movements within the Unit 1 Spent fuel pool are in progress.
Enclosure 2
Post Examination Comments and Resolution (continued)
Which of the following is the minimum water level that would meet the requirements to perform this evolution?
above the spent fuel seated in the fuel pool.
A.
20 feet B.
21 feet C.
22 feet D.
23 feet Comment: The question asked the minimum water level in the fuel pool that would still allow fuel movement. Validation of the exam looked strictly at the Technical Specification requirement (>21.4 feet) and not the EAL threshold value of 23 feet as stated in the MU11 of the LaSalle Annex. This level would require an Unusual Event classification and support the action of stopping fuel moves. The correct answer was changed from C to D.
Resolution: NRC examiner, licensee training, and an operations representative agreed during the facility written examination review that the question term minimum water level that would meet the requirements... was sufficient to illicit the water level identified in Technical Specification 3.7.8. The EAL (Emergency Action Level) MU11 is based on an unplanned decrease in Spent Fuel Pool level which was not part of the initial conditions. Basically, the question asked for the minimum required water level for spent fuel movement, and that minimum water level was specified by Technical Specifications. There was no reference documentation submitted that would prevent operators from performing a planned decrease of spent fuel pool water level (ie, for pool clarity) below the MU11 level of 23 feet as long as they did not exceed the minimum required Technical Specification water level of 21 feet 4 inches.
There were no applicant concerns recorded for this question during the written examination administration. As a result, the reference supports the original answer C not D.
Enclosure 3 SIMULATION FACILITY REPORT Facility Licensee:
LaSalle County Station Facility Docket No.:
50-373; 50-374 Operating Tests Administered:
May 19 - 23, 2003 The following documents observations made by the 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 10 CFR 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 items were observed:
ITEM DESCRIPTION None None.
Enclosure 4 WRITTEN EXAMINATIONS AND ANSWER KEYS (RO/SRO)
RO/SRO Initial Examination ADAMS Accession #ML031640156.