IR 05000412/2002302

IR 05000412-02-302; on December 13, 2002 - January 10, 2003; Beaver Valley Power Station, Unit 2; Initial Operator Licensing Examination

ML030340035
Person / Time
Site:	Beaver Valley
Issue date:	01/31/2003
From:	Conte R NRC Region 1
To:	Bezilla M FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co
Shared Package
ml013400413	List: IR 05000412/2002302 ML022520386
References
50-412/02-302
Download: ML030340035 (8)

Text

ary 31, 2003

SUBJECT:

BEAVER VALLEY POWER STATION - OPERATOR AND SENIOR REACTOR OPERATOR INITIAL EXAMINATION REPORT NO. 50-412/02-302

Dear Mr. Bezilla:

This report transmits the results of the reactor operator (RO) and senior reactor operator (SRO)

licensing examination conducted by the NRC during the period of December 13-20, 2002. This examination addressed areas important to public health and safety and was developed and administered using the guidelines of the Examination Standards for Power Reactors (NUREG-1021, Revision 8, Supplement 1).

Based on the results of the examination, all four RO applicants and all five SRO applicants (four instant and one upgrade) passed all portions of the examination. Examination results indicated that the applicants were well-prepared for the examination. Messrs. P. Bissett and J. Laughlin discussed performance insights observed during the examination with Mr. Greg Davies on December 20, 2003. On January 17, 2003, final examination results, including individual license numbers, were given during a telephone call between Messrs. P. Bissett and J.

Laughlin, Mr. Christopher Hynes, and other members of your staff.

In accordance with 10 CFR 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 NRCs document system (ADAMS). These records include the final examination and are available in ADAMS ({RO and SRO} Written - Accession Number ML030230046; {RO and SRO} Operating Section A -

Accession Number ML030230076; {RO and SRO} Operating Section B - Accession Number ML030230091; and {RO and SRO} Operating Section C - Accession Number ML030230139).

ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (the Public Electronic Reading Room).

Mr. Should you have any questions regarding this examination, please contact me at (610) 337-5183, or by E-mail at RJC@NRC.GOV.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Richard J. Conte, Chief Operational Safety Branch Division of Reactor Safety Docket No. 50-412 License No. NPF-73

Enclosure:

Initial Examination Report No. 50-412/02-302

REGION I==

Docket No(s): 50-412 License No: NPF-73 Report No: 02-302 Licensee: First Energy Nuclear Operating Company Facility: Beaver Valley Power Station, Unit 2 Dates: December 13, 2002 (Written Examination Administration)

December 16 - 20, 2002 (Operating Test Administration)

January 6 - 10, 2003 (Examination Grading)

Examiners: P. Bissett, Senior Operations Engineer (Chief Examiner)

J. Laughlin, Operations Engineer (Chief Examiner Under Instruction)

A. Blamey, Senior Operations Engineer G. Malone, Operations Engineer (under instruction)

Approved by: Richard J. Conte, Chief Operational Safety Branch Division of Reactor Safety

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS IR 05000412/02-302; December 13, 2002 - January 10, 2003; Beaver Valley Power Station, Unit 2; Initial Operator Licensing Examination. Nine of nine applicants passed the examination (four reactor operators, four instant senior reactor operators, and one upgrade senior reactor operator).

The written examinations were administered by the facility and the operating tests were administered by NRC region-based examiners. There were no inspection findings of significance associated with the examinations.

ii

Report Details 1. REACTOR SAFETY Mitigating Systems - Reactor Operator (RO) and Senior Reactor Operator (SRO) Initial License Examination a. Scope of Review The Beaver Valley training staff developed the written and operating initial examinations and together with NRC operations engineers verified or ensured, as applicable, the following:

• The examination was prepared and developed in accordance with the guidelines of Revision 8, Supplement 1 of NUREG-1021, "Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors. A review was conducted both in the Region I office and at the Beaver Valley power plant and training facility. Final resolution of comments and incorporation of test revisions were conducted during and following the onsite preparation week.

• Simulation facility operation was proper.

• The facility licensee completed a test item analysis on the written examination for feedback into their systems approach to training program.

• Examination security requirements were met.

The Beaver Valley training staff administered the written examination on December 13, 2002. The NRC examiners administered the operating portion of the examination to all applicants from December 16 - 20, 2002.

b. Findings Grading and Results All nine applicants (four ROs and five SROs) passed all portions of the initial licensing examination.

The facility had no post-examination comments.

Examination Administration and Performance NRC examiners identified one generic weakness during the administration of the operating exam in the area of communications. Specifically, three-way communications were weak in that applicants frequently lacked acknowledgments and repeat-backs, which detracted from various crews mitigating actions. Additionally, SRO command and control was sometimes weak in that there were not a sufficient number of crew briefings.

4OA6 Exit Meeting Summary On January 17, 2003, the NRC provided conclusions and examination results to Beaver Valley management representatives via telephone. License numbers for six of nine applicants were also provided during this time. License numbers for the remaining three applicants were withheld pending completion of six months additional on-site experience for one instant SRO and 10.5 months additional power plant experience for two ROs.

Mr. Hynes was informed that when the NRC is notified, in writing, that these deferred time periods have been completed by these three individuals, their licenses would be issued.

The NRC expressed appreciation for the cooperation and assistance that was provided during the preparation and administration of the examination by the licensees training staff.

KEY POINTS OF CONTACT LICENSEE G. Davies Manager, Training C. Hynes Supervisor, Operations Training T. Gaydosik Supervisor, Licensed Operator Training T. Wooley Lead Instructor NRC P. Bissett Senior Operations Engineer A. Blamey Senior Operations Engineer J. Laughlin Operations Engineer G. Malone Operations Engineer LIST OF ITEMS OPENED, CLOSED, AND DISCUSSED ITEM NUMBER TYPE DESCRIPTION NONE