IR 05000416/2004301
| ML040760853 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Grand Gulf  |
| Issue date: | 03/16/2004 |
| From: | Gody A Operations Branch IV |
| To: | Gerald Williams Entergy Operations |
| References | |
| 50-416/04-301 50-416/04-301 | |
| Download: ML040760853 (11) | |
Text
March 16, 2004
SUBJECT:
GRAND GULF NUCLEAR STATION - NRC INITIAL EXAMINATION REPORT 05000416/2004-301
Dear Mr. Williams:
On February 12, 2004, the NRC completed an initial examination at your Grand Gulf Nuclear Station. The enclosed report documents the examination findings, which were discussed on February 12, 2004, with members of your staff.
The examination included the evaluation of five applicants for senior operator licenses. The written and operating examinations were developed using NUREG-1021, "Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors," Revision 8, Supplement 1. We determined that all of the 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 NRCs "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/
Anthony T. Gody, Chief Operations Branch Division of Reactor Safety Docket: 50-416 License: NPF-29
Entergy Operations, Inc.
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Enclosure:
NRC Inspection Report 05000416/2004-301
REGION IV==
Docket:
50-416 License:
NPF-29 Report No.:
05000416/2004-301 Licensee:
Entergy Operations, Inc.
Facility:
Grand Gulf Nuclear Station Location:
Port Gibson, MS Dates:
February 6-12, 2004 Examiners:
Tom O. McKernon, Chief Examiner, Operations Branch Paul Gage, Senior Operations Engineer, Operations Branch Jim Drake, Operations Engineer, Operations Branch Approved By:
Anthony T. Gody, Chief Operations Branch Division of Reactor Safety
-2-SUMMARY OF FINDINGS ER 05000416/2004-301, on 02/6-20/2004, Entergy Operations, Inc.;Grand Gulf Nuclear Station, Initial Examination of Applicants for Senior Operator Licenses.
An NRC examination team evaluated the competency of five applicants for senior operator licenses at the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station. The facility developed the written and operating examinations using NUREG-1021, "Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors," Revision 8, Supplement 1. The written examinations were administered to all applicants on February 6, 2004, by facility proctors in accordance with instructions provided by the chief examiner. The NRC examiners administered the operating tests on February 9-12, 2004. All applicants passed all portions of the written and operating test. The appropriate licenses were issued. No findings of significance were identified (40A4.1).
Examination Details 4.
OTHER ACTIVITIES 4OA4 Initial License Examinations
.1 Operator Knowledge and Performance a.
Examination Scope On February 6, 2004, the licensee proctored the administration of the written examinations to all five applicants. The licensees staff graded the written examinations, analyzed the results, and presented their analysis to the NRC examination team on February 20, 2004.
The NRC examination team administered the various portions of the operating examination to the five applicants on February 9-12, 2004. The two applicants for instant senior operator licenses participated in 2 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 applicants that were upgrading from a reactor operator license to a senior operator license participated in 1 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 applicants passed the operating test and the written examination. The appropriate licenses were issued.
During the operating test, the applicants demonstrated good 3-way communications, alarm response, procedure usage, and peer checking. No generic training or operating weaknesses were noted.
The licensee conducted a performance analysis for the written examinations with emphasis on questions missed by any of the applicants. The licensee concluded that there were no commonalities in the knowledge deficiencies. However, the licensee recommended some changes to the grading of the written examination, which were reviewed by the chief examiner and accepted. The average score on the examination was 87.5 percent and individual scores ranged from 80.6 to 95.9 percent. The text of the examination questions and the licensees post-examination recommendations may be accessed in the ADAMS system as noted in the attachment.
The licensee submitted Question 64 and requested that the answer choice be changed to Choice C in lieu of Choice B. The chief examiner reviewed the question and determined that there was only one choice as the correct answer, Choice C. The chief examiner accepted the licensee's recommendation. The error to the answer key was missed during the examination validation.
-2-The licensee submitted Questions 30 and 55 and recommended deletion of the questions because of three possible correct answers. The chief examiner reviewed the questions and agreed with the licensees explanation. The two questions were deleted.
The licensee submitted Question 27 and recommended that two answer choices were correct based upon whether operator actions were taken. During the examination, the proctor cued two of the candidates that operator actions were taken. The other examinees based their answers on no operator actions, which made Choice B correct.
The chief examiner reviewed records of examinee questions and proctor responses during the examination to verify that different or no responses were given to separate examinees. The chief examiner accepted the recommendation so that answer Choices B or C were correct.
No findings of significance were identified.
.2 Initial Licensing Examination Development a.
Examination Scope The licensee developed the written and operating examinations in accordance with NUREG-1021, "Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors,"
Revision 8, Supplement 1, using the facility training and operations staff specified on the security agreement.
The facility licensee submitted the operating examination outlines on October 12, 2004.
The chief examiner reviewed the submittal against the criteria of NUREG-1021, Revision 8, Supplement 1, and provided comments to the licensee. The facility licensee submitted the draft operating examination package on December 11, 2004. The chief examiner reviewed the draft submittal against the criteria of NUREG-1021, Revision 8, Supplement 1, and provided comments to the licensee on the examinations on December 21, 2004. The chief examiner conducted an onsite validation of the operating examinations and provided further comments during the week of January 5, 2004. The licensee satisfactorily completed comment resolution on January 14, 2004.
b.
Findings Region IV management approved the initial examination outline and advised the licensee to proceed with the 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.
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.3 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.
.4 Examination Security a.
Examination Scope The examiners reviewed examination security both during the onsite preparation week and examination administration week for agreement with NUREG-1021 criteria. Plans for simulator security and applicant control were reviewed.
b.
Findings No findings of significance were identified.
40A5 Management Meetings Exit Meeting Summary The chief examiner presented general observations and evaluations of operator performance to Mr. G. Sparks, Operations Manager, and other members of the licensees staff at the conclusion of the examination on February 12, 2004. The licensees management acknowledged the observations presented.
The licensees management did not identify as proprietary any information or materials examined during the examination.
ATTACHMENT Key Persons Contacted Licensee M. Chase, Supervisor, Operations Training, Initial Licensing T. Errington, Assistant Operations Manager T. McIntyre, Supervisor, Operations Training, LOR J. Miller, Training Manager M. Rasch, Operations Initial Licensing Instructor S. Reeves, Sr. Operations Training Instructor G. Sparks, Operations Manager NRC T. Hoeg, Senior Resident Inspector ADAMS DOCUMENTS REFERENCED Accession No.:
Accession No. ml040690940 - Final Reference Examination Accession No. ml040690943 - Written post examination comments and performance analysis