Information Notice 1997-67, Failure to Satisfy Requirements for Significant Manipulations of the Controls for Power Reactor Operator Licensing
| ML013040588 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 08/21/1997 |
| From: | Slosson M Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| To: | |
| References | |
| +sunsimjr=200611, RIN 3150-AG40 IN-97-067 | |
| Download: ML013040588 (4) | |
UNITED STATES
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION
D.C.
20555-0001 August 21,
1997 NRC INFORMATION NOTICE 97-67:
FAILURE TO SATISFY REQUIREMENTS
FOR
SIGNIFICANT MANIPULATIONS OF THE CONTROLS FOR
POWER REACTOR OPERATOR LICENSING
Addressees
All holders of operating licenses for nuclear power reactors except those who
have permanently ceased operations and have certified
that fuel has been
permanently removed from the reactor vessel.
Purpose
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
is
issuing this
information
notice to alert
addressees that operator license applicants are required to
perform at least five significant control manipulations on the facility
for
which a license is
sought (Section 55.31(a) (5)
of Title 10 of the Code of
Federal Regulations
[10 CFR 55.31(a)(5)]).
Licensees have erred on the
interpretation of the requirements of this section of 10 CFR Part 55.
It
is
expected that recipients will review information for applicability to their.
facilities
and consider actions, as appropriate, to avoid similar problems.
However, suggestions contained in this information notice are not NRC
requirements; therefore, no specific action or written response is required.
Description of Circumstances
Operator license applicants are required to provide evidence that they, as
trainees, have successfully manipulated the controls of the facility
for which
an operator or senior operator license is
sought.
At a minimum, applicants
must perform five significant control manipulations which affect reactivity
or
power level on the facility
for which the license is
sought (10 CFR
55.31(a)(5)).
Controls as defined in
10 CFR 55 are apparatus and mechanisms, the manipulation of which directly affects the reactivity
or power level of
the reactor.
Licensees have erred on the interpretation of what constitutes a
significant control manipulation.
During a review of operator license applications for the Pilgrim facility, NRC
inspectors determined that the requirements for operator and senior operator
applicants to perform at least five significant control manipulations on the
facility
were not satisfied.
The Pilgrim licensee incorrectly assumed that a
single 30 percent decrease in power with recirculation pumps was equivalent to
three 10 percent or greater power reductions and counted this
as three of the
five required significant control manipulations.
The licensee contacted other
licensees regarding the practice at their
facilities
and reported that there
was a wide range of interpretations by the other licensees contacted.
9708150270
IN 97-67 August 21,
1997 The NRC administered examinations to the individuals but did not issue
operator licenses until
the facility
submitted revised applications and
provided details of how the applicants satisfied
the requirements to perform
the required significant control manipulations.
As documented in
"Pilgrim
Examination Report 50-293/97-006 and Notice of Violation," (Accession No.
9707290261),
dated July 18,
1997, the NRC determined that a violation of NRC
03/05/2001 3:15 PN
I of 3
requirements had occurred because two applicants had not completed the five
significant control manipulations required by 10 CFR 55.31(a) (5)
in an
acceptable manner.
Discussion
Before 1987, the operator license application required the licensee to certify
that the applicant had learned to operate the facility and also to provide the
details of the training and experience of the applicant.
A 1987 NRC rule
changed the requirement to provide the details of the applicant's training and
experience and requested instead a simple check mark in the boxes on the
application form
(NRC-398) to indicate that the applicant has successfully
completed an Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) accredited operator
training program that is based on a systems approach to training, and that a
certified simulation facility is used isted clarification of the phrase
"learned to operate" (Federal Register Vol.
52, No.
57 Wednesday, March 25,
1987, page 9456) and NRC added 10 CFR 55.31(a) (5)
to specify the minimum
number of control manipulations that the applicant had to conduct on the
facility.
Examples of significant control manipulations are contained in Regulatory
Guide (RG)
1.8, Revision 2,
"Qualification and Training of Personnel for
Nuclear Power Plants."
Paragraph C.l.h. of RG 1.8 states in part that:
Control room operating experience ... should include manipulation of
controls of the facility during a minimum of five reactivity changes.
Every effort should be made to have a diversity of reactivity changes
for each applicant.
Startups, shutdowns, large load changes, and
changes in rod programming are some examples and could be accomplished
by manually using such systems as rod control, chemical shim control, or
recirculation flow.
Additional examples of significant control manipulations include, but are not
limited to, items A-F of 10 CFR 55.59(c) (3)
(on-the-job training for
requalification):
IN 97-67 August 21,
1997 A.
Plant or reactor startups to include a range that
reactivity feedback from nuclear heat addition is
noticeable and heatup rate is established.
B.
Plant shutdown.
C.
Manual control of steam generators or feedwater or both
during startup and shutdown.
D.
Boration or dilution during power operation.
E.
Significant (610 percent) power changes in manual control or
recirculation flow.
F.
Reactor power change of 10 percent or greater where load change is
performed with load limit control or where flux, temperature, or
speed control is
on manual (for HTGR).
As defined in
a 10 percent or greater power change is
considered to be a significant control manipulation.
Additional clarification
was provided in NUREG-1262,
"Answers to Questions at Public Meetings Regarding
Implementation of Title 10,
Code of Federal Regulations, Part 55 on Operators'
03/05/2001 3:15 PIý
2 of 3
http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/GENACT/GC/IN/1997/in97067.t, Licenses," dated November 1987, which was transmitted to all licensees on
November 12,
1987, as an attachment to Generic Letter 87-16 (Accession No.
8712030029).
Some of the guidance included in NUREG 1262 is reiterated below;
licensees should refer to NUREG 1262 for additional details.
The situation in which an applicant performs a 30 percent change in
power in a short period (i.e., on the same shift) with no diversity of
controls would be evaluated as one significant control manipulation.
The situation in which an applicant reduces power from 100 percent to 95 percent and then increases power from 95 percent to 100 percent would be
evaluated as one significant control manipulation.
The situation when an applicant performs a 50 percent change in power in
a short period of time with diversity of controls (recirculation flow
and control rods, or chemical shim and controls rods) can be evaluated
as two significant control manipulations.
The situations when an
applicant reduces power by 10 percent then holds there for performance
of other work or testing and then later in the shift increases power by
10 percent can be evaluated as two significant control manipulations.
Diversity of significant control manipulations on the plant are
expected; however, it
is not required.
If the applicant does not have
experience in diverse significant control manipulations, this fact
should be noted in the comments section of NRC form 398.
August 21,
1997 This information notice requires no specific action or written response.
If
you have any questions about the information in this notice, please contact
one of the technical contacts listed below or the appropriate Office of
Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) project manager.
/s/'d
Marylee M. Slosson, Acting Director
Division of Reactor Program Management
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Technical contacts:
John Pellet, RIV
301-415-1096
(817)
860-8159 E-mail: bxhl@nrc.gov
E-mail: jlp@nrc.gov
Donald Florek, RI
Thomas Peebles, RII
(610)
337-5185
(404)
562-4638 E-mail: djfl@nrc.gov
E-mail: tap@nrc.gov
Mel Leach, RIII
(630) 829-9705 E-mail: mnl@nrc.gov
NRC FORM 474 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
APPROVED BY OMB: NO. 3150-0138 EXPIRES: 0813112001
(5-1998)
Estimated burden per response to comply with this mandatory information collection
request 120 hours0.00139 days <br />0.0333 hours <br />1.984127e-4 weeks <br />4.566e-5 months <br />. This information is used to certify a simulation facility. Forward
comments regarding burden estimate to the Records Management Branch (t-6 F33), U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, and to the Papero
SIMULATION FACILITY CERTIFICATION
Reduction
irjati
3on
38)
o
f Management acd Budget
cashondo
20503. Ifan inormation
(o0lection
does not display a currently vand OMB control number, the NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, the
information collection.
INSTRUCTIONS: This form is to be filed for initial certification, recertification Cif required), and for any change to a simulation facility performance testing plan made after initial submittal of such a
lan. Provide the following information and check the appropriate box to indicate reason for submittal.
FACILITY
DOCKET NUMBER
6o
LICENSEE
DATE
This is to certify that
1.
The above named facility licensee is using a simulation facility consisting solely of a plant-referenced simulator that meets the requirements of 10 CFR 55.45.
2. Documentation is available for NRC review in accordance with 10 CFR 55.45(b).
3. This simulation facility meets the guidance contained in ANSI/ANS 3.5-1985 or ANSI/ANS 3.5-1993, as endorsed by NRC Regulatory Guide 1.149.
If there are any EXCEPTIONS to the certification of this item, CHECK HERE [
and describe fully on additional pages as necessary.
NAME (or other identification) AND LOCATION OF SIMULATION FACILITY.
E SIMULATION FACILITPE PERFORMANCE TEST ABSTRACTS ATaACHED. (For pges n
asnece tess conducted in the period ending with Me date of this cernifdiction.)
DESCRIPTION OF PERFORMANCE TESTING COMPLETED. (Attach additional pages as nees
sary and
identify the item description being continued.)
S IMULATION FACILITY PERFORMANCE TESTING SCHEDULE ATTACHED. (For the cnduct ofapproximateVy25 percent ofoe~rfrnance te~sts per year forthe fiou-yearporW~
commencing with the date of this certification.)
DESCRIPTION OF PERFORMANCE TESTING TO BE CONDUCTED. (Attach additional pages as necessary
and
identify the item description being continued.)
SPERFORMANCE TESTING PLAN CHANGE. fraymodification to a perforrmance testing plan submitted on a previous cortificai.)
DESCRIPTION OF PERFORMANCE TESTING PLAN CHANGE (Attach additional pages as necessary and identify the item description being continued.)}
R ECERTIFICATION (Describe corrective actions taken, attach results of completed performance testing in accordance with 10 CFR 55.45(b)(5)(v).
(Attach additional pages as necessary and identify the item description being continued.)}
Any false statement or omission in this document. including attachments, may be subject to civil and criminal sanctions. I cerify under penalty of perjury that the information in this document and
attachments is true and correct
SIGNATURE -
AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE
TITLE
DATE
In accordance with 10 CFR 55.5, Communications, this form shall be submitted to the NRC as follows:
BY MAIL ADDRESSED TO:
DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION
BY DELIVERY IN PERSON
ONE WHITE FLINT NORTH
U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
TO THE NRC OFFICE AT:
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ROCKVILLE, MD
PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER
NRC FORM 474 (8-1998)