ML032480619
| ML032480619 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Palo Verde  |
| Issue date: | 09/03/2003 |
| From: | Gody A Operations Branch IV |
| To: | Overbeck G Arizona Public Service Co |
| References | |
| 50-528/03-301, 50-529/03-301, 50-530/03-301 | |
| Download: ML032480619 (9) | |
See also: IR 05000529/2003301
Text
September 3, 2003
Gregg R. Overbeck, Senior Vice
President, Nuclear
Arizona Public Service Company
P.O. Box 52034
Phoenix, Arizona 85072-2034
SUBJECT: PALO VERDE NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION, UNITS 1, 2, AND 3 - NRC
EXAMINATION REPORT 05000528/2003-301; 05000529/2003-301;
Dear Mr. Overbeck:
On July 24, 2003, the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) completed an examination
at Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, Units 1, 2, and 3. The enclosed report documents
the examination findings, which were discussed on July 24, 2003, with Messrs. Mike Shea, Fred
Riedel, and other members of your staff.
The examination included the evaluation of six applicants for reactor operator licenses and
three applicants for senior operator licenses. We determined that all applicants satisfied the
requirements of 10 CFR Part 55, and the appropriate licenses have been issued.
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 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
Dockets: 50-528; 50-529; 50-530
Licenses: NPF-41; NPF-51; NPF-74
Arizonal Public Service Company -2-
Enclosure:
NRC Examination Report
05000528/2003-301; 05000529/2003-301; 05000530/2003-301
cc w/enclosure:
Steve Olea
Arizona Corporation Commission
1200 W. Washington Street
Phoenix, Arizona 85007
Douglas K. Porter, Senior Counsel
Southern California Edison Company
Law Department, Generation Resources
P.O. Box 800
Rosemead, California 91770
Chairman
Maricopa County Board of Supervisors
301 W. Jefferson, 10th Floor
Phoenix, Arizona 85003
Aubrey V. Godwin, Director
Arizona Radiation Regulatory Agency
4814 South 40 Street
Phoenix, Arizona 85040
Craig K. Seaman, Director
Regulatory Affairs/Nuclear Assurance
Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station
Mail Station 7636
P.O. Box 52034
Phoenix, Arizona 85072-2034
Hector R. Puente
Vice President, Power Generation
El Paso Electric Company
2702 N. Third Street, Suite 3040
Phoenix, Arizona 85004
Terry Bassham, Esq.
General Counsel
El Paso Electric Company
123 W. Mills
El Paso, Texas 79901
Arizonal Public Service Company -3-
John W. Schumann
Los Angeles Department of Water & Power
Southern California Public Power Authority
P.O. Box 51111, Room 1255-C
Los Angeles, California 90051-0100
John Taylor
Public Service Company of New Mexico
2401 Aztec NE, MS Z110
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87107-4224
Cheryl Adams
Southern California Edison Company
5000 Pacific Coast Hwy. Bldg. DIN
San Clemente, California 92672
Robert Henry
Salt River Project
6504 East Thomas Road
Scottsdale, Arizona 85251
Brian Almon
Public Utility Commission
William B. Travis Building
P.O. Box 13326
1701 North Congress Avenue
Arizonal Public Service Company -4-
Electronic distribution by RIV:
Acting Regional Administrator (TPG)
DRP Director (ATH)
Acting DRS Director (GMG)
Senior Resident Inspector (NLS)
Branch Chief, DRP/D (LJS)
Senior Project Engineer, DRP/D (JAC)
Staff Chief, DRP/TSS (PHH)
RITS Coordinator (NBH)
ADAMS: * Yes * No Initials: ______
- Publicly Available * Non-Publicly Available * Sensitive * Non-Sensitive
SOE:OB SOE:OB SEPI:PSB C:OB C:PBD C:OB
TFStetka/lmb TOMcKernon RLantz ATGody LJSmith ATGody
/RA/ /RA/ /RA/ /RA/ /RA/ /RA/
09/03/03 09/03/03 09/03/03 09/03/03 09/03/03 09/03/03
OFFICIAL RECORD COPY T=Telephone E=E-mail F=Fax
U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
REGION IV
Dockets: 50-528, 50-529, 50-530
Licenses: NPF-41, NPF-51, NPF-74
Report : 05000528/2003-301, 05000529/2003-301, and 05000530/2003-301
Licensee: Arizona Public Service Company
Facility: Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, Units 1, 2, and 3
Location: 5951 S. Wintersburg
Tonopah, Arizona
Dates: July 21-24, 2003
Inspectors: T. F. Stetka, Chief Examiner, Operations Branch
T. O. McKernon, Senior Operations Engineer
R. E. Lantz, Senior Emergency Preparedness Inspector
Approved By: Anthony T. Gody, Chief
Operations Branch
Division of Reactor Safety
-2-
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
ER 05000528/2003-301, 05000529/2003-301, 05000530/2003-301; 7/21-24/2003; Palo Verde
Nuclear Generating Station, Units 1, 2, and 3; Initial Operator Licensing Examinations.
NRC examiners evaluated the competency of six applicants for reactor operator licenses and
three applicants for senior operator licenses at Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, Units
1, 2, and 3. The facility licensee developed the examinations using NUREG-1021, "Operator
Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors," Draft Revision 9. Licensee proctors
administered the written examination to all applicants on July 18, 2003, in accordance with the
instructions provided by the chief examiner. The NRC administered the operating tests on
July 21-24, 2003.
Cornerstone: Human Performance
No findings of significance were identified (Section 40A4.1).
Report Details
4. OTHER ACTIVITIES (OA)
4OA4 Initial Operator License Examination
.1 Operator Knowledge and Performance
a. Examination Scope
On July 18, 2003, the licensee proctored the administration of the written examinations
to all nine applicants. The licensee staff graded the written examinations, analyzed the
results, and presented their analysis to the NRC on July 24, 2003.
The NRC examination team administered the various portions of the operating
examination to all nine applicants on July 21-24, 2003. The six applicants for reactor
operator licenses and the three upgrade applicants for senior operator licenses
participated in two dynamic simulator scenarios. The six applicants for reactor operator
participated in a control room and facilities walkthrough test consisting of 11 system
tasks, and an administrative test consisting of 4 administrative tasks. The three
applicants for upgrade to senior operator participated in a control room and facilities
walkthrough test consisting of 5 system tasks, and an administrative test consisting of
5 administrative tasks.
b. Findings
All nine of the applicants passed all parts of the examinations. The applicants
demonstrated good 3-way communications, alarm response, and peer checking.
For the written examinations, the reactor operator applicants average score was
91 percent and ranged from 88 to 96 percent, the senior operator applicants average
score was 95 percent and ranged from 92 to 98 percent. The overall written
examination average was 93 percent. The text of the examination questions may be
accessed in the ADAMS system under the accession numbers noted in the attachment.
The licensee conducted a performance analysis for the written examinations, submitting
them to the chief examiner on July 24, 2003. The analysis identified no common
knowledge deficiency. No remediation training was determined to be necessary
following the examinations.
No findings of significance were identified.
.2 Initial Licensing Examination Development
The licensee developed the examinations in accordance with NUREG-1021, Draft
Revision 9. All licensee facility training and operations staff involved in examination
preparation and validation were on a security agreement.
-2-
.2.1 Examination Outline and Examination Package
a. Examination Scope
The facility licensee submitted the integrated examination outlines on March 24, 2003.
The chief examiner reviewed the submittal against the requirements of NUREG-1021,
Draft Revision 9, and provided comments to the licensee. The facility licensee
submitted the final draft examination package on May 23, 2003. The chief examiner
reviewed the draft submittal against the requirements of NUREG-1021, Draft Revision 9,
and provided comments to the licensee on the examination on June 12, 2003. The NRC
conducted an onsite validation of the operating examinations and provided further
comments during the week of June 30, 2003. The licensee satisfactorily completed
comment resolution on July 14, 2003.
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.
.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 compliance with NUREG-1021 requirements.
Plans for simulator security and applicant control were reviewed and discussed with
licensee personnel.
-3-
b. Findings
While the examination team considered examination security to be adequate, one event
occurred that had the potential to compromise examination security. The NUREG 1021,
Draft Revision 9, allows examination material to be sent via e-mail if it is password
protected. The NUREG further states that the Chief Examiner be notified of the
password via telephone or regular mail. The intent of this process is to use a different
sending method for the password to further assure examination security. However,
when the licensee e-mailed the final examination to the NRC, they also e-mailed the
password immediately after the examinations in a separate e-mail.
The examination team reviewed this occurrence to determine if examination security
was compromised. The team noted that the licensee took the following actions during
transmittal of the examinations and password:
- The messages were sent from the examination room, a secure location;
- No one had access to the messages;
- There were no ccs or bccs sent with the messages; and,
- The messages were immediately deleted from all mailboxes following completion
of the transmittal.
In addition, the licensee developed a sign-up sheet for the candidates to provide
certification that the candidates had no prior knowledge of the examination material.
Based on these activities, the team concluded that an examination security compromise
did not occur. No other findings of significance were identified.
4OA5 Management Meeting
.1 Exit Meetings
The chief examiner presented the examination results to Messrs. Mike Shea, Training
Director, Fred Riedel, Operations Training Manager, and other members of the
licensee's management staff on July 24, 2003. The licensee acknowledged the findings
presented.
The licensee did not identify as proprietary any information or materials examined during
the examination.
ATTACHMENT
KEY POINTS OF CONTACT
Licensee
F. Riedel, Operations Training Manager
W. Potter, Simulator Support-Section Leader
P. Capehart, Nuclear Training Instructor
T. Stahler, Nuclear Training Instructor
L. Wilhelm, Nuclear Training Instructor
W. Drey, Nuclear Training Instructor
NRC
N. Salgado, Senior Resident Inspector
ADAMS DOCUMENTS REFERENCED
Accession No. ML032260469 - Written examination for reactor operators
Accession No. ML032260479 - Written examination for senior reactor operators
Accession No. ML032260490 - Written examination performance analysis