ML090721095
| ML090721095 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Grand Gulf  |
| Issue date: | 03/12/2009 |
| From: | Ryan Lantz Operations Branch IV |
| To: | Douet J Entergy Operations |
| References | |
| ER-09-301 50-416/09-301 | |
| Download: ML090721095 (11) | |
See also: IR 05000416/2009301
Text
UNITED STATES
NUC LE AR RE G UL AT O RY C O M M I S S I O N
R E GI ON I V
612 EAST LAMAR BLVD , SU I TE 400
AR LI N GTON , TEXAS 76011-4125
March 12, 2009
James R. Douet
Vice President Operations
Entergy Operations, Inc.
Grand Gulf Nuclear Station
P.O. Box 756
Port Gibson, MS 39150
SUBJECT: GRAND GULF NUCLEAR STATION - NRC EXAMINATION REPORT
Dear Mr. Douet:
On March 10, 2009, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) completed an examination
at Grand Gulf Nuclear Station. The enclosed report documents the examination findings, which
were discussed on March 5, 2009, with yourself, Messrs. Jeremy Browning, Plant Manager,
Ernest Mathes, Assistant Operations Manager for Training, Jim Caery, Training Manager, and
other members of your staff.
The examination included the evaluation of two applicants for reactor operator licenses, two
applicants for instant senior operator licenses, and two applicants for upgrade senior operator
licenses. The written examinations and operating tests were developed using NUREG-1021,
"Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors," Revision 9, Supplement 1.
The license examiners determined that all applicants satisfied the requirements of 10 CFR Part 55, and the appropriate licenses have been issued.
A licensee-identified Severity Level IV violation is listed in Section 4OA7 of this report. The
NRC is treating this violation as a non-cited violation consistent with Section VI.A.1 of the NRC
Enforcement Policy because it is a Severity Level IV violation and because it is entered into
your corrective action program. If you contest this non-cited violation, you should provide a
response within 30 days of the date of this inspection report, with the basis for your denial, to
the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ATTN: Document Control Desk, Washington, D.C.
20555-0001, with copies to the Regional Administrator, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Region IV, 612 East Lamar Blvd., Suite 400, Arlington, Texas 76011; the Director, Office of
Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; and the
NRC Resident Inspector at Grand Gulf Nuclear Station.
Entergy Operations, Inc. -2-
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 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). ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-
rm/adams.html (the Public Electronic Reading Room).
Sincerely,
/RA/
BWStapleton for
Ryan E. Lantz, Chief
Operations Branch
Division of Reactor Safety
Docket: 50-416
License: NPF-29
Enclosure:
NRC Examination Report 05000416/2009301
w/Attachment: Supplemental Information
cc w/Enclosure:
Senior Vice President
Entergy Nuclear Operations
P. O. Box 31995
Jackson, MS 39286-1995
Senior Vice President and COO
Entergy Operations, Inc.
P. O. Box 31995
Jackson, MS 39286-1995
Vice President, Oversight
Entergy Services, Inc.
P. O. Box 31995
Jackson, MS 39286-1995
Entergy Operations, Inc. -3-
Chief, Energy and Transportation Branch
Environmental Compliance and
Enforcement Division
Mississippi Department of
Environmental Quality
P. O. Box 10385
Jackson, MS 39289-0385
President
Claiborne County
Board of Supervisors
510 Market Street
Port Gibson, MS 39150
Senior Manager
Nuclear Safety & Licensing
Entergy Nuclear Operations
P. O. Box 31995
Jackson, MS 39286-1995
Manager, Licensing
Entergy Operations, Inc.
Grand Gulf Nuclear Station
P. . Box 756
Port Gibson, MS 39150
Attorney General
Department of Justice
State of Louisiana
P. O. Box 94005
Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9005
Office of the Governor
State of Mississippi
P.O. Box 139
Jackson, MS 39205
Attorney General
Assistant Attorney General
State of Mississippi
P. O. Box 220
Jackson, MS 39205
Entergy Operations, Inc. -4-
State Health Officer
State Health Board
P. O. Box 1700
Jackson, MS 39215
Associate General Counsel
Entergy Nuclear Operations
P. O. Box 31995
Jackson, MS 39286-1995
Louisiana Dept. of Environmental Quality
Radiological Emergency Planning and
Response Division
P. O. Box 4312
Baton Rouge, LA 70821-4312
Entergy Operations, Inc. -5-
Electronic distribution by RIV:
Regional Administrator (Elmo.Collins@nrc.gov)
Deputy Regional Administrator (Chuck.Casto@nrc.gov)
DRP Director (Dwight.Chamberlain@nrc.gov)
DRP Deputy Director (Anton.Vegel@nrc.gov)
DRS Director (Roy.Caniano@nrc.gov)
DRS Deputy Director (Troy.Pruett@nrc.gov)
Senior Resident Inspector Rich.Smith@nrc.gov)
Resident Inspector (Andy.Barrett@nrc.gov)
Branch Chief, DRP/C (Geoffrey.Miller@nrc.gov)
Senior Project Engineer, DRP/C (Wayne.Walker@nrc.gov)
GG Site Secretary (Nancy.Spivey@nrc.gov)
Public Affairs Officer (Victor.Dricks@nrc.gov)
Team Leader, DRP/TSS (Chuck.Paulk@nrc.gov)
RITS Coordinator (Marisa.Herrera@nrc.gov)
SUNSI Rev Compl. Yes No ADAMS Yes No Reviewer Initials GWA
Publicly Avail Yes No Sensitive Yes No Sens. Type Initials GWA
OE:OB OE:OB SOE:OB SOE:OB C:PBC C:OB
GWApger SHedger BTLarson SGarchow GMiller RELantz
/RA/ /RA/ /RA/ /RA/ /RA/ /RA/
03/11/09 03/11/09 03/11/09 03/11/09 03/11/09 03/12/09
OFFICIAL RECORD COPY T=Telephone E=E-mail F=Fax
U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
REGION IV
Docket: 50-416
Licenses: NPF-29
Report No.: 05000416/2009301
Licensee: Entergy Operations, Inc.
Facility: Grand Gulf Nuclear Station
Waterloo Road
Location:
Port Gibson, Mississippi 39150
Dates: March 3 - 10, 2009
Inspectors: Steve Garchow (Chief Examiner)
Gabriel Apger (Examiner, Chief Examiner Under Instruction)
Brian Larson (Examiner)
Sean Hedger (Examiner Under Instruction)
Approved By: Ryan E. Lantz
-1- Enclosure
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
ER05000416/2009301; March 3-10, 2009; Grand Gulf Nuclear Station; Initial Operator
Licensing Examination Report.
NRC examiners evaluated the competency of two applicants for reactor operator licenses, two
applicants for instant senior operator licenses, and two applicants for upgrade senior operator
licenses at Grand Gulf Nuclear Station.
The licensee developed the examinations using NUREG-1021, "Operator Licensing
Examination Standards for Power Reactors," Revision 9, Supplement 1. The written
examinations were administered by the licensee on March 9, 2009. NRC examiners
administered the operating tests on March 3 - 5, 2009.
The examiners determined that all applicants satisfied the requirements of 10 CFR Part 55, and
the appropriate licenses have been issued.
A. NRC-Identified and Self-Revealing Findings
No findings of significance were identified.
B. Licensee-Identified Violations
A licensee identified Severity Level IV non-cited violation has been reviewed by the
examiners. Corrective actions taken or planned by the licensee have been entered into
the licensees corrective action program. This violation and its corrective action tracking
numbers are listed in Section 4OA7 of this report.
-2- Enclosure
REPORT DETAILS
4. OTHER ACTIVITIES (OA)
4OA5 Other Activities (Initial Operator License Examination)
.1 License Applications
a. Scope
NRC examiners reviewed all license applications submitted to ensure each applicant
satisfied relevant license eligibility requirements. Examiners also audited three of the
license applications in detail to confirm that they accurately reflected the subject
applicants qualifications. This audit focused on the applicants experience and on-the-
job training, including control manipulations that provided significant reactivity changes.
b. Findings
No findings of significance were identified.
.2 Examination Development
a. Scope
NRC examiners developed the outlines, written examinations and portions of the
operating tests. The NRC staff submitted the operating test outlines and test material to
the licensee to validate and finalize for submittal as draft operating tests. NRC
examiners reviewed the draft operating tests submitted by the licensee against the
requirements in NUREG-1021.
b. Findings
NRC examiners provided draft examination and post-validation comments to the
licensee. The licensee satisfactorily completed comment resolution prior to examination
administration.
NRC examiners determined that the draft operating tests submitted by the licensee did
not meet the requirements of NUREG-1021. Specifically, the simulator scenario
Applicants Actions portion of the Form ES-D-2 did not contain sufficient detail. Errors
in identifying malfunctions were found. The job performance measures were not
validated, and they contained numerous technical, formatting and grammatical errors. A
contributing factor is the licensee replaced the operating test developer two weeks
before on-site validation, and had no process in place to ensure the developer
effectively implemented the requirements of NUREG-1021.
-3- Enclosure
.3 Operator Knowledge and Performance
a. Scope
On March 9, 2009, the licensee proctored the administration of the written examinations
to all six applicants. The licensee staff graded the written examinations, analyzed the
results, and presented their analysis to the NRC on March 10, 2009.
The NRC examination team administered the various portions of the operating tests to
all applicants on March 3 - 5, 2009.
b. Findings
No findings of significance were identified.
All applicants passed the written examination and all parts of the operating test. The
final written examinations, operating tests and post-examination analysis can be
accessed in the ADAMS system under the accession numbers noted in the attachment.
There were no post-examination comments as indicated in a letter received from the
licensee, dated March 9, 2009.
.4 Simulation Facility Performance
a. Scope
The NRC examiners observed simulator performance with regard to plant fidelity during
examination validation and administration.
b. Findings
No findings of significance were identified.
.5 Examination Security
a. Scope
The NRC examiners reviewed examination security for examination development during
both the onsite preparation week and examination administration week for compliance
with 10 CFR 55.49 and NUREG-1021. Plans for simulator security and applicant control
were reviewed and discussed with licensee personnel.
b. Findings
A compromise of the simulator scenario portion of the operating test occurred during
examination development that resulted in the licensee-identified non-cited violation
documented in section 4OA7 of this report. The finding is being treated under traditional
enforcement because the violation, if not found or corrected, had the potential to impede
the NRCs regulatory function. Specifically, licensing decisions could have been made
based on an invalid and compromised examination. To ensure a valid examination, the
following changes were made to the simulator scenario portion of the operating test:
-4- Enclosure
- All four scenarios were removed from the examination, and
- Two new scenarios were developed by the NRC and the facility during the onsite
validation week. There was no overlap with any of the removed scenarios.
4OA6 Meetings, Including Exit
The chief examiner presented the preliminary examination results to Mr. James R.
Douet and members of his staff on March 5, 2009. A telephonic exit was conducted on
March 11, 2009 between Messrs. Gabriel Apger, Examiner, and Bruce Bryant,
Operations Training Superintendant, Initial.
The licensee did not identify any information or materials used during the examination
as proprietary.
4OA7 Licensee Identified Violations
The following Severity Level IV violation was identified by the licensee and is a violation
of NRC requirements that meets the criteria of Section VI of the Enforcement Policy,
NUREG 1600, for being dispositioned as a Non-Cited Violation.
- 10CFR55.49 states in part: Applicants, licensees, and facility licensees shall
not engage in any activity that compromises the integrity of any application, test,
or examination required by this part. The integrity of a test or examination is
considered compromised if any activity, regardless of intent, affected, or, but for
detection, would have affected the equitable and consistent administration of
the test or examination. Contrary to the above, during scenario development in
December of 2008, the facility licensee left unsecured examination scenario
paperwork on the simulator printer. The paperwork for one of the four scenarios
was discovered by a facility licensee contractor on January 27, 2009 during
onsite validation with the NRC examination team. The facility licensee
immediately reported this to the NRC chief examiner and entered this into their
corrective action program under CR-CGN-2009-00388. Because the paperwork
was left on the printer for approximately one month; the facility licensee could
not definitively determine that the other three scenarios had not been printed;
and applicants were inside the simulator within eyesight of the printer, the NRC
Chief Examiner determined that the integrity of the simulator scenario portion of
the examination had been compromised. This is a Severity Level IV violation
because it was a unintentional compromise of the examination, it was
discovered and reported by the licensee, and the compromised portion of the
examination was replaced prior to making licensing decisions.
ATTACHMENT: SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION
-5- Enclosure
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION
KEY POINTS OF CONTACT
Licensee Personnel
Randy Douet, Site Vice President
Jeremy Browning, Plant Manager
Jim Caery, Training Manager
Ernest Mathes, Assistant Operations Manager, Training
Charles Roberts, Operations Training Superintendant, Requalification
Bruce Bryant, Operations Training Superintendant, Initial
Rita Jackson, Licensing
Will Ryder, Exam Team
Kyle Grillis, Exam Team
NRC Personnel
Richard Smith, Senior Resident Inspector
ADAMS DOCUMENTS REFERENCED
Accession No. ML090700248 - FINAL WRITTEN EXAMS
Accession No. ML090700228 - FINAL OP TEST
Accession No. ML090700256 - POST EXAM COMMENTS-ANALYSIS
A-1 Attachment