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Notification of NRC Initial Operator Licensing Examination 05000528/2016301; 05000529/2016301; 05000530/2016301
	ML16014A768
Person / Time
Site:	Palo Verde
Issue date:	01/13/2016
From:	Vincent Gaddy; Division of Nuclear Materials Safety IV
To:	Edington R; Arizona Public Service Co
References
	Download: ML16014A768 (4)
	v • d • e

January 13, 2016

Mr. Randall K. Edington

Executive Vice President Nuclear/CNO

Arizona Public Service Company

P.O. Box 52034, MS 7602

Phoenix, AZ 85072-2034

SUBJECT: PALO VERDE NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION, UNITS 1, 2, AND 3 -

NOTIFICATION OF NRC INITIAL OPERATOR LICENSING

EXAMINATION 05000528/2016301; 05000529/2016301; 05000530/2016301

Dear Mr. Edington:

In a meeting on November 16, 2015, between Messrs. J. Allison, Simulator Support and Exam

Group Section Leader, and T. Farina, Chief Examiner, arrangements were made for the

administration of licensing examinations at Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station during the

weeks of October 31 and November 7, 2016.

As agreed during the meeting, your staff will prepare the examinations based on the guidelines

in NUREG-1021, Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors, Revision 10,

and NUREG-1122, Knowledge and Abilities Catalog for Nuclear Power Plant Operators,

Revision 2, Supplement 1. The NRCs regional office will discuss with your staff any changes

that might be necessary before the examinations are administered.

To meet the above schedule, it will be necessary for your staff to furnish the examination

outlines by July 29, 2016. The written examinations, operating tests, and supporting reference

materials identified in Attachment 3 to ES-201 will be due by August 29, 2016. Pursuant to

Title 10, Section 55.40(b)(3), of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR 55.40(b)(3)), an

authorized representative of the facility licensee shall approve the outlines, examinations, and

tests before they are submitted to the NRC for review and approval. All materials shall be

complete and ready-to-use. We request that any personal, proprietary, sensitive unclassified, or

safeguards information in your response be contained in a separate enclosure and appropriately

marked. Any delay in receiving the required examinations and reference materials, or the

submittal of inadequate or incomplete materials, may cause the examinations to be

rescheduled. In addition, your support for on-site validation of the examinations is required

during the week of October 3, 2016.

In order to conduct the requested written examinations and operating tests, it will be necessary

for your staff to provide adequate space and accommodations in accordance with ES-402, and

to make the simulation facility available on the dates noted above. In accordance with ES-302,

your staff should retain the original simulator performance data (e.g., system pressures,

temperatures, and levels) generated during the dynamic operating tests until the examination

results are final.

R. Edington -2-

Appendix E to NUREG-1021 contains a number of NRC policies and guidelines that will be in

effect while the written examinations and operating tests are being administered.

To permit timely NRC review and evaluation, your staff should submit preliminary operator and

senior operator license applications (Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval

number 3150-0090), medical certifications (OMB approval number 3150-0024), and waiver

requests (if any) (OMB approval number 3150-0090) at least 30 days before the first

examination date. If the applications are not received at least 30 days before the examination

date, a postponement may be necessary. Signed applications certifying that all training has

been completed should be submitted at least 14 days before the first examination date.

This letter contains information collections that are subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of

1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). These information collections were approved by OMB, under

approval number 3150-0018, which expires on April 30, 2016. The public reporting burden for

this collection of information is estimated to average 500 hours0.00579 days 0.139 hours 8.267196e-4 weeks 1.9025e-4 months per response, including the time

for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining the data needed, writing the examinations,

and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this

burden estimate or any other aspect of these information collections, including suggestions for

reducing the burden, to the Records and FOIA/Privacy Services Branch (T-5 F52), U.S. Nuclear

Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, or by Internet electronic mail to

INFOCOLLECTS@NRC.GOV.

The NRC may neither conduct nor sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, an

information collection, unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the NRCs Rules of Practice, a copy of this letter will be

available electronically for public inspection in the NRCs Public Document Room or from the

Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of the NRCs Agencywide Documents Access

and Management System (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from the electronic Reading Room

page of the NRCs public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html.

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. Mr. Allison has been advised of the policies and

guidelines referenced in this letter. If you have any questions regarding the NRCs examination

procedures and guidelines, please contact Mr. Farina at 817-200-1117, or myself at

817-200-1159.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Vincent G. Gaddy, Chief

Operations Branch

Division of Reactor Safety

Docket Nos. 50-528, 50-529, and 50-530

License Nos. NPF-41, NPF-51, and NPF-74

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