ML17056C262
| ML17056C262 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Nine Mile Point  |
| Issue date: | 02/17/1993 |
| From: | Conte R NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I) |
| To: | Sylvia B NIAGARA MOHAWK POWER CORP. |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9302240028 | |
| Download: ML17056C262 (24) | |
Text
Docket No. 50-410 Mr. B. Ralph Sylvia Executive Vice President - Nuclear Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation 301 Plainfield Road
- Syracuse, New York 13212
Dear Mr. Sylvia:
SUBJECT'IMITED SENIOR REACTOR OPERATOR (LSRO) INITIAI.
EXAMINATIONSAND SIMULATORREQUALIFICATIONRETAKE EXAMINATIONS In a telephone conversation on February 5, 1993, between Mr. D. Florek and Mr. R. Slade, arrangements were made for the administration of the subject licensing examinations at the Nine Mile Unit 2 facility.
The written examinations and operating tests are scheduled for the week of May 10, 1993
~
Your staff willbe given an opportunity to review the LSRO licensing examinations in accordance with the guidelines in Revision 7 of NUREG-1021, "Operator Licensing Examiner Standards,"
(ES-201, Attachment 4) during the week of May 3, 1993.
Revision 7 to NUREG-1021 (Rev. 7) for the LSRO and requalification retake examinations willbe used.
This was discussed with Mr. Slade and we request that you respond in writing that you acknowledge the use of Revision 7 for this examination.
To prepare the LSRO examinations and meet the above schedule, it willbe necessary for your staff to furnish the reference materials applicable to the LSRO Job Task Analysis identified in Attachment 2 of ES-201 by March 8, 1993.
Any delay in receiving approved and indexed reference material or the submittal of inadequate or incomplete reference material may result in the examination being rescheduled.
The NRC willprepare and administer the LSRO written examination in accordance with ES-701 of NUREG-1021.
In order to conduct the requested examinations, it willbe necessary for your staff to provide adequate space and accommodations on the date noted above.
The NRC's guidelines for administering and taking the written examinations are described in ES-402, Attachments 1 and 2.
OFFICIALRECORD COPY G:DFNM510 9302240028 9302i7 PDR ADOCK 050004l0 V
Mr. B. Ralph Sylvia The NRC willprepare and administer the operating tests in accordance with ES-701.
Attachment 1 to ES-302 contain policies and guidelines that willbe in effect during the operating test.
Your staff should submit preliminary, limited senior reactor operator license applications and waiver requests at least 30 days before the first examination date so that the NRC willbe able to review the applications and the medical certifiications and evaluate any requested waivers. Ifthe applications are not received at least 30 days before the examination date, a postponement may be necessary.
Final, signed applications certifying that all training has been completed should be submitted at least 14 days before the first examination date.
For the NRC to adequately prepare for the simulator requalification retake examinations, the facility licensee will need to furnish the NRC the approved items listed in Enclosure 1,
"Reference Material Requirements."
You are also requested to submit, at your option, a proposed examination for use during the examination week.
However, ifyou do submit a
. proposed examination, the personnel participating it its development may become subject to the security restrictions described'in this letter.
Please review the guidance promulgated in Revision 7 to NUREG-1021 on the content and scope of simulator requalification examination scenarios.
The scenario examination bank should cover the entire spectrum of emergency operating procedures (EOPs), including alternative decision paths within the EOPs, and it should. incorporate a range of failures with various degrees of severity for the same type of event.
Each scenario should contain simultaneous events that require the senior reactor operator (SRO) to prioritize their actions and to assign other crew members particular tasks.
Each scenario should also require the SRO to decide when to transition between EOPs and decide which actions to take within EOPs.
You are requested to designate at least one employee to be a member of a joint NRC-facility examination team.
The employee is expected to be an active senior reactor operator (SRO) as defined by 10 CFR 55.53(e) or (f) from the Nine,Mile 2 operations department.
You are encouraged to designate
- a. second employee from the training staff to be a member of the examination team.
This employee should also be a licensed SRO, but may be a certified instructor. Ifdesired and agreed to by the chief examiner, you may designate one additional employee from the training staff with appropriate qualifications to be a member of the examination team.
In addition to, these individuals, you willneed to designate a simulator
'perator for scenario preview and validation during the on-site examination preparation week.
In some cases, you may need to designate a simulator operator during the test item review period.
Also, a facility operations management representative above a shift supervisor level should observe the simulator examination process at the site.
Allof these individuals willbe subject to the examination security agreement.
Mr. B. Ralph Sylvia The NRC restricts any facility representatives under the security agreement from knowingly communicating by any means the content or scope of the examination to unauthorized persons and from participating in any facility licensee programs such as instruction; examination, or tutoring in which an identified requalification examinee(s) willbe present.
These restrictions apply from the day that the facility licensee representative signs the examination security agreement indicating that the representative understands that he or she has specialized knowledge of the examination.
The chief examiner willdetermine when a facility licensee representative has received specialized knowledge concerning the examination and willexecute an examination security agreement.
In most cases, the examination team members willnot be required to enter into an examination security agreement more than 60 days before the examination week.
The simulator operator will normally become subject to the'security restrictions. during the examination preparation and validation week; however, this'may occur as much as 45 days before the examination week.
Sixty days before the examination administration date, please provide the NRC regional office with a list of proposed licensees, including crew composition, for the examination and the current mailing address for each proposed licensee, ifdifferent from that listed on the most recent Form-398 submitted to the NRC.
The facility licensee training staff should send this information directly to the NRC's chief examiner, ensuring that each licensee address is sent in a manner to ensure privacy.
The facility licensee is requested to distribute the, "Requalification Examination Feedback Form," attached as Enclosure 3.
The NRC requests that this feedback form be completed by all operators, evaluators, and facility licensee representatives participating in the NRC requalification examination, including facility licensee managers.
The results from this survey willbe used to measure the success of the NRC and facility licensee's efforts to reduce undue stress during the requalification examination.
The request for responses to the Requalification Feedback Form is covered by Office of Management and Budget Clearance Number 3150-0159, which expired February 28, 1992.
A request for a clearance revision has been submitted to OMB and is expected to be granted.
The estimated average burden is 30 minutes per response, including copying and mailing the completed responses, Send comments about this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the Records and Reports Management Branch, MNBB-7714, Division of Information Support Services, Office of Information Resources Management, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington,
-DC 20555; and to the Paperwork Reduction Project {3150-0159), Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, NEOB-3019, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, DC 20503.
OFFICIALRECORD COPY G:DFNM510
Mr. B. Ralph Sylvia This request is covered by Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Clearance Number 3150-0101 which expires October 31, 1995.
The estimated average burden is 7.7 hours8.101852e-5 days <br />0.00194 hours <br />1.157407e-5 weeks <br />2.6635e-6 months <br />.per
- response, includes gathering, xeroxing, and mailing the required material.
Send comments about this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the Information and Records Management Branch, MNBB-7714, Division of Information Support Services, Office of Information Resources Management, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555; and to the Paperwork Reduction Project (3150-0101), Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, NEOB-3019, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, D.C. 20503.
Thank you for your consideration in this matter.
Mr. Slade has been advised of the NRC guidelines and policies addressed in this letter. Ifyou have any questions on these matters, please contact Mr. Don Florek at (215) 337-5185.
Mr. Florek is the designated Chief Examiner for this examination.
Sincerely, Richard J. Conte, Chief BWR Section Operations Branch Division of Reactor Safety
Enclosures:
1.
Reference Materials Required 2.
Administration of Requalification Examinations 3.
Requalification Feedback Form
~ '
Mr. B. Ralph Sylvia cc w/encls:
C. Terry, Vice President - Nuclear Engineering J. Perry, Vice President - Quality Assurance Vice President - Nuclear Generation K. Dahlberg, Unit 1 Plant Manager M. McCormick, Unit 2 Plant Manager D. Greene, Manager, Licensing R. Smith, Superintendent of Training R. Slade, Unit 2 Operations Training General Supervisor J. Warden, New York Consumer Protection Branch G. Wilson, Senior Attorney
'. Wetterhahn, Winston and Strawn Director, Energy & Water Division, Department of Public Service, State of New'ork C. Donaldson, Esquire, Assistant Attorney General, New York Department of Law Public Document Room (PDR)
Local Public Document Room (LPDR)
Nuclear Safety Information Center (NSIC)
NRC Resident Inspector State of New York, SLO Designee OFFICIALRECORD COPY 6:DFNM510
Mr. B. Ralph Sylvia bcc w/encls:
Region I Docket Room {with concurrences)
C. Cowgill, DRP R. Conte, DRS J. Yerokun, DRP L. Nicholson, DRP S. Greenlee, DRP W. Schmidt, SRI - Nine Mile V. McCree, OEDO R. Capra, NRR J. Menning, NRR D. Brinkman, NRR T; Fish, DRS D. Florek, DRS D. Holody, EO OL Facility File DRS File mg/ajk 2/05/93 Rl:DRS 02/g/93 OFFICIALRECORD COPY G:DFNM510
ENCLOSURK 1 Reference Material Guidelines Provide test items to support all aspects of the requalification examination to the NRC 60 days before the examination date.
2.
Provide a bank of at least 30 simulator scenarios which reflect all abnormal and emergency situations to which a licensee is expected to respond or control. At least 5 scenarios per year should be generated until all aspects of the emergency operating procedures are covered with sufficient variation in the type and scope of initiating events and level of degradation.
Emphasis should be placed on scenarios that include applicable industry. events; These target levels are expected to be attained by the facility licensees on 10/1/95, five years after the implementation of Revision 6 of NUREG-1021 (10/1/90) 3.
Provide-associated reference material to include Technical Specifications, abnormal and emergency operating procedures, and emergency plan procedures utilized in the requalification training.
ENCLOSURE 2 Administration of Requalification Examinations The NRC must evaluate at least 12 licensees to perform a program evaluation.
Normally, the decision to select a licensee or crew for the requalification examination is based on license renewal needs.
The requalification examination may also include other licensees who are not routinely performing shift duties or are not maintaining an active license as defined in 10 CFR 55.53(e).
The restrictions on crew composition in the simulator are described in ES-601 Section C.2 and ES-604.
2.
The simulator and simulator operators need to be available for examination development.
The chief examiner and the facility representatives willagree on the dates and duration of time needed to develop the examinations.
3.
The chief examiner willreview the reference material used in the simulator.
The NRC willnot authorize the use of reference material that is not normally used for plant operation in the control room to be used during the simulator test.
4.
The facility licensee willprovide a single room for completing Section B of the written examination.
The examination room and the supporting rest room facilities willbe located to prevent the examinees from contacting all other facility and contractor personnel during the examination.
5.
The chief examiner will inspect the examination room to see that it meets the minimum standard that will ensure examination integrity. The minimum spacing standard consists of one examinee per table and a 3-foot space between tables.
No wall charts, models, or other training materials are allowed in the examination room.
6.
The facility licensee is expected to provide a copy of each reference document for each examinee for Section B of the written examination.
The material should include documents that are normally available to the licensees in the control room such as the technical specifications, operating and abnormal procedures, administrative procedures, and the emergency plans.
The chief examiner willreview the reference material before the examination begins.
7.
The NRC requalification examination willattempt to distinguish between RO and SRO knowledge and abilities to the extent that the facility training materials allow the
- developers to make these distinctions.
8.
Prudent scheduling of examination week activities is important to help alleviate undue stress on the licensees.
The facility training staff and the NRC chief examiner should attempt to formulate a schedule that willminimize delays while conducting the examination.
2.
The following are some suggestions for structuring the examination activities to achieve this objective:
Bring in licensees in accordance with their scheduled examination times.
It is better to segregate the group of licensees completing their examination, instead of the. group of licensees that are scheduled to start their examination.
Following simulator scenarios, the facility evaluatozs and NRC examiners should quickly determine whether follow-up questioning is required so that the crew members may be released to talk among themselves about the scenario.
Ensure that time validation of JPMs, particularly those performed in the simulator, is accurate.
Establish a reasonable schedule to prevent licensees from waiting for simulator availability to complete their JPMs.
The NRC no longer requires the facility licensee to videotape dynamic simulator examinations. Ifthe facility licensee requests to videotape the examination, any use of the tape must be completed before the NRC leaves the site at the end of the examination. Ifa disagreement over the grading of a licensee still exists at the end of the examination week, the'acility licensee may retain the tape for the purpose of submitting it to support a request for regrade by the NRC. During the regrade, the NRC willreview only the portion of the videotape under contention.
After all requalification examination grades are finalized, including the review of any regrade
- requests, the facility licensee is expected to erase all video tapes made during the examination.
ENCLOSURE 3 RequaliTication Examination Feedback Form In roducti n The NRC is requesting feedback regarding the conduct of requalification examinations.
The information provided willbe used to monitor, on a generic basis, the effectiveness of the NRC's and facility licensee's efforts to minimize undue stress in the examination process.
This-form is not intended as a means of resolving technical or process concerns pertaining to a specific examination.
Such concerns willbe resolved using the guidance in NUREG-1021.
"Operator Licensing Examiner Standards."
Instructions Completion of this form is voluntary. Ifyou choose to provide feedback, please answer the questions in accordance with these instructions:
The questions in this form regard the examination administered by +<~ei~on at
~kill li d '~d;h ",
l '&p examinations may be appropriate.
Any examinee or individual involved in the development or administration of this examination is encouraged to complete this form.
Mail completed forms to:
NRC Re ional Office e
t rLi nin B
nch hie Your Back round Please check the boxes that describe your involvement in this examination.
I was:
an examinee involved in developing the examination involved in administering the examination an examination observer other:
Please check the boxes that describe your current position.
(Check all that apply)
RO SRO Operating crew member training department operations department other:
Str s v. Undue Stress The following questions require you to make a judgment of whether there was undue stress during the examination.
Examinations are inherently stressful events and, therefore, it is important that you make a distinction between stress and undue stress when making your judgments, Undue stress is unnecessary or inappropriate stress which can be practically eliminated without compromising the validity of the examination.
The distinction between stress and undue stress is not a matter of whether the stress was extreme or mild. When making your judgments you should follow these steps:
First, consider the cause of the stress.
Would it have been possible and practical to eliminate the cause of the stress without compromising the validity of the examination? Ifyour answer is no, then no undue stress was present.
(See point ¹1 on the rating scale below.)
Ifyour answer is yes, consider the magnitude of the stress.
A source of stress may
'e unnecessary but also sufficiently small in magnitude to be unlikely to affect an individual's performance in the examination.
(See point ¹2 on the rating scale below.)
The alternative is that the source may be unnecessary and also of sufficient magnitude to be likely to affect an individual's performance in the examination.
(See point ¹3 on the rating scale below.)
1.
No undue stress 2.
Some undue stress Inappropriate stress was present that could have been practically avoided but would not likely affect an individual's examination performance.
3.
Significant undue stress Inappropriate stress was present that could have been practically avoided, and it would likely affect an individual's examination performance.
R~atin Examination Feedback Please use the rating scale described on the preceding page to indicate your judgment of the degree of undue stress that was present in each aspect of the examination identified below.
Write the number (1, 2, or 3) in the space preceding the section.
QLmm~ent Please comment about the source or cause of any undue stress, including who was affected (e.g., examinees, examiners) and suggested practical solutions.
Attach additional sheets ifnecessary.
'reexamination Interactions with NRC Comments:
Written Examination:
Administrative Controls/Procedural Limits Comments:
Written Examination:
Plant and Control Systems Comments:
Dynamic Simulator Comments:
Job Performance Measures Comments:
Please comment on any practices which you believed were successful in reducing undue stress.
Your cooperation in completing this form is appreciated.
0