ML17158B969
| ML17158B969 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Susquehanna  |
| Issue date: | 02/26/1997 |
| From: | Meyer G NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I) |
| To: | Byram R PENNSYLVANIA POWER & LIGHT CO. |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9703070130 | |
| Download: ML17158B969 (22) | |
Text
February 26, 1997 Mr. Robert G. Byram Senior Vice President
- Nuclear Pennsylvania Power 5 Light Company 2 North Ninth Street Allentown, Pennsylvania 18101
SUBJECT:
MANAGEMENT MEETING ON INITIALOPERATOR EXAMINATION PERFORMANCE
Dear Mr,
Byram:
This letter documents the February 20, 1997 meeting with George Jones and Bill Lowthert and other members of your staff. 'The'meeting
'was led by Jim Wiggins from the Region I
office and Bruce Boger from the office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the issues regarding examination development and applicant performance identified in NRC Initial Operator Examination Report 96-12, for Susquehanna Steam Electric Station.
'e had been concerned regarding the high percentage of senior reactor operators (SROs) that failed the initial examination and the large number of written examination comments that your facility submitted after the'xamination administration on an examination that your facility proposed.
At the meeting your staff presented their conclusions that the operators had been trained to the same high standards and had similarly high skill and knowledge levels as SROs that had been licensed in previous classes at Susquehanna.
Also, your staff presented their conclusions that your facility had done a poor job of adapting the examination process to the revised method under the pilot guidelines for examinations, including weak technical validation and time validation, and that this had resulted in an unnecessarily difficult and confusing written examination.
We believe that this written examination continues to be a valid examination on which to base licensing decisions.
Nonetheless, we encourage you to vigorously pursue the actions discussed at the meeting and identified in the meeting handout (enclosed) and to ensure the effectiveness of these corrective actions regarding the development of future examinations.
'7703070i30 970226 PDR ADOCK 05000387 V
PDR O"(OOOO
Mr. Robert G. Byram We appreciate the time and effort expended by your staff to brief us on this important matter.
There were no decisions or actions requested of the NRC staff at the meeting and none were provided.
No response to this letter is required.
Sincerely, Glenn W. Meyer, Chief Operator Licensing and Human Performance Branch Division of Reactor Safety Docket Nos. 50-387 and 50-388
Enclosure:
Meeting Handout cc w/encl:
G. T. Jones, Vice President - Nuclear Engineering G. Kuczynski, Plant Manager J. M. Kenny, Supervisor, Nuclear Licensing G. D. Miller, Manager - Nuclear Engineering R. R. Wehry, Nuclear Licensing M. M. Urioste, Nuclear Services Manager, General Electric W. Lowthert, Manager, Nuclear Training C. D. Lopes, Manager - Nuclear Security W. Burchill, Manager, Nuclear Safety Assessment H. D. Woodeshick, Special Office of the President J. C. Tilton, III, Allegheny Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Mr. Robert G. Byram Region I Docket Room (with concurrences)
Nuclear Safety Information Center (NSIC)
J. Wiggins, DRS J. Caruso, Examiner, DRS T. Walker, Chief Examiner, DRS K. Gallagher, DRP D. Screnci, PAO NRC Resident Inspector PUBLIC DRS OL Facility File DRS File W. Dean, OEDO C. Poslusny, Project Manager, NRR J. Stolz, PDI-2, NRR Inspection Program Branch, NRR (IPAS)
R. Correia, NRR R. Frahm, Jr:, NRR D. Taylor, NRR B. Boger, NRR S. Richards, OLB/NRR DRS Master Exam File PUBLIC Nuclear Safety Information Center (NSIC)
DOCUMENT NAME: A:iSUSQMTG.297 To recehre a copy of this document, indicate In the boar C
~ Copy without attachment/enclosure E
Copy with anachment/enclosure N
~ No copy OFFICE RI/DRS'AME JCaruso DATE 02/25/97 RI/DRS GMeyer 02/
/9 02/
/97 02/
/97 02/
/97 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
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~ ~ ~ f
NRC/PPdtl Management Meeting InitialOpaator License Exam ggg Wrc s<
KingofPrussia, Pa.
February 20, 1997
AGENDA s>~~Cc~cZP4~i'MAIS" Introduction and Nlanagement Perspective
....G. T. Jones VP - Nuclear Operations Presentation W. H. Lowthert Manager - Nuclear Training
1
<S I
Operations Training Perspective
~ Operations Training is Strong and Effective
~ Examinations are Professionally Developed and Administered
~ Problems Occurred in Managing the Change to the Pilot Exam Process 1
~ Enhancements were Identified to Licensed Operator Training
I ~
=
Background===
~ Written Exam Developed by PP8 L Contractor Support
~
In Process Review and Changes by NRC and PP8L
~ Final Exam Submitted by PP8 L
~ Administered October 21-24, 1996
Problem:
Written Exam Required Post Exam Corrections
~ Multidisciplined Event Review Team Root Cause Analysis
~ Corrective Action Plan Developed
'J 1
j
~ I
4 II
- j I
v ll
Root Causes
~
Pilot Guidelines Not Understood Number of New Exam Questions Resource Allocation Validation of the Examination
Corrective Actions Write a PP8L Procedure to Develop Licensing Exams
~ Based on Rev. 8 of the Examiner Standards
~ Question Development
~ Validation Requirements
Training Program Enhancements
~ Selection SRO Dimensions
~ Training Revisions In Plant
. Simulator
~ In Process Academic and Performance Reviews Formal Review Boards
~ Transition to Revision 8 of Examiner Standards PP8 L Procedure Examiner Specialists
f
Licensed Training Programs Strong Graduates Are Capable Operators Reanalyzed Jobs, Compared to Training Programs
~ Operators Perform Licensed Duties Well
. Self-Assessment Accreditation Self-Evaluation Training Effectiveness Evaluations Independent Assessments lNPO Accreditation Team Visit INPO Plant Evaluation Consultant Audit Exams Consultant Exam Analysis
~ Operations Training Strong and Effective
~ Understand Causes of Exam Problems Corrective Actions Are Being Implemented
~ Continuously Improving Operator Training
A I