ML17291B038
| ML17291B038 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Columbia |
| Issue date: | 09/21/1995 |
| From: | Pedlet J NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION IV) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML17291B037 | List: |
| References | |
| 50-397-95-12, NUDOCS 9509270013 | |
| Download: ML17291B038 (19) | |
See also: IR 05000397/1995012
Text
ENCLOSURE
U.S.
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COHHISSION
REGION IV
Inspection Report:
50-397/95-12
License:
Licensee:
Washington Public Power
Supply System
3000 George Washington
Way
P.O.
Box 968,
HD 1023
Richland,
Facility Name:
Washington Nuclear Project-2
Inspection At:
Richland,
Inspection
Conducted:
August 4 - 19.
1995
Inspectors:
T. 0. HcKernon. Chief Examiner,
Operations
Branch
Division of Reactor Safety
S.
L. HcCrory. Examiner,
Operations
Branch
Division of Reactor Safety
R.
E. Lantz,
Examiner,
Operations
Branch
Division of Reactor Safety
Accompanying Personnel:
D. Draper,
Contractor
T. Bettendorf,
Contractor'.
Hitchell. Contractor
Approved
r
o
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e
,
.
pera ions
rane
D
ision of
ea
or Safety
fd
ff
Ins ection
Summar
IRR
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R tf
.
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P tf
f th
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f
applicants
for operator licenses
at the Washington Nuclear Project-2 facility,
which included
an eligibility determination
and administration of
comprehensive written examinations
and operating tests.
The examination
team
also observed plant conditions incident to the conduct of the in-plant
applicant evaluations.
The examiners
used the guidance
provided in NUREG-1021,
"Operator
Licensing
Examiner Standards."
Revision 7, Supplement
1 including. Sections
201-303
'01-303
'01-403,
and 701,
issued
June
1994.
95092700i3
9509'2i
ADQCK 05000397
6
0
-2-
Results:
~Ocr ations
All eight of the applicants for senior reactor operator
licenses,
and
five of the six applicants for reactor
operator licenses satisfied the
requirements
(Sections
1.2 - 1.3).
The reference material provided by the training department for
examination
development
was adequate with some noted minor exceptions
(Section 1.1).
All applicants
except
one reactor operator applicant passed
the written
examinations.
with scores
ranging from a low of 77.3 percent to a high
of 95.9 percent,
with averages
of 84.2 percent for reactor
operator
applicants,
94.3 percent for senior reactor
operator
upgrade applicants,
86.9 percent for senior
reactor operator instant applicants.
and 86.5
percent overall (Section 1.2).
The examiners
observed overall good communication practices
by the crews
during performance of dynamic simulator evaluations;
however,
command
and control effectiveness
between
crews
was inconsistent
(Section 1.3.1).
A number of instances
of a lack of simulator fidelity issues
were
identified,
none of which impacted examination validity (Section 1.5).
Plant
Su
ort
The material condition of the plant observed during in-plant walk
through evaluations
was good (Section 1.4).
Summar
of Ins ection Findin s:
~
There were no findings identified during the course of this inspection
that were assigned
a tracking number.
Attachments:
Attachment
1 - Persons
Contacted
and Exit Heeting
Attachment
2 - Post-Examination Facility Comments/NRC
Response
Attachment
3 - Simulation Faci lity Report
Attachment
4 - Written Examination
and Answer
Keys
-3-
DETAILS
1
LICENSED OPERATOR APPLICANT INITIALQUALIFICATION EVALUATION (NUREG-1021)
During the inspection.
the examiners
evaluated
the qualifications of
14 license applicants:
6 for reactor
operator
(RO) and 8 for senior reactor
operator
(SRO), of which 2 were
6 were unlicensed
applicants.
The inspection
assessed
the eligibility and administrative
and
technical
competency of the applicants to be issued licenses to operate
and
direct the operation of the reactivity controls at
a ccmmercial nuclear
power
facility in accordance
with 10 CFR Part 55 and
"Operator License
Examiner
Standards,"
Revision 7. Supplement
1. Sections
200 (series).
300 (series),
and 400 (series).
Furthermore,
the inspection included
evaluations of facility materials,
procedures.
and simulation capability used
in development
and administration of the examinations.
These areas
were
evaluated
using the guidance provided in the areas of NUREG-1021 cited above.
Finally, the examiners
observed
plant conditions during the conduct of
in-plant applicant evaluations.
After completion of the evaluations,
the examiners
recoranended
that five of
the six applicants
for
RO licenses
and all of the eight applicants
for
licenses satisfied the requirements of 10 CFR 55.33 (a)(2).
1. 1
Facility Haterials Submitted for Examination Development
The chief examiner
reviewed the licensee's
materials
provided f'r development
of the examination,
which included station administrative
and operating
procedures.
lesson
plans,
question
banks,
simulator scenarios,
simulator
malfunctions,
and job performance
measures
(JPHs).
The procedures
and lesson
plans were adequate.
Some changes to the examination were made during the
validation period as
a result of not having the most current procedure
revisions available during the development
phase.
The facility banks of written questions.
dynamic simulator
scenarios,
and JPHs
were adequate
in scope,
depth.
and variety.
The written examination question
bank was used only to a limited extent in developing the written examination.
Questions
used
from the bank were rewritten to change either the question
stem
or distractors.
Additionally. during examination development, it was observed
that
a number of the JPHs were not current with recently revised procedures.
The inconsistencies
applicable to the JPHs
used during the operating
examination were resolved during the validation period.
1.2
Written Examinations
The chief examiner provided the facility training staff with a copy of the "as
administered" written examinations
and the answer
keys immediately following
the completion of the examination
by the applicants.
The facility reviewed
the as administered
examination
and submitted postexamination
comments for NRC
consideration.
The licensee
was also provided
a copy of the preexamination
review comments for the postexamination
review.
'he
licensee
submitted postexamination
comments
on seven questions
on the
and
SRO written examinations,
enclosed
as Attachment 2.
The'hief examiner
analyzed the comments.
using supporting information supplied by the facility
licensee
and other available material,
and determined that for five questions.
the facility comments
were technically correct
and the actions
requested
by
the facility were in accordance with NUREG-1021, Revision 7, Supplement l.
Therefore. five facility comments
were accepted
as requested:
three of the
questions
were deleted
(RO 31/SRO 30;
RO 15/SRO 16;
RO 27/SRO 26),
and two
questions
(RO 46 and
RO 59) were retained with two correct
answers'he
other two facility comments
were evaluated
as described
below.
Question
RO 57/SRO 52 was changed to accept only answer
"b" as the correct
answer rather than accepting
both answers
"a" and "b".
The facility comment
made clear that "a" would be correct only for a special
case.
Since no
clarifying information for the special
case
was provided in the question
stem,
the only correct
answer
was "b".
Question
SRO 98,
requested
by the licensee f'r deletion.
was retained.
While
applicants
are not expected to memorize all procedures.
they are expected to
have
a basic understanding of the emergency
plan and knowledge of emergency
action level definitions.
Application of this knowledge was sufficient to
correctly answer this question, without reading the exact procedure.
Overall, the applicants
performed adequately
on the written examinations.
Scores
ranged
from a low of 77.3 percent to a high of 88.7 percent with an
average of 84.2 percent for reactor operator
applicants;
and
a low of
81.4 percent
and
a high of 95.9 percent for senior reactor
applicants with an
average of 88. 1 percent,
and
a 86.5 percent
average overall.
All applicants
except
one
RO applicant
passed
the written examination portion of the license
examinations.
The chief examiner reviewed applicant performance
on individual questions
and
observed that the following questions
were missed
by 50 percent or more of the
applicants
attempting to answer the question.
The questions
are referenced
by
examination level
and question
number.
Refer to the master examinations.
in
Attachment 4, for the complete question.
SRO examination:
5,
17,
32,
38,
58,
78
RO examination:
5.
14.
16.
33. 34, 37. 39, 42. 51, 64. 78.
94
The chief examiner concluded that no generic
knowledge weakness
areas
existed.
Therefore. this observation
was provided to the facility training staff for
consideration.
1.3
Operating Tests
The examiners
developed
comprehensive
operating tests in accordance with the
guidelines of NUREG-1021, Revision 7, Supplement
1, Section
301.
The
operating tests
consisted of three parts:
an administrative portion.
a dynamic
simulator scenario portion,
and
a control room/plant walkthrough portion.
The
examination
team reviewed
and validated the various portions of the operating
tests in the Region
IV office during the week of July 24.
1995.
and on site
July 31 through August 4.
1995.
The licensee's
personnel
under
a security
agreement
assisted
in the onsite validation.
The examination
team
administered the operating tests
during the week of August 14.
1995.
1.3.1
0 namic Simulator Scenarios
The examiners
evaluated five crews; three crews with two SRO Instants
and
one
RO. one crew with one
SRO Instant.
one
SRO Upgrade.
and one
RO;
and
one crew with two ROs and one
SRO Upgrade.
The applicants
were rotated
through positions of primary operator,
balance of plant operator,
and control
room supervisor using two or three scenarios
depending
upon the crew makeup.
The examiners
evaluated
the applicants'ompetencies
by comparing actual
performance during the scenarios
against
expected
performance in accordance
with the requirements
in NUREG-1021, Revision 7, Supplement
1. Section 303.
The examiners
noted good overall comnunication practices
among the operating
crews evaluated in the simulator.
However, in a number of instances
on one
crew,
an applicant
was observed
leaving the at-the-controls
control board area
to perform actions
on back panels without informing other
members of the crew
and without informing other crew members of the status of the panels
for which
he was responsible.
Two of the crews evaluated
had difficultywith one of the simulator
scenarios.
In one scenario.
the crew was directed to reduce
power
from 100 percent to
80 percent using the reactor recirculation system flow control valves.
Through the misactions of the primary reactor operator,
a reactor
level
was initiated when the operator
lowered core flow too quickly.
As
a
result.
a high level reactor pressure
vessel alert alarm annunciated.
While
the operator
acknowledged the alarm appropriately,
he made
no effort to stop
his actions
and wait for the perturbation to stabilize but rather
continued to
decrease
core flow, further per turbating level.
A preplanned
Master
Controller fai lure was actuated
at the same time the operator
resumed
core
flow reductions.
causing the plant to trip on high reactor vessel
level
(54.5").
The operator
was unable to prevent the trip in that his actions
initiated the transient
and further exacerbated
the condition by continuing to
reduce core flow.
In the second
instance.
a partial failure of reactor vessel
level
instrumentation
caused
some confusion
among the crew.
The control
room
supervisor directed the
RO to recover
vessel
level using the high pressure
pump while monitoring level indication on an already identified as
-6-
failed wide range level instrument.
The control
room supervisor relied on the
crew's
response to recognize this error and control level using other
indications.
While adequate
subsequent
plant control
by the operators
was
observed in both of these scenarios,
these
areas
were discussed
with the
licensee
as potential training issues.
Additionally, the examiners
noted inconsistent
command
and control
effectiveness.
Some
SROs demonstrated
strong crew leadership attributes while
others
needed
more support from the other crew members to determine action
plan alternatives
and governing technical specification requirements.
While some weaknesses
were observed during the dynamic simulator evaluation,
all applicants
passed this portion of the examination.
1.3.2
Walkthrou h Examinations
The examination
team evaluated
each of the
RO and
SRO applicants
using system
oriented
JPMs related to job tasks within the scope of the potential duties
as
appropriate in accordance
with NUREG-1021, Revision 7, Supplement
1.
This
included nonlicensed
operator tasks outside the control
room and performance
of some tasks
on the simulator in the dynamic mode.
Each of the applicants
were requi red to access
radiologically controlled areas to complete
one or
more tasks.
In addition to the tasks,
the examiners
asked prescripted
questions
related to the task system.
The facility administrative procedures
and practices
were also examined using
JPMs or questions.
Overall, the performance of the applicants
on the JPMs
was adequate.
The
applicants
were aware of plant activities and the location of plant
components.
All applicants
passed
the walkthrough portion of the examination.
1.4
Observations
During the walkthrough portion of the examination,
the examiners
observed
good
material condition of the plant.
The examiners
observed that the licensee
had
taken additional
measures
to improve the overall housekeeping
in the plant and
has recently carpeted
the main control
room to help reduce the background
noise level.
1.5
Simulation Facilit
During the preparation
and conduct of the operating examinations,
the
examination
team observed
some discrepancies
in simulator fidelity, as
documented
in Attachment 3.
The observed
discrepancies
did not impact
examination validity.
ATTACHHENT 1
1
PERSONS
CONTACTED
1.1
Licensee
Personnel
"J. Baker, Director of Training
- 0 ~ Hueller. Initial License Class Coordinator
%. Schaeffer,
Operations Training Manager
- C. Schwarz.
Operations
Manager
- D. Swank, Licensing Manager
1.2
~IIRC
2
- T. HcKernon, Chief Examiner.
Operations
Branch. Division of Reactor Safety
- Denotes personnel
that attended
the exit meeting.
In addition to the personnel
listed above.
the inspectors
contacted other
personnel
during this inspection period.
2
EXIT HEETING
An exit meeting
was conducted
on August 19.
1995.
During this meeting. the
inspector
reviewed the scope
and findings of the report.
The licensee did not
express
a position on the findings documented in this report.
The licensee
did not identify as proprietary any information provided to,
or reviewed by,
the inspector.
ATTACHMENT 2
FACILITY POSTEXAMINATION COMMENTS/NRC RESPONSE
WASHINGTON PUBLIC POWER SUPPLY SYSTEM
8/19/1995
Question
C.
The affected annunciator should be deenergized
and placed
under a danger tag clearance order.
The affected annunciator should be deenergized
and placed
under a caution tag order.
A Problem Sticker (PS) should be placed adjacent to the
affected annunciator window.
A Component Status Change Order (CSCO) should be
initiated on the annunciator.
Reference:
PPM 1.3.1, Department Policies, Programs and
Practices,
Rev. 19, Section 4.16.2h., Page 45 of 67.
Question: RO f59
A faulty pressure switch has resulted in an erroneous instrument air
header low pressure alarm.
WHICH ONE (1) of the following
describes
a required action for this deficiency2
WNP-2 Comments/References/NRC
Response
Actions specified in both answers 'b'nd 'c're procedurally driven:
WNP-2 References:
ANSWER
'b'.
PPM 1.3.1, Rev 20, Section 4.16.4.f, p.47, allows spurious alarms to be
deactivated.
2.
PPM 1.3.8A, Rev 4, section 3.2.4, p.5, states that a caution tag should be
used to flag any annunciator taken out of service.
3.
PPM 1.3.9, Rev 16, Section 4.4.7.b, p.10, requires a caution tag for a
deactivated alarm unless a TMR is generated.
ANSWER
'c'.
PPM 1.3.1, Section 4.16.4.h, Rev 20, p. 47, states that a Problem Sticker
should be placed adjacent to alarm- caused by faulty equipment.
NRC Response:
Accept 'b'r 'c's a correct answer.
Recommendation
Accept 'b'nd 'c'
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0
Questton
a.
b.
C.
d.
Unusual Event
Alert
Site Area Emergency
General Emergency
References:
PPM 4.12.1.1 Control Room Evacuation and Remote Cooldown,
Rev. 22, Section 4.1, Step 8, Page 6 of 53.
QUESTION: SRO if98
A Halon System initiation has forced the Shift Manager to evacuate
the Control Room and perform a remote shutdown and cooldown.
WHICH ONE (I) of the following describes the emergency
classification associated
with this event:
B
WNP-2 Comments/References/NRC
Response
Operators arc expected to perform only Immediate Actions from memory.
Performance of Subsequent Actions or emergency classification is accomplished with
procedures available.
The classification of an Alert is directed in Step 10 of the
Subsequent
Operator Actions of the referenced procedure.
WNP-2 Reference:
1.
PPM 4.12.1.1, Control Room Evacuation And Remote Cooldown, Rev 23,
Section 4.1, Step 10), p.6,
Classify the emergency
as an ALERT and
initiate notifications."
NRC RESPONSE:
Deny.
While it is agreed that Step 10 of PPM 4.12.1.1
"Control Room Evacuation and Remote Cooldown
is a subsequent
action step, the
question tests the candidate's
understanding of the basis of the emergency
classification and understanding of the
Alert EALdefinition. An Alert
is
defined, in part,
... as an event(s) which involves substantial actuaVpotential
degradation of level of safety..."
Because control room evacuation is needed,
additional support, monitoring and direction through the TSC and/or Operations
Support Center would be needed.
The candidate's knowledge of the EAL definitions
alone permit answering the question.
An Unusual Event are those events involving a
potential degradation, while an Alert involves an actual/potential degradation of level
of safety of the plant.
Choices 'c'nd 'd'an be eliminated since no significant
component failures or core degradation
is indicated in the stem of the question.
Recommendation
Delete
References:
PPM 13.1.1A Revision 0, Attach 4.1, pg 94 of 153,
EAL Basis
DOE/RI 9442, Revision 0, Tbl 4-1,
Summary of Emergency Classes
Emergency Plan, Revision 15, Tbl 4-1, Category 7.2, "Emergency Classification
Intttatmg Conditions"
PPM 13.1.1, Revi ion 22, pg 4 of 33,
Emergency Plan Implementing Procedures
Question
CRD pumps
Drywell pressure
RPV level
Reactor pressure
Reactor Power
Both tripped
6 psig
45 inches
250 psig and stable using SRVs
5%
With Full Core Display indicating all HCU accumulators have
depressurized,
WHICH ONE (1) of the following methods can be
used to add negative reactivity?
During full power operations,
a LOCA occurs accompanied by an
ATWS. The plant status is a follows:
B
WNP-2 Comments/References/NRC
Response
There are no correct selections for this question.
The RPV pressures
specified are
not suflicient to cause rod insertion.
WNP-2 References:
1.
PPM 5.5.11 (Alternate Control Rod Insertion) Tab 6, Page 17, requires a
RPV pressure of 400 psig or greater to perform overpiston vent.
2.
Training text 82-RSY4300-Tl (CRDM), states that ifreactor pressure
is
less than 375 psig, the rods do not go in at all without CRD accumulator
assistance.
NRC Response:
Accept; delete question.
Recommendatloa
Delete
Clear any hydraulic lock and open the scram inlet and
outlet valves for each rod that has failed to insert.
Vent the control rod drive mechanism overpiston area for
those rods that failed to insert.
Reset the scram and insert rods using the individual scram
test switches.
Close SRVs as necessary
and increase RPV pressure to
370 psig.
Reference:
l.
82-RSY4306-TI, Nov. 92, p. 11
2.
LO: 82-RSY4300-Ll CRDM, 6981
Qnestfon
WHICH ONE (I) of the following describes
the indicating light
status at panels P601 and F631 for a PARTIALLYCLOSED SRV
that had opened on high RPV pressure?
Panel 601
Panel P631
a.
Red light ON
Red light ON
Green light OFF
Green light ON
b.
Red light OFF
Red light ON
Green light OFF
Green light OFF
WNP-2 Comments/References/NRC
Response
D
There are no correct selections for this question.
The indication on P601 is as stated in answer 'd':
Red light ON, Green light ON.
The indication on F631 is determined by the status of the ADS initiation signal, i.e.,
whether or not the associated ADS solenoid is energized.
For the conditions given,
the P631 indications willbe Red light OFF and Green light ON.
Reference:
Print EWD-IE433, Rev. 14
NRC Response:
Accept; delete question.
Recommendatlon
Delete
C.
Red light OFF
Green light ON
Red light OFF
Green light ON
d.
Red light ON
Green light ON
Red Light OFF
Green light OFF
Reference:
1.
82-RSY4)100-T4, March 95, p. 12 &, 13
2.
LO: 82-RSY4100-L4 NBI, 5528, p.53
A spurious half scram has occurred.
It is just past midnight and the
shift engineer can not determine the cause of the half scram.
WHICH ONE (I) of the following is the LOWEST level of
authority, by title, that can authorize the half scram to bc reset
under these conditions?
Prior to resetting any half scram signal, the
Control Room Staff should investigate
and correct the cause.
In a case where the cause is indeterminable, the Shift
Manager would normally be a part of this process.
The procedure statement to reset at the direction of the
CRS/SM
allows for the
reset to still occur in the event that the Shift Manager is not available.
The CRS
would not give the direction to reset a I/2 scram of indeterminable cause ifthe Shift
Manager were present in the Control Room.
Accept 'a'nd
'b'.
b.
C.
d.
Control Room Supervisor
Shift Manager
Operations Manager
Plant Manager
Unless it is assumed that the Shift Manager is not available, selecting
CRS'n
answer to this question would be counter to Control Room practice and the intent of
the referenced procedure.
Reference:
1.
PPM 1.3.1, Department Policies, Programs and Practices, Rev.
19, Section 4.6.2.a, Page
19 or 67.
WNP-2 Reference:
PPM 1.3.1, Section 4.7.6, Rev. 20
NRC Response:
Accept only 'b's the correct answer.
Insufficient information in
stem of question to allow 'a's the correct answer.
Question
The control room supervisor directs the reactor operator to insert a
rod from P603 using the insert pushbutton.
WHICH ONE (I) of
the following describes the correct Directional Control Valve (DCV)
position while the rod is in motion?
WNP-2 Comments/References/NRC
Response
The question indicates that a rod willbe inserted using the Insert Pushbutton,
then
asks for thecorrect
DCV position while the rod is inmotion.
[underline added]
As long as the Insert Pushbutton is depressed,
DCV 121 and 123 willbe open, DCV
120 and 122 willbe closed.
This was not an available selection.
Recommendation
Delete
Under Piston
DCV 120
Over Piston
DCV 121
Withdraw
DCV 122
Reference:
I. 82-RSY4507-TI, Jan. 82, p.12
2.
LO: 82-RSY4300-LI CRDM, 5214
a. OPEN
CLOSED
CLOSED
b. OPEN
CLOSED
OPEN
c. CLOSED
OPEN
OPEN
d. CLOSED
CLOSED
OPEN
Insert
DCV 123
CLOSED
CLOSED
OPEN
CLOSED
In asking for the DCV lineup the question is, in effect, asking for the lineup during
the insert stroke of rod movement rather than the ancillary lineup for the senle
function. To be technically correct, the question should be worded to ask for "a
correct
DCV lineup during the rod movement.
A prewxam comment to specify rod
settle" motion to clarify the question was not
incorporated.
WNP-2 Reference:
1. Prewxam Review Comments, RO Question ¹26[SRO ¹27] mark-up.
NRC Response:
Accept; delete question.
ATTACHHENT 3
SIHULATION FACILITY REPORT
Facility Licensee:
Washington Public, Power Supply System
Facility Docket No.:
50-397
Operating Tests Administered on:
August 14-19,
1995
These observations
do not constitute audit or inspection findings and are not,
without further verification and review, indicative of noncompliance with
These observations
do not affect
NRC certification or
approval of the simulation facility other than to provide information which
may be used in future evaluations.
No licensee action is required in response
to these observations.
While conducting the simulator portion of the
operating tests,
the following discrepancies
were observed:
ITEH
DESCRIPTION
During an
ATWS scenario.
with no apparent
(Reactor Protection
System)
actions
from the operators.
the reactor
scrammed
from 20 percent
power .
Reactor Building Radiation
Honitoring Instrumentation
Reactor Recirculation
Pumps
Reactor
Building Radiation monitoring
instrumentation did not accurately
mimic
simulator
computer inputs.
RISC-4.6.8 meters
did not accurately indicate 10'r /hr when
simulator computer inputs were activated at that
radiation level.
When taking the EDG's
mode switches to Control
Room position, the loss of 125V dc and 250
V dc
power annunciators
alarm.
(This item was
observed during the validation week.)
During a scenario in which it was desired to
trip the "B" RRC pump, the simulator tripped
both "A" and "B" RRC pumps
when the "B" RRC pump
trip was actuated.
ATTACHHENT 4
WRITTEN EXAHINATIONS AND ANSWER KEYS
t'