ML19207A512
| ML19207A512 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Crane  |
| Issue date: | 06/12/1979 |
| From: | Harold Denton Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| To: | |
| References | |
| FOIA-81-131, TASK-TF, TASK-TMR SECY-79-330B, NUDOCS 7908200389 | |
| Download: ML19207A512 (9) | |
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ag UNITED STATES NUCt. EAR REGULATORY COMMisSICN June 12,1979 INFORMAI'ON REPORT SECY-79-33CB For:
The Ccmissioners Frcm:
Harold R. Denten, Director Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation r[
Thru:
Executive Director for Operations
Subject:
Operator Emergency Respcnse Training Required by Other Agencies, Using Simulator Training Purcose:
To inform the Comissicners regarding hcw other agencies approach training for unanticipated accident sequences and operator re-spenses, by using system siculators, and to make reccmendations for the NRC operator licensing program.
Discussion:
In a memorandum from Samuel J. Chilk to Lee V. Gossick dated April 30,1979, IRR was requested to inform the Ccmission regarding seven items relating to prccedures for qualifying ruactor cperators.
Item 1 of the memorandum requested that we contact other agencies to determine hcw operator emergency response training is conducted and the use made of system simulators in such training.
Item 1 further requested that recxrendations for the NRC operator licensing program be proocsed.
We have held discussions with the U. S. Navy, Federal Aviation Administration, National Aeronautics and Space Administration and American Airlines.
The follcwing is a brief description of the training and retraining requirements specified by each crganization.
It identifies hcw, and to what extent, simulators are used in the training prcgrams.
It also discusses the methods used for establishing and maintaining the c:mpetency of the cperators.
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Finally, possible changes are put forth that may enhance the operator licensing program. These changes will be discussed in a separate Cccmission Paper that addresses the entire program.
U. S. Navy - Naval Aviation Ccmmand j
Flight crew members reporting to operational squadrons will have qualified in basic readiness training in a Reconnaissance / Attack Training Squadron.
During this initial trair.ing, some reliance is placed on the use of simulators, called Weapons System or Cockpit l
Procedures Trainers; hcwever, major emphasis is placed on actual i
flying time.
(An interesting point was made that where simulator I
time has in the past been substituted for flying time, eventually I
the flying time creeps back in and the simulator training becomes an add-on.)
In our discussien, Navy personnel pointed out that economic incentives for military applications are quite different from civilian considerations. The Navy does not strive to minimize actual flight time as dcas the. civilian aviation industry; l
therefore, simulators are not used as extensively as in the civilian industry.
The minimum requirements for initial pilot qualification for an operational squadron casists totally of actual flying heurs. The simulators come into ay in maintaining qualifications.
For example, if a pilot has not ficwn the aircraft in 30 days, he must spend time in a simulator.
In addition, for shore based squadrons, a ence-a-month session is spent in the simulator.
For ship-board squadrons, discussions using the plane's cockpit are conducted.
Every contingency is periodically reviewed including all emergency procedures.
In order for a qualified pilot to maintain his " wings" he must pass an evaluation conducted at intervals of approximately 12 months from the previous evaluation. The evaluation consists of an open back examination, a closed bock examination, an oral examination and a flight evaluation. A simulator may be substi-tuted for the aircraft for the flight evaluation, which consists of normal and emergency procedures carried cut by the pilot.
In order to provide standaruization of evaluations, flight evaluations are conducted by a designated pilot from the fleet unit.
The designated check flight pilots are themselves checked by a fleet check pilot.
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. U. S. N avy - S urface S hio C ommand The Navy surface ship cocmand makes limited use, at present, of s imul ators.
khere simulators are used, they contribute to the initial training of seamen and do not play a role in maintenance of personnel qualifications.
The major piece of simulation equipnent used by the surface ship forces is the 1200 PSI Propulsion Plant Trainer. Located at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center, the trainer provides a real-istic, real time simulation of the Fire Room, Engine Rocm, Auxiliary Machinery Rooms and Electrical Central of the FF 1078, a Frigate with a 1200 PSI Propulsion Plant.
Normal, as well as casualty procedures, can be performed on this simulator.
The surface ship command also operates a surface warfare simulator at Newport, R. I. and by 1982, pl ans to install simulators in Norfol k, Va. and San Diego, Ca.
These latter simulators would also be propul sion plant simulators although, bet.ause of differences in ship types, they may be generic simulators rather than specific, reference-shi p simul ators.
Following the initial training conducted at the training center, all subsequent proficiency training and qualification evaluations are under the jurisdiction of the Fleet Cocinanders. Propul sion Examining Boards are established in the fleets and are comprised of senior officers with appropriate cocmand and engineering back-grounds.
Shipboard evaluations of personnel qualifications, machinery availability and administration are conducted following major maintenance outages, restricted availability in excess of four months and before a ship is certified as ready for unrestricted fleet operations. Thereafter, recertification evaluations are conducted on a 12 month + 3 centh cycle.
The personnel evaluations consist of both written and oral exaninations for individual operators.
A g rade of 75". i s co n-sidered satisfactory on the written examination. In addition, both in-port and at-sea casualty control drills are conducted to evaluate the overall training of the crew. Casualty exercises are selected from a published list and are made known to the ship prior to the ccaraencement of the drills.
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. NOTE: The Navy nuclear plant operator training and qualification program will be addressed, in respcase to Item 6 of the April 30, 1979 menorandun, in a separate report to the Commission.
Federal Aviation Administration -
The FAA has developed a highly detailed set of training require-ments for flight crew members. Over the years, as simulators have become more scphisticated, more of the in-flight training and certification time is being replaced by simulator time.
At present, it is possible for a First Officer qualifying for a Captaincy or a Captain qualifying in a different type of airplane from which he is presently rated, to do so with as little as 2-hours of actual flying time at the controls of an airplane.
The FAA stated that the time is approaching when all qualifying will be done on a simulator. That is, the first time the pilot will fly the aircraft will be with passengers aboard.
In order to achieve this ccafidence in s.aulator training, the FAA has been intimately involved in establishing minimun train-ing requirements, emergency procedures which must be performed and performance specifications for simulators.
Three basic types of training prograns are established:
1.
Initial Training - The training required for crew members who have not qualified and served in the same capacity on another airplane of the sa:e grcup.
2.
Transition Training-The training recuired for crew members who have qualified and served in the same capacity on another airpiane of the same grCUp.
3.
Upgrade Training - The training required for crew members who have qualified and served as second in ccmand or flight engineer on a partic-ular type airplane, before they serve as pilot in cccnand or second in command, respectively, on that airplane.
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. For each type of training, the FAA specifies the requirements of the training progran, the maneuvers which must be successfully per-formed and the simulator or training device upon which the maneuvers may be performed.
A typical Transition Training program for a DC-10 pilot would consist of the following:
9 days of ground school which incitdes the Systems Trainer and Cockpit Procedures Trainer FAA oral examination 20 hours2.314815e-4 days <br />0.00556 hours <br />3.306878e-5 weeks <br />7.61e-6 months <br /> of flight training in a simulator and 11/4 hours in non-revenue aircraft flight FAA rating check
- 25 hours2.893519e-4 days <br />0.00694 hours <br />4.133598e-5 weeks <br />9.5125e-6 months <br /> of revenue flight under observation of an instructor
- FAA final certification A pilot must be periodically recertified.
This is done by way of proficiency checks, administered every six months, which make extensive use of simulators, and line checks which consist of observations.
Proficiency checks are made following a specified program of maneuvers identified in the FAA regulations. No rmally, proficiency checks take 3-4 hcurs to complete.
Proficiency check procedures provide for evaluating the individual performance of cockpit crew T. embers.
A line check must be passed within the preceeding 12 imnths. This check is performed during a segment of a commercial flight in which an examiner would ride the airplane cockpit and observe s
flight operations.
A simulator training program may be substituted for one of the two proficiency checks required annually.
Cne very effect tve program is called a Line-Oriented P ight Training Program. This program has the acvantage of simulating a real flight situation wherein there is an integral crew to cope with emergency situa-tions. A simulated flight is set up with a duration approximating bi imi
. that which would exist on the particular airline's routes.
The simulated flight commences with pre-flight checks and takeoff and runs continuously to landing ana docking. Malfunctions are introduced during the simulated flight and the crcw must cope with them as they would during a comercial flight.
This train-ing program is very popular with the airlines because it places crew members in an environment similar to that in which they operate on a daily basis.
All evaluations of flight crew members are conducted by FAA inspectors or by " check airmen". Regardless of which category they are in, all evaluators are qualified pilots.
FAA personnel maintain their qualifications by going thrcugh the same recertification process that the commercial pilots do.
Each inspector receives approximately 10 days of training and evalua-tion every 6 months.
The FAA tells us that even though the train-ing time places a scheduling and manpcwer burden on them, the maintenance of competency and credibility of their inspectors is well worth it.
" Check airmen" are supplied by the airlines and are considered the elite among the pilots. Usually they are selected from the better flight instructors and are given additional simulator training.
They are certified by the FAA as being qualified to evaluate other flight crew members.
They are paid a bonus by the airline to tarve as check airmen.
They must be recertified as pilots on the same frequency as other pilots.
National aeronautics and Space Administration NASA makes extensive use of simulators and other training devices in the aerospace program. Indeed, there is no other means avail-able to practice and beccme proficient for a space shot.
At the Hous+.on Space Center, the primary and backup teams for the space shuttle are presently training. At their dispesal are two cockpit simulators, one with a fixed base and one with a moticn base.
Each of the space shuttle pilots wi.ll have spent 1100-1200 hours in a formal training program. Apsroximately 50% of *.he train-ing time is spent in '.he simulators ard one-half of that time is devoted to contingency training.
i. e., emergency prccedures training.
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. In addition to the cockpit simulators, there is a Network System Simulator which ties the shuttle simulation into the Mission Control Center.
In this way mission controllers are trained along with the pilots.
The network system simulation includes ground stations and data tracking satellites as well as the ground switchir.g networks.
In a separate room members of the training staff insert malfunc-tions into the simulator and monitor the response cf both the shuttle pilots and the controllers.
The pilots receive no formal certification at the end of the-training; homver, they are continuously evaluated as training progresses.
Each contrc'.ler must be certified at the particular station he mans during a mission.
American Airlines hierican Airlines mainta, ins a flight academy in Fort Worth, Texas.
All Merican crew members attend the flight academy wherein they learn, depending upon their job classification, such a range of things as preparation of meals to the use of aircraft emergency equipment to the flying of the airplane.
kerican strongly believes in " Learning by Coing" and the training curricul a emphasizes " hands on" experience. For pilot training a succession of equircent is used to help
student progress from classroom to cockpit.
First in order is the Systems Trainer, a device which duplicates the controls of an aircraft system and displays the syclem's operation.
It demonstrates cause and effect, and it permits problem solving exercises.
The student then advances to a Cockpit Procedures Trainer. The CPT is a reproduction of the total ccckpit.
It provides student.
with their first real-world contact with actual aircraft hardware in a cockpit environment.
The students beccme involved with check-list activities, normal and abnormal operating precedures ano the develope.ent of crew coordination skills.
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. Finally, the student proceeds to the Flight Simulator. American has 12 simulators representing the various types of aircraft in their fleet.
Each simulator represents a specific aircraft and is updated and modified whenever the airplane it represents is updated or modified.
Each flight simulator is capable of precisely reproducing all re-quired performance and handling characteristics. A student under-going flight simulator training is taken through the entire spec-trum of flight maneuvers, perfecting the techniquas related to routine performance, and learning to recognize and appropriately respond to situations involving emergencies. l.andings are practiced under varying gross weight and wind conditions, and during daylight, dusk or darkness. The visual system with the simulator can introduce a ccmplete range of visibility conditions.
Ground school instructors are usually retired military flyers.
Flight simulator instructors are corrercial pilots qualified in that aircraft, but who are not in a flyirg status.
The best of the simulator instructors are selected to be check airmen.
==
Conclusions:==
Based upon our review of these various programs, we have identi-fied several changes that should be given consideration in the operator licensing program. These are listed belcw. They will be considered during development of overall recorrendations for programatic changes which will be presented in another Cornission Paper.
1.
Require all operators to be trained on a full-scope simulator representative of their facility.
2.
Administer all license examinations on a full-scope simulator representative of their facility.
3.
Require periodic retraining and recertification on a full-scope simulator representative of their facility.
4.
Require an individual who has not been performing licensed duties for a period of 4 months or greater to be recertified on a full-scope simulator representative of his facility.
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9-5.
Specify a minimtm list of emergency procedures which must be successfully completed during initial simulator training and periodic simulator retraining.
6.
Provide additional training and periodic retraining for the present NRC examiners, including the part-time examiners.
In order to renain as a part-time examiner, the individual must make himsel f available for this training, in addition to the time previcusly required for the normal exanining wo rkl oad.
7.
Establish a cadre of " Check Senior Operators" drawn frca utility and training center staffs who ar.e licensed and periodically recertified by the iRC.
8.
Adjust the OLB staffing 1.evel so that headquarters examiners can take on the additional duties of recertifying the " Check Senior Operators" and auditing the simulator training and retraining programs.
9.
Maintain specialization within groups of the CLB examiners.
Eliminate exanination assignments at reactors outside of the area of specialization or provide specific cross-training, including sfmulator training, if such an assignment must be made.
Coordination:
This action has been coordinated with the Of fice of the Executive Legal Director.
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Harold R. Denten, Di rector Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation DISTRI3UTION tcmmissioners Commission Staff Offices Exec Dir for Operations ACRS Secretariat s
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