ML19284C732
| ML19284C732 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 12/30/1980 |
| From: | Dircks W NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19284C733 | List: |
| References | |
| FOIA-81-145, FOIA-81-69, TASK-PINV, TASK-SE SECY-80-555, NUDOCS 8101200620 | |
| Download: ML19284C732 (16) | |
Text
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s December 30, 1980 I
E SECY-80-5555 s
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pn' ICV. I.SRUF i.
,is (Notation Vote)
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FOR:
The Cormissioners j
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FROh WilliamJ.Dircks,ExecutiveDirectorforOperatEns 3
SUBJECT:
PLAN FOR IMPROVING THE TECHNICAL CAPABILITY OF LICFUSEE PERSONNEL PURPOSE:
To inform the Comnission of our plans for improving the technical capability of licensce personnel.
DISCUSSION:
Section 307(a) of the NRC Authorization of Appropriations for Fiscal Year 1980 authorized and directed the Comnission to prepare a plan for 3mproving the technical capability of licensee personnel to safely operate utilization facilities licensed under Section 103 or 104(b) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954.
- Further, the Camission was directed to transmit to the Congress the plan required by this subsection within 6 nr;nths after the enactrent of the Act.
Enclosed is a description of the subject plan showing each improvement. The elermnts of the plan are those addressed in Tasks I.A.1 through I.A.4, I.B.1, and II.B.4 of the TMI-2 Action Plan (NUREG-0660).
REQMENDATION:
We recomend that the Carmission:
1.
Aoprove the letter and report as enclosure for transmittal to Congress.
2.
Note that similar letters forwarding the reports M be sent to the appropriate Congressional Committees.
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William'J. Dircks Executive Director for Operations
Enclosure:
Draft letters to President of Senate and Speaker of House transmitting subject report
Contact:
Joel J. Kramer, IRR 49-28446 E 1012 0 D(0$0
. Commissioners' comments should be provided directly to the Office of the Secretary by c.o.b. Friday, January 16, 1981.
Commission Staff Office comments, if any, should be submitted to the Commissioners NLT January 9,1981, with an information copy to the Office of the Secretary.
If the paper is of such a nature that it requires additional time for analytical review and comment, the Commissioners and the Secretariat should be apprised of when comments may be expected.
DISTRIBUTION:
Commissioners Commission Staff Offices Exec Dir for Operations ACRS ASLBP SECY
The Honorable Walter F. Mondale President of the United States Senate Washington, D. C.
20510
Dear Mr. President:
Faclosed is a plan for improving the technical capability of licensee personnel to safely operate utilization facilities licensed under Section 103 or 104(b) of the Atomic Faergy Act of 1954. The Nuclear Regulatory Comission was authorized and directed to prepare this plan and to transmit it to Congress by Section 307(a) of the NRC Authorization of Appropriations for Fiscal Year 1980.
(Public Law 96-295).
Sincerely, John F. Ahearne Chairman Faclosure:
Plan for Improving the Technical Capability of Operators and Senior Operators
The Honorable Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr.
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Washington, D. C.
20515
Dear Mr. Speaker:
Enclosed is a plan for improving the technical capability of licensee personnel to safely operate utilization facilities licensed under Section 103 or 104(b) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. The Nuclear Regulatory Comission was authorized and directed to prepare this plan and to transmit it to Congress by Section 307(a) of the NRC Authorization of Appropriations for Fiscal Year 1980.
(Public Isa 96-295).
Sincerely, John F. Ahearne Chaircun Fnclosure:
Plan for Inproving the Technical Capability of Operators and Senior Operators 1
PLAN FOR IMPROVIIU THE TECHNICAL CAPABILITY OF LICENSEE PERSOrEEL INIRODUCTION An inportant part of operational safety is the level of qualifications of opera-tions personnel, including their education, training, experience, and fitness.
A general technical education provides the basis for understanding the principles and operation of nuclear power plants. One objective of the actions in this plan is to increase the level of the education of senior operators to assure that they have appropriate technical backgrounds. To provide this additional technical capa-
.bility onshift until the time that staffing and qualifications of operator and senior operators are upgraded, operating staffs are being required to have onshift a technical advisor with engineering expertise; training in details of design, function, arrangement and operation of plant systems; and special training in plant dynamic response.
Besides educational background, training and experience of the operators and senior operators of nuclear power plants are being increased to improve their knowledge of plant design, plant response, and procedures. Actions in this area include requirenents for additional onshift training for operators and senior operators, additional nuclear power plant exoerience requirenents prior to licensing, require-nents for experience as a licensed operator before licensing as a senior operator, increased use and variety in simulator training, increased plant training during the initial test program, inplant drills for shift operating personnel, and enhanced requalification programs.
. ne plan also addresses the improvement in the quality of training to be provided, including accreditation of training institutions. Training center and facility instructors who teach reactor systems, transient response of reactors, and sinulator courses will be required to demnstrate their competence to the NRC by successful completion of a senior operator examination. Rese instructors will also be required to successfully participate in requalification programs to retain instructor status or possess instructor certification from the Institute for Nuclear Power Operations (INPO). Frphasis will be placed on the instructors' abilities to teach as well as their technical knowledge, h e NRC will develop criteria and procedures to be used in auditing training programs and increase the amount of auditing.
We audits to be conducted will assure that training is formalized and structured, including the use of lesson plans, qualified instructors, qualified supervision of instructors, and proper conduct of testing. %e need for mandatory sinulator trainirg is discussed in the plan as well as the quality of the sinulators to be used.
Improvements in sinulators will be required to improve the level of realism in the training and retraining of operators. Requirements and procedures for licensing and requalification of operating personnel are also addressed, both for initial issuance of licenses and for license renewals. W e licensing of additional operations personnel is also covered.
W e plan recognizes the need to have proper shift staffirg and admin-istration to deal with unusual situations.
Such actions include requirenents for the number and qualifications of people onshift, assurance of operator fitness,
. restrictions on the use of overtime, control of shift turnover, control of access to the control room, delineation of authority in the control room, and specifica-tion of shift supervisor responsibilities.
Human beings unke errors no untter how qualified they are.
Better systes of verifying correct performance of operating activities are needed to provide a means of detecting humn errors, thus improving the quality of normal opera-tions by reducing the frequency of occurrence of situations that could result in or contribute to accidents. Steps for unre effective verification by licensees of correct perfornance of operating activities are addressed in the plan.
Consideration is also given to actions to be taken by the NRC and the licensee in the event of personnel errors that cause losses of safety function.
Specific actions are also being initiated to improve the licensees' site organiza-tions and unnagement. The improvements in organization and nunagement of a plant include greater emphasis on the health physics organization and provisions for a dedicated safety engineering function for each facility to provide improved technical support and to provide continuous evaluation and feedback of lessons learned from operating experience.
The plan consists of (1) short term actions that can be accanplished without rule changes and where it is readily apparent that innediate improvemnts will result and (2) long-term improvements where farther study is required to develop a position and/or rule changes will be necessary. All long-term improvements
. nust be based upon having sound technical program which yield validated, empirical data derived by application of scientific methods. 'Ihe develop-ment and inplemntation of such programs is now underway.
SHORT-TERM IMPR0m4FlTTS The following improvements have been mde and are al in effect at this time.
We have required that all operating plant licensees and all license applicants provide specific improve: rents in training and qualifications of senior operators and control room operators. We have also required that a level of corporate oper-ations management higher than previously required cust certify the fitness of candidates for operator licensing by NRC. We have reviewed the contents of revised training programs, and the IE staff is auditing the implementation.
1.
Qualifications - Experience Applicants for senior operator licenses shall have 4 years of responsible power plant experience. Responsible power plant experience should be that obtained as a control roan operator (fossil or nuclear) or as a power plant staff engineer involved in the day-to-day activities of the facility, come ncing with the final year of construction. A maxinun of 2 years power plant experience may be fulfilled by academic or related technical training, on a one-for-one time basis.
Applicants shall have two years of nuclear power plant experience; one as a licensed operator. At least 6 nonths of the nuclear power plant experience shall be at the plant fcr which the applicant seeks a license.
. 2.
Training a.
Senior operators: Applicants are required to have 3 nonths of continuous on-the-job training as an extra person onshift.
b.
Control room operators: Applicants are required to have 3 nonths' training onshift as an extra person in the control room.
c.
Training programs have been nodified, as necessary, to provide:
(1) training in heat transfer, fluid flow, and thermdynamics (2) training in the use of installed plant systems to control or mi.tigate an accident in which the core is severely damaged; and (3) increased emphasis on reactor and plant transients.
d.
Training programs have been nodified to require sinulator training for those facilities with plant specific sinulators.
e.
To assure appropriate unnagenent involvenent in training programs, we have required certifications of competency to be signed by the highest level of corporate nunagement for plant operation.
f.
Pending accreditation of training institutions, w have required that training center and facility instructors who teach systems, integrated responses, transient, and sinulator courses demonstrate their competence to NRC by successful coupletion of a senior operator examination. These instructors will also be required to successfully participate in requalification programs to retain instructor status.
. 3.
Exadnations We have notified all operator license holders and applicants of our new scope of examinations and criteria for issuance of reactor operator and senior operator licenses and renewal of licenses. The notification included a new category on operator and senior operator examinations dealing with thermodynamics and related subjects; established tim lidts for applicants to emplete the examination; increased the passing grade to 80 percent overall with a minimum grade of 70 percent in each category; and required that senior operators holding operator licenses take oral examinations.
In addition applicants whoss facilities have plant specific simlators are examined at the simulator.
Finally, facility mnagements are being informed of examination results so that individuals my be imnediately enrolled in the ongoing requalifica-tion programs.
4.
Requalification Programs We have notified all facility licensees to m dify their ongoing requal-ification programs to reflect the subjects addressed in the initial training programs and to use the new gradirg criteria to determine fitness to continue in a licensed capacity.
. IRU TERM IMPROVE 21ENTS We have initiated studies to determine what additional requirments will be imposed to provide further improvecents in training and qualifications of senior operators and control room operators. These studies will result in recomendations regarding additional formal education requirements, mandatory training programs, the role of sinulator training, nodifications in NRC's role in training programs, the content of our examinations, and modifications to the ongoing requalification programs.
Many, if not all, of the futura changes will require changes to our regulations.
To date, we have not identified any areas that may require legislative changes.
1.
Qualifications Recamendations have been unde by organizations that have investigated the TMI accident to require senior operators and shift supervisors to have participated in formal college level courses. Recommendations range fran 30 credit hours through 60'~ credit hours of courses that are necessary for a degree in engineering. A Job Task Analysis is being performed that will be used to determine the formal education requirements for operators and senior operators.
2.
Training We plan to develop mininum requirments for training programs, both academic and on-the-job. The Job Task Analysis will be used as the primary basis for determining the requir ments.
. 'Ihe acad=f e requirements will detail the subjects to be taught, the hours required for each subject, and the overall length of instruction.
The on-the-job training requirements will include qualification by system ano nandatory sinulator training, including exercises to be performed.
Research is being conducted to refine requirements for sinulator fidelity and programing of accidents.
3.
Examinations NRC examinations, including the techniques for their administration will be nodified based on the Job Task Analysis and the results of studies on examination unthods and validation. Part of the examinations will
'A W aistarad urim a simulator.
4.
Requalification Programs Requalification programs will be nodified to require nnndatory siculator training, including exercises to be perfornsd; nore frequent auditing of the program by NRC; and NRC administered '-itten, oral and sinulator examinations.
. 5.
Shift Manning The requirem nts on the number and qualifications of operators to be present in the control room will be changed so that in each control roan, including camon control rooms for nultiple units, there shall be a licensed reactor operator at all tims for each reactor loaded with fuel and a senior reactor operator licensed for each reactor that is operating. There shall also be onsite at all times, an additional relief operator licensed for each reactor, a licensed senior reactor operator who is designated as the shift supervisor, and any other licensed senior reactor operators required so that their total number is at least one core than the number of centrol roars fran which a reactor is operated. In addition, the Commission has under considera-tion proposed changes to 10 CFR 50 concerning plant staff, including shift ranning, control roan presence, and working hours.
6.
Training and qualifications of operations personnel.
Each licensee will be required to review its training program for all operations personnel, including maintenance and technical personnel, and to justify the acceptability of training programs on the basis that these progrars provide sufficient assurance that safety-related functions will be effectively carried out. The preferred rethod of
. fulfilling this reemrmndation is a position task analysis, in which the tasks performed by the person in each position are defined, and the training, in conjunction with education and experience, is identified to provide assurance the tasks can be effectively carried out. 'Ihe position task analysis will include normal and emergency duties (such as maintenance activities), and will place emohasis on the role played by every mmber of an operations organization that assures safe plant operations. All levels of the operations organization will be included.
7.
Organization and unnagement NRC is developing guidelines for onsite and offsite organizations, both unnagement and technical, including the radiological protection organization, that will assure the safe operation of the plant during normal and abnormal conditions and the capability necessary to respond to accident situations.
Specific items being considered in the development of the guidelines include (a) the qualifications and experience of unnagemnt, technical staff and safety review groups, both onsite and offsite, including the interactions of these groups to assure effectiveness and to avoid
. duplication of efforts (b) the duties and responsibilities of key personnels (c) the size of offsite staff, types of expertise needed, and the degree of staff involvenent in plant operations; (d) pooling of resources anong utilities to provide the operations staff with a ruans to acquire procpt expert advice fran offsite sources; (e) organizational arrangements for both normal and accident situations; and (f) the training and a program of requalification of managem nt and technical personnel, both onsite and offsite.
8.
Other Improvements and Iong-Term Technical Program Developnent We are also conducting studies that will reconmend neans to provide assurance that applicants for operator and senior operator licenses are psychologically fit (stress and mlevolence), and to prohibit licensing of persons with histories of drug and alcohol abuse or with histories of criminal backgrounds. Two studies of interest are already underway: (1) standards for psychological assessnent of plant personnel, and (2) a behavioral observation program to assure continued reliability of enployees.
In addition, w are coordinating an information exchange program between the INFO, the Department of Energy, and the NRC. We plan to develop a statement of understanding that will address the nutual intent of NRC and INPO concerning the extent, if any, to which NRC should review or rely upon the training, certification, and other activities of the Institute and the general conditions for such reliance in the future.
. We are also reviewing the staffing qualifications of NRC personnel involved in the operator licensing program.
A program of regionalization is underway as a first step.
Finally, and nest importantly, an effort is underway to develop and inplement integrated, long-term, technical programs aimed at critically evaluating the generalizability of results from related applications, e.g., military, space, aviation, and other civilian and camercial systems, to nuclear power plant issues.
khere such data are incomplete, obsolete, and gaps exist, new empirical data nust be generated to provide the scientific basis needed for regulations and requirenunts involving the total personnel subsystem in nuclear p,ower plants - encaupassing the entire selection, placement, training, and retraining cycle.
Specific needs for contract technical assistance and research support of in-house requirenunts will be identified.
1.
NUREG/G-1280, BETA-103, " Power Plant Staffirt.
2.
NURFI;/G-1656, " Utility Management and Technical Resources".
3.
NUREG/G-1764, " Review of Staffing Requirements for Near-Term Operating License Facilities".
4 NUREG/G-1750, " Requirements for Operator Licensing".