ML19327A150
| ML19327A150 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 07/18/1980 |
| From: | Hanauer S Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| To: | Harold Denton Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8008010202 | |
| Download: ML19327A150 (7) | |
Text
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UNITED STATES b
,E y
g NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION g *-
E WASHINGTON, D. C. 20555
'f JUL I 31980 HDGIANDCM FOR: Harold R. Denton, Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor ReonlnH nn FRO *f:
Stephen H. Hanauer, Director, Division of IL-mn Factors Safety, NRR SUBJECI:
REQUEST FRGi PRESIDENIIAL NUCLEAR OVERSIGRI (IM4ITIEE
(.DNCERNING IMPROVDETIS D' OPERA'IOR QUALIFICATION AND
'IRAINING.
I.
INIRODUCIION Our efforts to improve licensed operator and senior operator perfomance can be grouped into three chronological phases; 4-diate, near tem, and long tem. Our im=diate actions were directed toward operator understanding of the 'IMI-2 accident and the related procedural and facility changes. Improvements made in this phase were priruudy implemented through Bulletins and Orders issued by the renmf asion and through see of the reccmmndations of SECY-330E, " Qualifications of Reactor Operators" which was adopted by the Comnission. h 4mmainte actions are discussed in Appendix A.
Our near tem actions inplemented the rem =4ning reurm=ndations of SECY-330E by the March 28, 1980 letter frcin H. R. Denton to all power reactor applicants ind licensees. Although included in the
'IMI-2 Action Plan, this letter set forth an implementation schedule
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for the accepted rece= =ndaH nns.
Icng term actions include revisions to regulations, regulatory guides, and ANS Standards. In addition, contracted studies were initiated to fornulate long tem criteria for operator qualification and licensing.
II. DISCUSSION A.
Near Tem Inprovements.
h near term actions regarding licensed operator improve-ments were initiated March 28, 1980, in the letter to all power reactor applicants and licensees. Revised criteria on the qualifications, training, licensing, and recualifica-tion of reactor operators were issued. Enclostre 1 details these revised criteria and the required implemercation dates; however, a brief cci::carison to previous criteria is presented below.
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Qualifications In the area of operator qualifications, we have nodified the experience criteria to now require i
that all applicants for an operator license spend at least three ::enths as the extra person in the control room. In addition, applicants for a senior operator license nust hold an operator's license for one year and spend three nonths as an extra nun on shift.
2.
Training Inprovements in the trainir; of operators have been made by requiring training programs to include the topics of heat trarsfer, fluid flow and the W.es.
In addition, augmented training in the control and nitigation of reactor transients and accidents is required.
Finally, training instructors will now be required to denenstrate their cocpetence to the i
i NRC by successful coupletion of a senior operator examination.
3.
Licensing To upgrade the operator licensing process, te have expanded the NRC reactor operator and senior oper-ator written naminations to include a category in each covering heat transfer, fluid flow and th6 uanics. In addieinn, the passing grade 7
has been increased from 70% overall to 80% overall, with each category grade (there are eight reactor operator and six senior operator categories) required to be greater than 70%. he new criteria has been in effect since May 1, 1980.
During May and June, 60 operator and 30 senior operator===fnarinns Tere administered and graded. h failure rate for operators was 30% and for senior operators 17%. Eis capares to a January 1977 - March 1979 failure rate of 5.7% for operators and 4.1% for senior operators.
4.
Requalification We have also required changes to the facility operator requalification programs. Henceforth, these programs shall include instruction in the areas covered by the new exanination categories and shall require review of specific reactor operations and/or trans-ients. Be passing grade for the annual requal-ification examination will be increased to reflect the new NRC inicial exa:nination criteria.
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. III. IDU TERM IMPROVEMENIS In our long term efforts to improve operator performance, we have in4 Hated a program to reassess the requirements regarding selection, training, and licensing of all categories of personnel involved in the operation and mintenance of nuclear power pla..ts.
As part of this program, we have contracted Analysis and Technology, Inc. of North Stoningenn, Conn. to provide an indeperdent perspective regarding the requirements for operator licensing. In addition, another study was performed to analyze power plant staffing and has been published as NUREG/CR-1280. Ihe latter document compared Navy requirements regarding education, expeM ence and training for all responsible positions to those of the industry and NRC for similar positions. This document was distrButed for public c - nt. We intend to consider the results of these studies in the future changes to the operator licensing process and the qualifications of all personnel at nuclear power plants.
To further enhance reactor operator training programs, we have formed an Accreditation Comittee to establish criteria for acceptance training staffs and program content.
Furthert:cre, several regulatory guides and ANS standards have been revised to incorporate the findings of the 7MI-2 investigative efforts.
ANS 3.1, " Standard for Qualification and Traf ning of Personnel for Nuclear Power Plants" was revised on December 6,1979. Although draft, ANS 3.1 has not yet been approved as an American National Standard; Regulatory Guide 1.8, Revisica 2, is being developed in parallel with and endorses the Standard such that c-nts on each can be resolved in an expeditious manner.
The ANS 3 ccumittee has also revised ANS 3.5, " Nuclear Power Plant Simlators for Use in Operator Training". A Regulatory Guide endorsing the Standard is presently under review within the NRC.
Other improvements which are being considered for implementation in the future are WnHfied in the March 28, 1980 letter. These include andatory simintnr training and retraining and NRC admin-istration of requalification examinations.
Presently, there are fifteen nuclear power plant simlators in operation and fourteen en order. In addition, it has come to our attention that every other nH14ty was making an engineering evalucien or evaluatfag bids regarding simlators.
IV. STWARY In the preceding paragraphs we presented in chronological order, the efforts that have been undah to improve the qualifications and training of licensed personnel. As the Cocmissioners indicated in their ccoments concerning SECY-330E, these efforts should not be considered as all inclusive but rather as the first step in further
. enluwing the capabilities of licensed personnel to safely operate nuclear power plants. ennH wed improv m ents will be m de as warranted in light of the ongoing study efforts and from operational transient analysis. Inputs fr a and coordination with the NRC's Office for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data and the industry's Institute for Nuclear Power Operations will be extremely valuable in this cendreing effort.
W k.
M Stephen H. Hanauer, Director Division of B-an Factors Safety
Enclosures:
1.
Appendix A 2.
Ltr dtd 3/28/80 frcm ER Denton.
cc: w/ enclosure E. G. Case i
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APPENDIX A DtEDIATE ACTIONS Bis phase of our efforts began 1::cediately after the DfI-2 accident and extended approximately to the issuance of the darch 28, 1980 letter.
I.
Bulletins and Orders Requir ments Bree sets of I&E Bulletins were issued to.all operating utilities: 79-05 series to B&W designed reactors, 79-06 series to Westinghouse and Canoustion Engineering and 79-08 to General Electric. he principle t.hrust of these Bulletins, with respect to operator trainii.g, was to ensure all operators were aware cf the DfI-2 aceident causes and effects, to set forth minf=n requirements for termiration of high pressure injection, and for PWR's, to e::phasire the importance of = f *= Ming the steam generators as a heat sink with auxiliary feedwater.
rmniasion Orders were also sent to all operating B&W plants.
Many procedural and design changes were implemented as a result of the orders. hse prirarily affecting operating personnel were turbine trip-reactor trip circuitry, auxiliary feedwater procedures and small break loss-of-coolant procedures. Also, all licensed personnel were required to atterA a DfI-2 train-ing session at the B&W sirulator.
1 NRC audits of the licensed personnel were conducted at each of the B&W plants prior to allowing restart of the facilities.
In most cases, the NRC determined that additional training was required. His training was conducted by contracted consultants following which re-audits were performed by the NRC.
All licensed personnel at B&W plants were also required to pass a facility Wniatered written examination concerning the topics listed in the Orders. h se examinations had a passing grade of 90% and were audited for content and grading by the NRC.
As a result of the long term requirements of the Orders, each facility was to continue operator training and drilling on small break IOCA resporse in addition to under ara over-cooling transients. Also trainirg and requalification programs were tnodified to incorporate lectures and instruction on all of the above topics.
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. Small break LOCA guidelines were developed by each of the other NSSS vendors and implemented as procedures at the operating plants. Selected audits of operators at Westinghouse, Combustion Engineering, and General Electric f%l.'ities were conducted by the NRC in December 1979.
The need to trip the reactor coolant pumps for.scxne small break ILCA's was identified in June,1979 and Bulletins79-05C and 79-06C were issued to insure training programs and procedures 1
were nodified to include this requirenent. The Bulletins further stipulated that em licensed operators were to be stationed in I
the control rocm at each PWR during operation to ensure that the pumps were tripped in a timely manner should it become necessary.
The B&O Task Force also identified two area of operator training; i
that coincided with the findings of other cost-M -2 investigative efforts. One was the operators knowledge of thermodynamics, heat transfer, and fluid flow. A previous recocinendation had been adopted by the Ccanissioners to develop a new category on both i
the operator and senior operator written examinations that included
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these subjects.
l In our second finding, the quality of simulator response to trans-ients was found deficient in scoe areas. The M-2 Action Plan includes several reccanendations on improved use and development of training sinulators, j
II. NIOL PIANiS The implementation of improvements in operator training require-ments and qualifications on NIOL plants was in te primary areas; lessons Iaarned reccmnen&ttions and examination standards.
The Short Term Iassons la trned reccanendations for this discussion are nore properly classdied as improvements in operations, operations support and in-plant emergency response. The six reccmnendations implemented on the NIOL plants include:
1.
Shift Supervisor responsibilities 2.
Shift and Relief Turnover Procedures 4.
Control Rocm Access 5.
Onsite Technical Support Center 6.
Onsite Operational Support Center Although all plants will ultimately incorporate these recccrenda-tions, their implementation schedule was expedited on the NIOL plants.
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e 3-Increaaed examination standards were imposed on the following NIOL plants: Sequoyah 1, North Anna 2, Salem 2, and McCuire 1.
Applicants taking the written examinations were required to acMeve an overall grade of 80% and at least 70% on every cate-gory. B ese examinations were adstnistered prior to May 1, 1980, after which time the increased passing grades 'ecame a require-ment for applicants at all nuclear power plant facilities.
In addition, applicants holding current licenses on Salem 1 and North Anna l were required to take cmplete NRC examinations for the second unit at the respective sites. Le previous procedure for obtaining a license on the second unit cming on-line was to successfully emplete a facility administered lecture series and examination on the diffe ences betwen the two units. B ese examinations were audited by the NRC.
The new categories relating to thermodynamics, heat transfer and fluid flow were not contained in the written examinations administered at the NIOL plants although increased enphasis was placed on these subjects in existing categories. %e new categories have been in effect since May 1, I980.
In addition to the NIOL plants, applicants for licenses at Indian Point, Zion, and Rancho Seco were subject to the increased grade criteria on the written examination prior to the May 1, 1980 implementation date. Bese criteria were imposed for these cases since the issue of operator ccupetency was raised in litigation proceedings.
III. Miscellarmous Items In addition to those activities described in paragraphs A and B, various other inprovements were taking place in operator qualification and licensing. Applicants for senior operator licenses ubo already held valid reactor operator licenses were required to take an oral examiration alorg with a written examination. Previously, the oral examination was waived.
Increased emphasis on this oral evaluation, was placed en the senior operators responsibilities for directirg the response of the plant crew during accident and transient situations.
As a result of the Crystal River imi % t of February 26, 1980, a rece==ndation was made in NUREG-0667, " Transient Response of Babcock & Wilecx Designed Reactors" that all licensed personnel at B&W facilities participate annually in a one-week s4= latnr requalification program. We envistored that this recomendation be extended for licensees at all power plants in the longer term.
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