ML20010B313

Motion That ASLB Require Oral NRC Licensing Exams of TMI-1 Operators & Senior Operators Be Held at B&W Simulator,As NRC Regulations Will Require After Oct 1981

ML20010B313
Person / Time
Site:	Three Mile Island
Issue date:	08/04/1981
From:	Aamodt M AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED
To:	Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel
References
NUDOCS 8108140349
Download: ML20010B313 (2)

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1. 'I the Matter of Metropolitan Edison Company

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/ e Unit 1. Doeket 50-289 Motion for NRC Oral Licensing Examination of TMI-1 Operators to be Given at the B&W Simulator as Required October 1981 Forward The Aamo'dte motion that the Board require that the oral NRC licensing examinations of TMI-1 operators and senior operators be administered at a simulator, as required by NRC regulations after October, 1981. A letter from NRC to the Board, dated July 28, 1981, indicates that l

the oral examinations for TMI-1 operators have been scheduled on September 28, 1981, which would exempt these operators from simulator examination.

Th a requirement of simulator exsmination wolved from the Lessons Learned from the TMI-2 accident. The NRC studies and others follcring the accident discovered short-comings in the NRC oral examination and in oral examinations in general.

Testimony in the hearing supported the need for simulator examinations.

Although the 3&W simulator is not an exact replica of the TMI-1 control room, Metropolitan Edison personnel have testified that it simulates the principles of the control room.

The simulator could, therefore, test basic understanding of the way the TMI-1 plant operates, a knowledge found lacking in TMI-2 personnel. ~

There 1's v'ery strong ' evidence that TMI-1 01ve140349 8108U4 PDP ADOCK 05000289 $

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operators lack this kind of understanding of the plant.

The NRC scheduling of the oral examinations in September also appears premature. NRC reqtires that these examinations should not precede startup of tne plant by more than thirty days.

Since the Board has not made a decision to restart, and cannot until after the findings and reply findings on emergency planning have been filed in late August, NRC cannot know whether the Board will require further actions by Metropolitan-Edison which could require an indeterminate lengtn of time..

NRC appears to be favoring Mctropolitan Edison by sch.eduling the oral licensing examinations immediately prior to the enactment of their requirement of simulator examinations.

In view of the marginal performance of the operators on a number of audits throughout the two years since the accident, the irregularities found on the examinations of some senior operator canuidates, and the particularly high failure rate on a test of understanding of the TMI-2 accident following accelerated training, the Board should require,at least, the limited but increased measure of assurance that the simulator examination affords over the oral examination. Although the Commission directed the Board to treat TMI-1 as all ether operating reactors except where they found otherwise; the training of the operators and demonstration of increased understand?ng of the plant through simulator testing is also directed by the Commission in their August 9,1979 order, specifically Order Item II 1 (e) .

F>spectfully submitted, i LL/U/ (5 ?< $O&iWf August 4, 1981 Marjo e E. Aamodt

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