ML20029C273

Exam Rept 50-458/OL-91-01 on 910114-16.Exam Results:Two Applicants Passed All Portions of Exam & Have Been Issued Appropriate Licenses.Two ROs Failed Written Exam Only

ML20029C273
Person / Time
Site:	River Bend
Issue date:	03/15/1991
From:	Kennedy K, Pellet J NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I)
To:
Shared Package
ML20029C257	List: ML20029C256 ML20029C273
References
50-458-OL-91-01, 50-458-OL-91-1, NUDOCS 9103270095
Download: ML20029C273 (14)

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1 APPENDIX U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION REGION IV 1

Operator Licensing Examination Report:

50-458/0L 91-01 Operating License:

HPF-47 Docket No.:

50-458 Licensee;' Gulf States-Utilities P.O. Box 220

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St. Francisv111e, Louisiana a

facility Name:

River Bend Station (RBS)

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Examination at:

River Bend Station Chief Examiner:-

fM.-

A.

/!f'/

t.M. Kennedy,Examinf, Date Operator Licensing Section Division of Rea tor Saf y Approved by

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da,4 M/O.

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. (. P e et, Chief ~

Date-perato Licensing Section Division of Peactor Safety Summary NRC Administered. Examinations. Conducted.During;the Week.of January.14,.1991 (Examination Report.50-458/0L 91-01)

NRC-administered e'xaminations'to three reactor operator (RO) applicants and one..

senior reactor' operator (SRO) applicant. Two of the applicants passed all portions of_the examination and have been issued the appropriate license. Two R0' applicants failed.the written examination only.

Performance on the written examination was below average for River Bend Station.

The average, score for the reactor' operator examination was 74.5 percent with the' lowest being 70.5' percent and the highest being~82.6 percent.

9103270095 910321 PDR ADOCK 05000458 V

PDR

2-DETAILS 1.

PERS0RS EXAMINED 500 R0 Total License Examinations: Pass -

1 1

2 3

Fail -

0 2

2 2.

EXAMINERS K. M. Kennedy, Chief Examiner J. M. Keeton

~ R. K. Miller-

~ J.L. Pellet (Observer)

. 3.

EXAMINATION REPORT Performance results'for individual examinees are not included in this

- report as it will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room and these results are not subject to public disclosure.-

3.1 Exemination Review Comment / Resolution In: general, editorial comments or changes made as a result of facility reviews prior-to the examination,_during the_ examination, orfsubsequent grading reviews

- are not addressed by-this resolution section. This section reflects resolution of, substantive comments submitted to the NRC by the f acility licensee'af ter the

- examination. The only comments addressed in:this section are those which were not: accepted for incorporation tinto the examination and/or answer key. Those

- comments _ accepted arel incorporated.into the master examination key which is included.in this report. Comments may be paraphrased for brevity. The full text of the comments is attached.

RO 29/SRO,2 Comment:,Both "a" and;"b" answers are correct._.Although ADM-0027 specifies grounds will be placed in.accordance with "a", the question asks for

-the reason for placing danger hold tags..Both responses are correct g

because the reasons are (1) to ensure the tags are in place-while.

maintenance is being performed, and (2) to ensure they are removed E

- before the' system isi re-energized. Recommend deleting this question.

Response: Distractor."b" states that the grounds are installed after the electrical equipment is tagged out while "a" states that the_ grounds

.are installed before the electrical equipment is_ tagged out. Both of'these conditions cannot be correct.

Based on further review of Procedure ADM-0027,_the correct answer is "b."

This action would l

ensure that the ground is installed after the equipment is deenergized-l:

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' The-answer key has been modified to accept "b" as the only correct answer.,

R0 32/SR0 5 Comment: Persons performing drywell entry utilize the checksheet. This is not an appropriate memory question. Recommend deleting this question.

Response: The operator is' responsible for knowing who is required to grant permission for specific activities in the plant in order for the person responsible for these activities to maintain positive control.

in addition, the Drywell Entry Checklist, RSP-0212, Revision 4..,. does not specify that shift supervisor permission is required for any drywell entry; only the RP Foreman signature is specified. This question will be retained on the examination without modification.

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RO 57/SR0'30 Comment: This. question.is beyond the depth of knowledge required for reactor

. operators.

An RO should not be required to differentiate between a severely limiting condition (such as "a")'and a more limiting condi-tion ("b").

A distinction of this nature:is appropriate-for the SRO level. Recommend that questions requiring-this level of discrimina-tion should be SR0'only.

Response: The reactor. operator is-licensed to control the reactivity of-the

eactor core;.therefore, it is reasoneble.to expect him to know what the limiting conditions are for maintaining the reactor shutdown during boron injection.

R0-85/SR0 58-

. Comment: Understanding that the reason containment-flooding directs level to be. raised to 62 feet does not necessarily directly imply to:the operator that'the level corresponds to TAF. Restoring' level to lo point above -205 inches (vessel level) would accomplish adequate core cooling with-no-injection.

In addition, if flooding were=being accomplished through the vessel break.(injection exists) -193 inches would provide. adequate core cooling. This question as written J

constitutes no viable test measure of knowledge or skill. Recommend deleting:this question.

i Response:.This question is not concerned with whether adequate core cooling.is or.is not being. maintained but is--testingi nowledge ofsthe' relationship.

k between RPV-level instrumentation and drywell level.

If the RPV level p

instrumer,tation -is available, the operator should be able to ' verify that

-the intent of drywell flooding has been accomplished and that the RPV l

has been properly' vented.- 1his question is retained on the examination without. modification.

i E.___,_.-..__.__-__.....__.____._.-._........_._

. R0 91/SR0 64 Conment: No correct answer as written. Actual value is 13'4".

Recommend deleting this question.

Response: Answer "c," 13 feet 0 inches, is the or,s level given which results in the first row of horizontal vents being neither completely cover; I nor completely uncovered. The levels given in the remaining distractors result in the first row of horizontal vents being either completely covered or completely uncovered. The question is retained on the examination without modification.

R0 92/SRO 65 Comment: Question-is misleading because all four choices would allow the mode switch to be taken to RUN.

In addition, cho. ice "d" is not entirely correct in that 4% is "approximately 5%", but would prohibit going to RUN. Recommend deleting this question.

Response: The question asks for the plant conditions which must be met prior to placing the mode switch to RUN.

It does not ask for the conditions that allow the mode switch to be taken to RUN, The question is retained on the examination.

SR0 84 Comment: As a result of the conditions given in the premise of the question, the answer may be "a", "c", or "d".

Action "a" is directed by -EOP-1 step 47.

If attempts to open 7 ADS /SRVs have failed, (no indication is provided in question premise) the four open SRVs would allow answer "c".

E0P-2 directs action "d" at the same time due to indicated level. Recommend deleting the question.

. Response: Answers "c" and "d" cannot both be correct, since the suppression pool level cannot be lowered at the same time that the primary containment is flooded, and the SR0 should be able to determine which of these actions must take priority. Step 48 of E0P-1 asks if at least three ADS /SRVS are open. The "yes" answer to this step leads to "c" being the correct answer. This question is retained in the examination without modification.

3.2 Site Visit Summary The facility licensee was provided a copy of the examination and answer key for.

the purpose of commenting on the examination content validity.

It was s

explained to the facility licersee that regional policy was to have examination I- -----_

results finalized within 30 days. Thus, a timely response was desired to attain this goal.

. i A workingLlevel sumary discussion was held with the following persons in l

' attendance:

I NRC-FACILITY

-K. M.-Kennedy _

D. Andrews

..J. L. Pellet R. Jackson 1

J. McGhee The chief examiner discussed several station operating procedure discrepancies that were-discovered during the conduct of these examinations. These discrepancies are described below.

-o' SOP-0042, Standby Service Water. System,.Section 6.1~.1, step 2 directs the

, operator to place the STBY SVCE WTR TEST switch to the TEST position.

This section never directs the operator to take this switch out of the

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TEST position once the-standby service water.systen' is shutdown.

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_A note prior to step 5.3.9 of SOP-0009, Reactor Feedwater System, refers the operator.to the wrong precautioW in Section 2.0.

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_A-note __ prior to step.4.1.8.4.a of S0P-0003, Reactor Recirculation, incorrectly-states that the TRIP pushbutton for B33-C001A(B) PUMP M0T BRKR 13A(3B).and 4A(4B) ic located at 1H13*P601'

-3.3 > General Comments.

3.3.1 Written = Examination Perfomance on the written examination was-below average. The average score.

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for.the reactor' operator examination was-74.5 percent with the-lowest being 170.5: percent and the highest being-82.6 percent. The applicants demonstrated

knowledge deficiencies _in a: broad-spectrum of_ areas. The following question numbers represent those=o_n which two or more of the applicants: received no credit and are provided to. assist facility evaluation of training weaknesses.

The first: number identifies the reactor operator examination question, and the the question was comon to both examinations)perator examination! question second: number identifies the senior reactor o 3~

20 72/45; 84/57 89/62~

11_

32/5

-74/47.

~85/58 91/64 r

16'

=35/8 177/50_

86/59:

p 17

- 43/16' '

_79/52 88/61 L

- - -3.4 -Master Examination and Answer Key y

. Master copies'of-the written examinations and answer keys are attached. The

. facility licensee coments which have been accepted are incorporated into the 7

answer key.

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~3.5: Facility Examination Review.Coments The facility licensee _ coments regarding the written examination are attached.

~Those coritents which were not incorporated into the examination answer key hve

-been addressed-in the resolution section of this report.-

1 3.6.. S imu lation. Facili ty. Repor.t No significant discrepancies were observed during the administration of-the simulator portion of the operating tests.

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SIMULATION FACILITY PEPORT Facility Licensee: Gulf States Utilities Facility Docket Number:

50-458 Facility License Number: NPF-47 Operating Tests Administered at: River Bend Station Operating Tests Administered: January 16, 1991 During the conduct of the simulator portion of the operating examinations ioentified above, the following item was observed:

o No significent discrepancies were observed during those examinations.

_[___v i

To:

Kriss Kennedy From:

Dale L. Andrews hT-3387

Subject:

River Bend Training Department's Review of NRC Examination Administered January 14,1991 Datc:

January 21,1991 Please find enclosed a copy of River Bend Training Department's review comments conceming the RO and SRO written examinations whie;1 were administered on January 14, 1991.

Thank you for your assistance and consideration in this matter. Should you have any questions or need further assistance, please contact Rick Jackson at the River Bend Training Center, (504) 381 -4211.

I% d kj-Dale L.- Andrews Director-Nuclear Training

'DLA/RNJ/jt cc:

T. C. Crouse R. N. Jackson Richard Miller /Sonalist

. Attachment-i.

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Page 2 GENER AL COMhlENT: Question #79 cleverly circumvents the requirements for a question to have only 1 correct response. There is no difference between the question written in this format and using answers such as "None of the Above","only a and b above", etc. We strongly recom-mend this format be rejected in the future.

RO QUESTION #3 COMMENT:

Question is misleading in that it implies only the SVV compressors have been lost. Clarification given to candidates was that emergency AC power was available. His would mean that LSV compressors were available. In this case, there are no correct answers.

RECOMMENDATION:

Clarify question to indicate no diesel generators or standby power is avail-able before reusing question.

RO QUESTION #5 COMMENT:

Question is misleading. If the indicated alarms suddenly were activated, something had to have changed. If loop flow did indeed increase,- Reactor power would have increased. Even minor change in flow at power result in power changes.

RECOMMENDATION:

Delete question, no correct response included.

~ RO QUESTION #2 COMMENT:

F008 and F009 are interlocked closed in the plant conditions provided (RPV pressure 150 psig) and pump warmup cannot begin until pressure is below the high pressure interlock. This distractor is unnecessary and mis-leading to the candidate. In addition, the correct response cannot be per-formed under the existing conditions.

RECOMMENDATION:

Delete question, no correct answer.

4 Page 3 RO QUESTION #15 COMMENT:

LPCS status should be given in the premise. In addition, plant conditions provided do not require emergency depressurization. This provides unnec-essary distraction to a knowledgeable license candidate.

RECOMMENDATION:

Revise question prior to reuse to clearly identify the need to emergency depressurize.

RO QUESTIONS #16 COMMENT:

Distractor B should be clarified. If vessel injection is occurring and water level is at or above -193", adequate core cooling exists. The imaginary

_ pigtail on the end for distraction does not invalidate that circumstance.

RE'COklMENDATION:

1 Revise question prior to reuse to indicate system being used to raise level is not injecting into the RPV.

RO QUESTION #22 COMMENT:

EOP-1 A should be included in correct response because operators (ROs in particular) are NOT to determine "the reactor will remain suberitical under all conditions" without indication of reactor power, which is not provided

. in the premise. - In addition, the information supplied regarding building

' differential pressure is not adequate to determine EOP entry is required.

The EOP entry condition for building differential pressure (Aux. Bldg. to

, atmosphere) is not provided. Annulus to Aux. Bldg. differential, in itself, is not enough information to allow the operators-to determine either is at 0" l

or greater with respect to atmosphere.

RECOMMENDATION:

i Delete this question, as no response is entirely correct.

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Page 4 RO QUESTIONS #29 (SRO QUESTION #2)

COMMENT:

y Both "a" and "b" answers are correct answers to the question. Although ADM-0027 specifies grounds will be placed in accordance with "a", the question asks for the reason for placing danger hold tags. Both responses are correct because the reasons are (1) to ensure the tags are in place while maintenance is being performed, and (2) to ensure they are removed before the system is re-energized.

RECOMMENDATION:

Delete this question.

RO QUESTION #30 (SRO QUESTION #3)

COMMENT:

Question should be clarified to specify per ADM-0022 or 10CFR because the requirements differ and may be misleading.

RECOMMENDATION:

Clarify question before reuse.

RO QUESTION #32 (SRO QUESTION #5)

COMMENT:

Persons performing DW entry utilize the checksheet. This is not an appro-priate memory question.

RECOMMENDATION:

-Delete this question.

RO QUESTION #41 (SRO QUESTION #14)

L COMMENT:

l This question should be modified to give "% of rated values" to correspond to River Bend numbers. Conversion of KV values to percentages is time i

consuming with no real value received for the measure. No realism value is obtained because only the relay personnel could verify the values speci-fled.

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- RECOMMENDATION:

Clarify question before reuse.

RO QUESTION #48 (SRO QUESTION #21)

COMMENT:

Answer key is not correct. Response "b" is correct, per AOP-0024.

RECOMMENDATION:

Change answer key to "b".

RO QUESTION #57 (SRO - QUESTION #30)

COMMENT:

This question is beyond the depth of knowledge required for Reactor Op-erators. An RO should not be required to differentiate between a severely limiting condition (such as a ) and a more: limiting condition (b). A dis -

tinction of this nature is appropriate for the SRO level.

. RECOMMENDATION:

Questions requiring this level of discrimination 'shoul6 be SRO only.

RO QUESTION #66 (SRO QUESTION #39)

COMMENT:

Answer key.is incorrect. Answer should be "b" as valve position would '

not change in the BYPASS Lude.

. RECOMMENDATION:

Change t.nswer key to "b".

RO QUESTION #74 (SRO QUESTION #47)

L COMMENT:

Answer key is incorrect. Answer should be "b" (LOTM chapter 64-2, pg.4)

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~ RECOMMENDATION:

L Change answer key to "b".

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. RO QUESTION #85 (SRO QUESTION #58)

COMMENT:

1 Understanding that the reason containment flooding directs level to be raised to 62 feet does not necessarHy directly imply to the operator that the level corresponds to TAF. Restoring level to a point above -205 inches (vessel level) would accomplish adequate core cooling with no injection.

In addition, if flooding were being accomplished through the vessel bn:ak

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(injection exists)-19f' would provide adequate core cooling. This ques-tion as written constitutes no viable test measure of knowledge or skill.

RECOMMENDATION:

Delete this question.

RO QUESTION #89 (SRO QUESTION #62)

COMMENT:

Item #6 is not a " design feature" of the FPCC system.-

RECOMMENDATION:

Replace distractor before reusing question.

RO QUESTION # 91 (SRO QUESTION #64)

COMMENT: -

No correct answer as written. Actual value is 13'4".

RECOMMENDATION:

Delete'this question.

RO QUESTION #92 (SRO QUESTION #65)

COMMENT:

Question is misleading because all fota choices would allo.wy the mode switch to be taken to RUN. In addition, choice "d" is not entirely correct-in that 4% is "approximately 5%", but would prohibit going to RUN, RECOMMENDATION:

Delete this question.

l Page 7 SRO QUESTION #71 COMMENT:

Answer key is not correct. Choice "d" is correct. Question reference is Correct.

RECOMMENDATION:

Change answer to "d".

SRO QUESTION #84 COMMENT:

Due to the conditions given in the premise of the question, the answer may be "a","c", or "d". Action "a"is directed by EOP-1 step 47. If attempts to open 7 ADS /SRVs have failed,(no indication is provided in question premise) the 4 open SRVs would allow answer "c". EOP-2 directs action "d" at the same time due to indicated level.

RECOMMENDATION:

Delete this question.

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