ML20129G278

NRC Operator Licensing Exam Rept 50-346/OL-96-02 Administered on 960829.Exam Results:All Four Candidates Failed SRO Level Exam & Will Be Denied Licenses

ML20129G278
Person / Time
Site:	Davis Besse
Issue date:	10/23/1996
From:	NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION III)
To:
Shared Package
ML20129G235	List: ML20129G229 ML20129G278
References
50-346-OL-96-02, 50-346-OL-96-2, NUDOCS 9610300056
Download: ML20129G278 (5)

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U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION REGION lll Docket No. 50-346 License No. NPF-3 Report No. 50-346/OL-96-02 Licensee: Centerior Service Company Facility: Davis Besse Nuclear Generating Station Location: 300 Madison Avenue Toledo, OH 43652 i

l Dates: August 29,1996 I Examiner: C. Osterholtz Approved by: M. N. Leach, Chief Operator Licensing Branch 1 i

I 9610300056 961023 PDR ADOCK 05000346 V PDR 3 i

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EXECUTIVE

SUMMARY

l Davis Besse Nuclear Generating Station  !

Examination Report No. 50-346/OL-96-02 -

[ Initial licensed operator retake examinations (administrative area only) were administered ,

to four (4) candidates at the Senior Reactor Operator (SRO) level. '

Results: All applicants failed the examination and will be denied licenses.

l Summarv: The applicants 61 not perform at the level of competency expected by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. This is indicated by the 100% failure rate of the SROs. '

The exaniination consisted of five job performance measures (JPM's) which tested the administiative requirements acsociated with the SRO license. The following is a brief l summar/ of candidate performance:

None of the candidates were able to accurately calculate and interpret a manual heat balance calculation. Two of the four candidates could not accurately calculate l an estimated critical position (ECP), and two of the four candidates could not correctly interpret piping and instrumentation drawings to verify system isolation for safety tagging purposes.

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U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION REGION 111 Docket No. 50-346 License No. NPF-3 l

Report No. 50-346/OL-96-02 Licensee: Centerior Service Company Facility: Davis Besse Nuclear Generating Station l

l Location: 300 Madison Avenue Toledo, OH 43652 Dates: August 29,1996 Examiner: C. Osterholtz l

Approved by: M. N. Leac'h, Chief i Operator Licensing Branch l

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e 9610300056 961023 PDR ADOCK 05000346 V PDR ju l

t

EXECUTIVE

SUMMARY

Davis Besse Nuclear Generating Station Examination Report No. 50-346/OL-96-02 Initial licensed operator retake examinations (administrative area only) were administered to four (4) candidates at the Senior Reactor Operator (SRO) level.

Results: All applicants failed the examination and will be denied licenses.

Summarv: The applicants did not perform at the level of competency expected by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. This is indicated by the 100% failure rate of the SROs.

The examination consisted of five job performance measures (JPM's) which tested the adrninistrative requirements associated with the SRO license. The following is a brief summary of candidate performance:

None of the candidates were able to accurately calculate and interpret a manual heat balance calculation. Two of the four candidates could not accurately calculate an estimated critical position (ECP), and two of the four candidates could not correctly interpret piping and instrumentation drawings to verify system isolation for safety tagging purposes.

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f Reoort Details e i

Summarv of Examination Status Four SRO candidates were administered retake initial examinations in the administrative r area at the Davis Besse Nuclear Generating Station on August 29,1996. The reexamination was administered in accordance with NUREG-1021, Revision 7, " Operator Licensing Examiner Standards."

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05 Operator Training and Qualification 3 05.3 Examination Administration and Suncort l Candidate performance on the administrative retake examination resulted in four inoividuai failures. i i

Section A.1.1: '

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l e The candidates were required to calculate a secondary heat balance l manually, without the aid of the plant computer, using only control room l (simulator) indications in accordance with DB-NE-03230, "RPS Daily Heat I Balance Check", to determine core thermal power and verify nuclear instrumentation (NI) operability. Three of the four candidates calculated the heat balance correctly, but did not recognize that the nuclear instruments were not properly calibrated to this value. Of these three, one individual did not recognize that thermal power level was excessively high (100.9%) and should be reduced. Additionally, one candidate inadvertently initiated an automatic reactor trip while collecting plant data and was unable to complete the calculation.

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e The candidates were required to calculate an estimated critical rod position (ECP) without the aid of the plant computer, using only control room (simulator) data in accordance with DB-NE-06202, " Reactivity Balance l Calculations". Two of the four candidates errantly calculated the estimated critical rod worth, which led to subsequent miscalculations for the upper and lower rod index limits.

Section A.2 e The candidates were required to approve a clearance for decay heat pump (DHP) 1-1 and determine, using piping and instrumentation drawings (P&lD's), that an additional valve needed to be tagged shut (DH-10) to isolate the pump from the Borated Water Storage Tank (BWST). Two of the j four candidates were unable to determine from P&lD's that a flow path existed from the BWST to DHP 1-1 with DH-10 open.

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05.4 Simulator Observations No simulator performance deficiencies were identified during the validation and administration of the operating examination.

Manaaement Meetinas X1 Exit Meeting Summary.

The examiner presented his observations and findings to members of licensee management at the conclusion of the examination on August 30,1996. The licensee acknowledged the findings presented. No proprietary information was identified during the examination or at the exit meeting.

X 1.1 Partial List of Persons Contacted Licensee:

! D. Eshelman, Manager, Operations J. Freels, Manager, Regulatory Affairs W. Motpus, Mranager, Nuclear Training l R. Simpkins, Operations Training Supervisor NBEe S. Stasek, Senior Resident inspector K. Zellers, Resident inspector l

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Enclosure 2 SIMULATION FACILITY REPORT Facility Licensee: Davis Besse Nuclear Generating Station Facility Licensee Docket No: 50-346 Operating Tests Administered: August 29,1996 The following documents observations made by the NRC examination team during the May 1996, initial license examination. These observations do not constitute audit or inspection findings and are not, without further verification and review, indicative of non-compliance with 10 CFR 55.45(b). These observations do not affect NRC certification or approval of the simulation facility other than to provide information which may be used in future evaluations. No licensee action is required in response to these observations.

During the conduct of the simulator portion of the operating tests, the following item was observed:

ITEM DESCRIPTION NONE IDENTIFIED