ML20129H115

Forwards Summary of 850403 Mgt Meeting at Region II Re NRC & Util Administered Operator Requalification Exams & Plans for Operator Retraining & Recertification

ML20129H115
Person / Time
Site:	Crystal River
Issue date:	04/19/1985
From:	Walker R NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION II)
To:	Wilgus W FLORIDA POWER CORP.
References
NUDOCS 8507180514
Download: ML20129H115 (5)

Text

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OfllciqI APR 101985 Florida Power Corporation ATTN: Mr. W. S. Wilgus Vice President Nuclear Operations P. O. Box 14042, M.A.C. H-2 St. Petersburg, FL 33733 Gentlemen:

SUBJECT:

MEETING

SUMMARY

- CRYSTAL RIVER 3, DOCKET N0. 50-302 This refers to the management meeting conducted at your request in the NRC Region II office on April 3,1985. The meeting was held to discuss the NRC and Florida Power Corporation administered operator requalification examinations, and your plans for operator retraining and recertification. The details of the meeting are provided in Enclosure 1. A list of attendees at the meeting is shown in Enclosure 2.

It it our opinion that this meeting was beneficial in that it provided us with those NRC examination questions that you held in contention, as well as enabling you to understand our concerns with your requalification program.

In accordance with Section 2.790 of NRC's " Rules of Practice," Part 2, Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, a copy of this letter and its enclosures will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room.

Should you have any questions concerning these matters, we will be pleased to discuss them.

Sincerely, Original Signed by Roger D. Walker Roger D. Walker, Director Division of Reactor Projects

Enclosures:

1. Meeting Summary

2. Meeting Attendees cc w/encls:

E. M. Howard, Director Site Nuclear Operations P. F. McKee, Nuclear Plant Manager G. R. Westafer, Manager Nuclear Operations Licensing and Fuel Management bec w/encls: (See page 2) 8507180514 B50419 i\

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. APR 191985 Florida Power Corporation 2 bec w/encls:

NRC Resident Inspector Document Control Desk State of Florida NRC Project Engineer.

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APR 191985 ENCLOSURE 1 MEETING

SUMMARY

On April 3, 1985, representatives of Florida Power Corporation (FPC) met with the NRC at FPC's request, in the NRC Regional Office in Atlanta, Georgia. The topic of discussion was the operator requalification examinations administered the week of March 4,1985, by NRC and FPC, and FPC's plans for operator retraining and recertification.

The ilRC opened the meeting by expressing concerns over the adequacy of FPC's requalification program. Such concerns were based on the failure rates observed on both the NRC and FPC administered operator requalification examinations, as well as on the NRC January 1985 operator training assessment findings. NRC representatives summarized for FPC management the findings previously presented at the exit interview following the training assessment. The staff also pre-sented criteria that would be acceptable for recertifying the license candidates who were examined by the NRC in December 1984. Licenses have not yet been issued to individuals who passed the December examinations due to discrepancies found in their training records.

FPC stated they did not feel that a progrannatic problem exists with their operator requalification program, as the 29 percent pass rate on the NRC written examination may have suggested. In FPC's opinion, the NRC written examination did not adequately test the operators' practical operating knowledge as did the FPC written examination, which yielded a 70 percent pass rate. In addition, they contended that their results were more congruent with the NRC oral / walk-through examinations (82 percent pass rate). The licensee pointed out that it considered the FPC examination to have accurately and adequately tested the operators since it not only met the regulatory guidelines but it also uncovered similar areas of weaknesses identified on the NRC examinations.

FPC stated that as of March 29, 1985, those operators who failed their adminis-tered requalification examinations had completed accelerated retraining, had been retested, and were returned to licensed duties. The 12 individuals who failed the NRC examination were scheduled to enter a four-week retraining program. FPC requested that the NRC consider limiting its retesting requirements to oral and written examinations to the 12 NRC failures and only oral / walk-throughs for all or some random sample of the remainder of its operators.

The NRC acknowledged that the FPC written examination generally meets regulatory guidelines but that it was limited in terms of scope and difficulty. Also, the 30 percent failure rate on the FPC examination represents one of the highest in the industry. Finally, if all contested questions on the NRC examination were decided in FPC's favor, the failure rate would still be in excess of 50 percent.

Consequently, in light of the concerns which the NRC has regarding FPC's Requali-fication Program, FPC's request for retesting was denied. The staff would apply retesting criteria similar to that of other facilities in which the requalifica-tion program was evaluated as unsatisfactory. Those criteria include written and oral examination retesting of all operators who failed the NRC examination in

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APR 191985 Enclosure 1 2 addition to retests of at least 25 percent of the operators who were administered FPC's examination.

Following this meeting, NRC and FPC representatives met to discuss FPC's specific concerns on the NRC written examinations. Documentation was provided by FPC to justify changes to some answers. The NRC examination report will respond to each of the concerns raised by FPC in this follow-up meeting.

APR 191985 ENCLOSURE 2 MEETING ATTENDEES NRC Attendees: J. A. Olshinski, Deputy Regional Administrator V. L. Brownlee, Chief, Reactor Projects Branch 2, Division of Reactor Projects (DRP)

A. F. Gibson, Chief, Operations Branch, Division of Reactor Safety (DRS)

B. A. Wilson, Chief, Operatar Licensing Section, Opert tions Branch, DRS C. A. Julian, Chief, Operational Programs Section, Operations Branch, DRS T. F. Stetka, Senior Resident Inspector, Crystal River R. E. Carroll, Project Engineer, DRP L. L. Lawyer, Reactor Engineer, DRS S. D. Stadler, Reactor Engineer, DRS D. P. Falconer, Reactor Engineer, DRS K. E. Brockman, Reactor Engineer, DRS H. O. Christensen, Reactor Engineer, DRS S. Guenther, Reactor Engineer, DRS Licensee Attendees: E. M. Howard, Director, Site Nuclear Operations J. P. Alberdi, Manager, Site Nuclear Operations, Technical Services G. L. Bolt, Manager, Nuclear Plant Operations L. C. Kelley, Acting Manager, Nuclear Operations Training R. M. Bright, Manager, Nuclear Licensing M. F. Penovich, Nuclear Non-Licensed Operator Training Supervisor J. L. Springer, Nuclear Operations Instructor i

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