ML20129H852

Forwards Guidelines for Pilot Exam to Be Administered During Wk of 970127,in Conjunction W/Planned Improved TS Insp

ML20129H852
Person / Time
Site:	River Bend
Issue date:	11/01/1996
From:	Brockman K NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION IV)
To:	Mcgaha J ENTERGY OPERATIONS, INC.
References
NUDOCS 9611060043
Download: ML20129H852 (8)

Text

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• "%g UNITED STATES 7  ?*, NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

/ REGION Iv f 611 RYAN PLAZA DRIVE. SUITE 400 i

AR LINGToN, TE xAS 76011-8064

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l John R. McGaha, Vice President - Operations

!- River Bend Station i Entergy Operations, Inc.

i P.O. Box 220 St. Francisville, Louisiana 70775 l

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SUBJECT:

NRC INSPECTION REPORT 50-458/97-01

Dear Mr. McGaha:

l In a telephone conversation on October 15,1996, between Messrs. T. O. McKernon and D. Dietzel, arrangements were made for the administration of a licensing examination at j the River Bend Station during the week of January 27,1997,in conjunction with our l planned improved Technical Specification inspection.

Your staff has agreed to participate in a voluntary pilot examination program in which your staff will prepare the written examinations and operating tests and submit them to the NRC j l

regional office for evaluation and approval. Your staff will prepare the proposed examinations in accordance with the guidelines in Revision 7, Supplement 1, of NUREG -

1021, " Operator Licensing Examiner Standards," Revision 5 of NUREG/BR-0122, j " Examiners' Handbook for Developing Operator Licensing Written Examinations," and the i attachment to this letter. The NRC regional office will discuss with your staff any l l

examination changes that might be necessary prior to their administration.

To meet the above schedule, it will be necessary for your staff to furnish the proposed I written examination outline by November 25,1996, and the Operating examination outline j by December 30,1996. The proposed written examinations along with the necessary )

reference material should be submitted by December 11,1996, and the operating l examination will be due by January 6,1997. The NRC will review the finalized )

examinations and complete validation of the examinations at your facility during the week l l of January 27,1997. Any delay in receiving the required reference and examination

! materials or the submittal of inadequate or incomplete materials may result in the j examination being rescheduled.

In order to conduct the requested written examinations and operating tests, it will be  :

necessary for your staff to provide adequate space and accommodations in accordance t

with ES-402 and to make the simulation facility available on the dates noted above. To facilitate efficient scheduling and the best possible measure of applicant performance, I examinations will be scheduled during normal business hours. If you expect to need a j different schedule, please inform us as soon as possible.

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9611060043 961101 PDR ADOCK 05000458 PDR ,

Entergy Operations, Inc. J l

ES-402, Attachment 1, and ES-302, Attachment 1, contain a number of NRC policies and guidelines that will be in effect while the written examinations and operating tests are being administered. In accordance with ES-302, your staff should retain the original simulator performance data (e.g., system pressures, temperatures, and levels) generated during the dynamic operating tests until the examination results are final. .l l

Your staff should submit the preliminary reactor operator license application and any waiver requests at least 30 days before the first examination date so that the NRC will be able to review the applications and the medical certifications and evaluate any requested )

waivers. If the application is not received at least 30 days before the examination date, a  ;

postponement may be necessary. Signed applications certifying that all training has been completed should be submitted at least 14 days before the first examination date.

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This request is covered by Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Clearance Number j 3150-0101,which expires April 30,1997. The estimated average burden is 7.7 hours8.101852e-5 days <br />0.00194 hours <br />1.157407e-5 weeks <br />2.6635e-6 months <br /> per l response, including gathering, copying, and mailing the required material. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, ,

including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the information and Records l Management Branch, Mail Stop T-6 F33, Office of Information Resources Management, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D. C. 20555; and to the Paperwork Reduction Project (3150-0101), Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, NEOB-

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.10202, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, D. C. 20503.

l-Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. Mr. Dietzel has been advised of the policies and guidelines referenced in this letter. If you have any questions regarding the NRC's examination procedures and guidelines, please contact Tom McKernon at 817-860-8153.

Sincerely,

+ ,c  %-

enneth . r man, Acting Director Division of Reactor Sefety I Docket No.

50 458 License No.: NPF-47 cc:

j Executive Vice President and l

Chief Operating Officer

Entergy Operations. Inc.

P.O. Box 31995 i

! Jackson, Mississippi 39286-1995 i

l Entergy Operations, Inc. l l Vice President Operations Support Entergy Operations, Inc.

P.O. Box 31995 Jackson, Mississippi 39286-1995 l

General Manager Plant Operations River Bend Station Entergy Operations, Inc.

P.O. Box 220 St. Francisville, Louisiana 70775 Director - Nuclear Safety River Bend Station Entergy Operations, Inc.

P.O. Box 220 St. Francisville, Louisiana 70775 Wise, Carter, Child & Caraway P.O. Box 651 Jackson, Mississippi 39205 Mark J. Wetterhahn, Esq.

Winston & Strawn 1401 L Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20005-3502 Manager - Licensing River Bend Station Entergy Operations, Inc.

P.O. Box 220 St. Francisville, Louisiana 70775 The Honorable Richard P. leyoub Attorney General P.O. Box 94095 Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70804-9095 H. Anne Plettinger 3456 Villa Rose Drive Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70806 l

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. l Entergy Operations, Inc.  !

1 President of West Feliciana I Police Jury P.O. Box 1921 St. Francisville, Louisiana 70775 Larry G. Johnson, Director i Systems Engineering l Cajun Electric Power Coop. Inc.

10719 Airline Highway P.O. Box 15540 Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70895 William H. Spell, Administrator Louisiana Radiation Protection Division P.O. Box 82135 Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70884-2135 l Bill Trudell, Training Coordinator Entergy Operations, Inc.

River Bend Station j P. O. Box 220

! St. Francisville, LA 70775 l

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E-Mail report to NRR Event Tracking System (IPAS) i bec to DMB (IE01)(IE42) bec distrib. by RIV:

L. J. Callan Senior Resident inspector (Grand Gulf)

DRP Director DRS-PSB Branch Chief (DRP/D) MIS System Project Engineer (DRP/D) RIV File Branch Chief (DRP/TSS) Leah Tremper (OC/LFDCB, MS: TWFN 9E10)

Resident inspector L. Hurley, OLS S. Richards, HOLB i

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f ATTACHMENT PILOT EXAMINATION GUIDELINES Facility licensees will prepare the written examinations and operating tests (dynamic simulator and walkthrough) in accordance with the instructions in Revision 7, Supplement 1, of NUREG-1021 (" Operator Licensing Examiner Standards") and Revision 5 l

of NUREG/BR-0122 (" Examiners' Handbook for Developing Operator Licensing Written Examinations"), subject to the following additional criteria:

(1) The facility licensee will prepare an integrated examination outline (written and j operating test) and submit it to the NRC regiona; office for review, comment, and

approval at least 60 days before the scheduled examination date. The NRC chief examiner will work with the f acility licensee to resolve any problems and to avoid l unnecessary revision of the final examination products.

(2) Facility employees who are involved with developing the examinations and tests will sign a standard security agreement (Form ES-201-2) before they gain specific knowledge of the examinations and tests. Facility employees who played a l substantial role in training the license applicants will generally not be involved in  !

I developing the license examinations or tests. If the facility licensee considers such l employees necessary for developing the examinations or tests, it will define the l measures it will take to ensure that the integrity of the examinations is not I compromised and submit them to the NRC regional office for approval.

(3) The written examinations and operating tests will satisfy the following specific criteria:

• A maximum of 50 percent of the written examination questions may be taken directly from the f acility question bank; up to an additional 40 percent of the questions may be taken from the facility bank but must be significantly modified; and a minimum of 10 percent of the questions will be newly developed. As discussed in NUREG/BR-C122, new questions should emphasize the applicants' understanding at the comprehension or application levels of knowledge because they have the greatest operational and discriminatory validity.

• No more than 25 percent of the questions on the examination may be repeated from previous examinations, quizzes, or tests administered to the license applicants, or from the past two NRC license examinations at the facility. No questions may be drawn directly from the applicants' audit examinsbon or similar testing vehicle given at the end of the training class.

• Each walkthrough test willinclude at least two job performance measures l (JPMs) that are either new or significantly altered, and each simulator l scenario set willinclude at least one new or significantly altered scenario.

Other scenarios used may be drawn directly from the facility scenario bank; however, they will be altered to the degree needed to prevent the applicants from immediately recognizing the scenarios based on initial conditions or i other cues.

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• A significant modification, for purposes of the written questions, means a f change to the conditions in the otem and at least one distractor significantly -l 1 changed. Similarly, JPMs and simulator scenarios will have at least one j substantive event or condition change that alters the course of action in the l

JPM or scenario.

(4) The facility licensee will submit the final written examinations and operating tests to l

[ the NRC regional office at least 30 days before the scheduled examination date, in i I its submittal, the facility licensee willinclude a history (e.g., bank, revised, new, and date last used) of each test item used on the written and operating tests.

l (5) The NRC regional office will assign a chief examiner to coordinate the review, l revision (as determined necessary by the NRC), and validation of the written l examinations and operating tests with the facility licensee. Additional NRC staff j examiners will be assigned as necessary (typically one or two, depending on the '

number of applicants) to assist the chief examiner with administering and grading the operating tests in accordance with existing procedures. The facility licensee will ,

administer and grade the written examinations; NRC examiners will review and l approve the licensee's grading.  ;

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