ML20135B457
| ML20135B457 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Beaver Valley |
| Issue date: | 02/18/1997 |
| From: | Meyer G NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I) |
| To: | Cross J DUQUESNE LIGHT CO. |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9703030056 | |
| Download: ML20135B457 (5) | |
Text
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I February 18, 1997 Mr. J. E. Cross President j
Generation Group Duquesne Light Company Post Office Box 4 Shippingport, Pennsylvania 15077
SUBJECT:
VOLUNTARY PILOT EXAMINATION PROGRAM - BEAVER VALLEY UNIT 2
Dear Mr. Cross:
in a telephone conversation on February 14,1997, between Mr. P. Bissett and Mr. T. Burns, arrangements were made for the administration of licensing examinations at the Beaver Valley Unit 2 Station during the week of April 28,1997.
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 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,
" Examiners' Handbook for Developing Operator Licensing Written Examinations," and the attachment to this letter. The NRC regional office will discuss with your staff any 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 examination outlines and the supporting reference materials by February 27,1997. The proposed written examinations and operating tests, will be due by March 24,1997. Any delay in receiving the required reference and examination materials or the submittal of inadequate or incomplete materials may result in the examinations 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 eccordance with ES-402 and to make the simulation facility available on the dates noted above.
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.
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i Mr. J. E. Cross 2
l Your staff should submit preliminary reactor operator and senior reactor operator license j
applications and waiver requests at least 30 days before the first examination date so that j
the NRC will be able to review the applications and the medical certifications and evaluate
_ any requested waivers. If the applications are not received at least 30 days before the l
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. examination date, a postponement may be necessary. Signed applications certifying that I
all training has been completed should be submitted at least 14 days before the first l
examination date.
l l
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 i
response, including gathering, xeroxing and mailing the required material. Send comments i
regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information,
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including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the Information and Records l
Management Branch, Mail Stop T-6 F33, Office of Information Resources Management, i
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555; and to the Paperwork
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Reduction Project (3150-01011. Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, NEOB-l 10202, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, D.C. 20503.
i Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. Mr. T. Burns has been advised of the i
policies and guidelines referenced in this letter. If you have any questions regarding the NRC's examination procedures and guidelines, please contact Mr. P. Bissett at (610) 337-l 5266 (Internet address @NRC. GOV) or myself at (610) 337-5211 (Internet address GWM@NRC. GOV).
i Sincerely, Glenn W. Meyer, Chief Operator Licensing and Human Performance Branch Division of Reactor Safety Docket No. 50-412
Enclosure:
Pilot Examination Guidelines
Mr. J. E. Cross 3
cc w/ encl:
Sushil C. Jain, Vice President, Nuclear Services R. LeGrand, Vice President, Nuclear Operations L. R. Freeland, Manager, Nuclear Engineering Department B. Tuite, General Manager, Nuclear Operations Unit K. L. Ostrowski, Manager, Quality Services Unit R. Brosi, Manager, Nuclear Safety Department M. Clancy, Mayor Commonwealth of Pennsylvania State of Ohio Distribution w/ encl:
Region i Docket Room (with concurrences)
PUBLIC Nuclear Safety Information Center (NSIC)
NRC Resident inspector P. Eselgroth, DRP D. Haverkamp, DRP C. O'Daniell, DRP J. Stolz, NRR, PDI-2 D. Brinkman, NRR, PDI-2 W. Dean, OEDO Inspection Program Branch, NRR (IPAS)
R. Correia, NRR D. Taylor, NRR P. Bissett, DRS DRS OL Facility File DRS File DOCUMENT NAME: A:BVOLPIL.LTR Ta receive a copy of this document, indicate in the box:
"C" = Copy without attachment / enclosure "E" = Copy with attachment / enclosure
- N* = No copy 0FFICE Rl/DRS Rl/ ORS l
/
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NAME PBISSETT F GMEYER M
DATE 02/18/97 '~
02/f K/97 T 02/
/97 02/
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OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
O P! LOT EXAMINATION GUIDELINES Facility licensees will prepare the written examinations and operating tests (dynamic simelator and walkthrough) in accordance with the instructions in Revision 7, Supplement 1, of NUREG-1021, " Operator Licensing Examiner Standards," and Revision 5 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 operating test) and submit it to the NRC regional office for review, comment, and approval at least 60 days before the scheduled examination date. The NRC chief examiner will work with the facility licensee to resolve any problems and to avoid 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 exam.-Mens and tests. Facility employees who played a substantV role in training the license applicants will generally not be involved in develop'ng the license examinations or tests. If the facility licensee considers such employet.s nec.essary for developing the examinations or tests, it will define the measures R will take to ensure that the integrity of the examinations is not 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% of the written examination questions may be taken directly from the facility question bank; up to an additional 40% of the questions may be taken from the facility bank but must be significantly modified; and a minimum of 10% of the questions will be newly developed.
As discussed in NUREG-BR-0122, 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% 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 f acility. No questions may be drawn directly from the applicants' audit examination or similar testing vehicle given at the and of the training class.
Each walkthrough test willinclude at least two job performance measures (JPMs) that are either new or significantly altered, and each simulator 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 other cues.
2 A significant modification, for purposes of the written questions, means a change to the conditions in the stem and at least one distractor significantly changed. Similarly, JPMs and simulator scenarios will have at least one substantive event or condition change that alters the course of action in the JPM or scenario.
(4)
The facility licensee will submit the final written examinations and operating tests to the NRC regional office at least 30 days before the scheduled examination date. In its submittal, the facility licensee will include a history (e.g., bank, revised,'new, and date last used) of each test item used on the written and operating tests.
(5)
The NRC regional office will assign a chief examiner to coordinate the review, revision (as determined necessary by the NRC), and validation of the written examinations and operating tests with the facility licensee. Additional NRC staff 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 approve the licensee's grading.
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