ML20150C675

Summary of ACRS Human Factors Subcommittee 880427 Meeting in Washington,Dc Re Industry Views on Prof Conduct of Nuclear Power Plant Operators,Proposed NRC Policy Statement on Conduct of Operators & Cognitive Environ Simulator

ML20150C675
Person / Time
Issue date:	05/25/1988
From:	Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards
To:	Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards
References
ACRS-2572, NUDOCS 8807120586
Download: ML20150C675 (13)

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DATE ISSUED: May 25,1988

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SUMMARY

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. ACRS HUMAN FACTORS SUBCOMMITTEE APRIL 27, 1988 The ACR$ Hurran Factors Subcommittee met on April 27, 1988, in Room 1046, 1717 H St., Washington, D.C. The meeting commenced at 8:30 a.m.

Principal Attendees ACRS Members NUMARC F. J. Renick, Chairman J. Colvin H. W. Lewis C. Michelson INPO C. J. Wylie I' RcCoy D. A. Ward C. Siess P/T ACRS Consultant K.., Gi nuny NRC Staff G. West T. Ryan H. Alderman was the cognizant ACRS staff member for the meeting.

Attached are the tentative schedule for the meeting, a list of attend-ees, and a list of the handouts for the meeting. The handouts are filed with the office copy.

The topics for discussion were:

1. Industry views on the professional conduct of nuclear power plant operators.  ;

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. Minutes / Human Factors 2 Subcommittee Mtg.

April 27, 1988

2. The proposed NRC policy statement on the conduct'of operators.

3. Cognitive environment simulator.

4 NUCLARR, a nuclear computerized library for assessing reactor reliability.

Introductory Remarks Dr. Remick introduced the subcommittee members and consultant for the meeting. He noted the topics for discussion as listed above. He asked if any of the Committee members had any comments? There were no com-ments. He introduced Mr. Joe Colvin who is Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer of NUMARC.

J. Colvin, NUMARC Mr. Colvin described the industry initiatives to enhance operator professionalism. He noted that industry has been working through NUMARC, INP0 and other industry organizations. As an example, he noted that NUMARC in 1984 and 1985 committed to about 58 commitments in ten major areas that were related to operator professionalism. The primary one was the accreditation of the training programs. Other areas that they worked on were, shortage of qualified personnel, management effec-tiveness and fitness for duty.

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Minutes / Human Factors 3

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April 27, 1988 -

He noted that industry and NUMARC have been active in working with the staff in the area of operator requalification.

He remarked that INP0 has focused on people-related areas, or the broad operations of the plant, on the management, and has focussed on the operations staff through its plant evaluation program. In addition, INP0 looks at corporate support for the nuclear status.

K. McCoy, INPO, Director of the Plant Operations Division Mr. McCoy indicated that he would talk about the industry efforts underway to enhance professionalism in the operator ranks specifically, and in all personnel associated with our nuclear plants in general.

He noted a copy of a speech by Zach Pate of INPO to the CEO workshop in  !

November of 1987. At the end of that speech, Mr. Pate issued challenges  ;

to the utilities, to NRC, to NUMARC and to INP0. Mr. Pate asked the utilities to begin, if they had not already started, to work with the cperators to develop a professional code for operators, i

i Mr. Pate asked that each CE0 handpick a senior reactor operator to 1 l

attend a workshop, which was hosted by INPO, to develop from the opera-tors themselves a clear understanding of what the elements of a proper professional code should be, i

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Mr. Pate challenged the utilities to have in place by nid 1988 an operator code at each utility, and then to be receptive to a set of l

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Minutes / Human Factors 4

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April 27, 1988

• broad management prin?iples that can lead to an improved climate for professionalism.

Mr. Pate challenged the NRC to continue to improve its licensed operator requalification program and to be receptive to the set of broad manage- -

ment principles. He also challenged the NRC to resolve the Degree on 4

shift question and by resolving the degree question to help establish a-stable environment for the operators.

Mr. Pate challenged NUMARC to assist with the principles; and to assist in gaining NRC understanding and support.

He challenged INPO to carry out the conmitments, to work with industry ,

an'd NUMARC to get a sound set of principles into the hands of the CE0's by the end of March 1988, and to facilitate a development'of a code at ,

I each utility by mid 1988.

Mr. McCoy listed the seven elements of the operation professional ccde:

o Personal integrity ,

o Conmitment to excellence o Individual knowledge and skills o responsibility for actions l o Protect the public  !

o Monitor and respond to plant conditions 1

0 Regulatory procedures and compliance. ,

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Minutes / Human Factnrs 5 l' Subcommittee Mtg. , l April 27, 1988 '

Mr. McCoy then discussed management for excellence and professionalism.

This emphasized that Senior management establish an overall philosophy that permeates the organization. It is recommended that management establish safety as a personal moral responsibility and ensures the safety of the public, utility personnel and the plant. It recommends ,

that management maintains a atmosphere of open communications such that problems are brought to its attention undiluted, and that management sets goals that encourage continual improvement in performance and avoid a sense of self-satisfaction or complacency.

Regarding 'ranaging nuclear personnel, the following recommendations were made to improve the environment in the area of personnel management.

1. Recogniticn of the people and their professional capabilities is a corporations most valuable resource in the nuclear area.

2. Programs should be established and implemented to recruit and select individuals with qualifications and abilities to perform the jobs for which they are being hired but also with the ability to develop the skills and knowledge required for higher level positions.

There was a discussion regarding the plant manager being a SRO, Mr. McCoy pointed out that the plant manager should be a SRO or be certified for equivalent knowledge. He pointed out that being certified means that the individual takes the

Minutes / Human Factors 6 Subconnittee Mtg. ,

April 27, 1988 equivalent training but doesn't take the SR0 licensing ex-amination.

Mr. McCoy discussed degree requirements for operators. He notea that operators with degrees are more likely to move up into management.

Mr. McCoy concluded his presentation with two points. One was that line management up to and including the senior manager on the site should be involved in all phases of training quali-fication and requalification and simulator programs, to ensure that operators are properly qualified to perform their tasks. .

The second point was that management policies and practices ,

ensure that the person responsible for the plant after hours ,

is' selected keeping in mind the great responsibility that the person assumes.

1 Mr. Gorman West, NRR, Division of Licensee Performance and Quality  ;

4 Evaluation i

Mr. West discussed the proposed Commission policy statement on the professional conduct of nuclear power plant operators. Mr. West dis- '

cussed the background of the policy statement. He noted that initially there was some discussion at the Commission level on whether or not to issue a rule on a policy statement on the professional conduu' of operators. The Commission decided in April 1987 to issue a policy statement.

Minutes / Human Factors 7 Subcommittee Mtge April 27, 1988

• He noted that the proposed policy statement has two main objectives:

The first was to address operator inattentiveness and the second was to address unprofessional _ behavior. He noted that the policy statement ,

otes concerns about activities outside the control room.

West noted that although the main thrust of the policy statement concerns reactor operators, it also pertains to both licensed and unlicensed individuals.

There was some discussion about the reference in the policy statement about unauthorized individuals being allowed to manipulate controls.

The question was raised about what controls are referenced in this document. Mr. West explained that the intent was of reactivity manipu-lations. Dr. Remick noted that the regulation clearly specify who can and cannot manipulate reactivity controls, as he was puzzled as to why this is mentioned in the policy statement.

Mr. West said that they had included some examples of guidance for appropriate operator conduct. He noted that they did not intend to come ,

1 up viith a list that was all inclusive. He remarked that they had j i cluded some specific activities and behaviors that they felt should be 1 prohibited.  !

He referenced the use of entertainment devices in the control room.

Specifically mentioned were the use of radios and television in the control room.

. Minutes / Human Factors 8 Subcommittee Mtgo April 27, 1988 Dr. Siess pointed out that the policy statements are getting more f specific and prescriptive and the staff is regulating by policy state-l ment. He noted that policy statements should be policy statements and ,

not pseudo-regulation.

Mr. Wylie pointed out that the ?olicy statement should state the policy and the details of implementing the policy should be put in a generic

! letter or some other means of spelling out the details.

l Dr. Lewis pointed Jut the inconsistency of the statement in the policy statement of the operators being attentive to all aspects of the plant status.

Mr, West noted that the prohibition against entertainment devices in the control room'is at the utility discretion. The utility is requested to determine if the entertainment devices will impact the performance of the operator and act accordingly.

Dr. Remick noted that the facility licensees will have to determine the j impact of entertainment devices on operator performance either enhances or decreases operator performance and he didn't knew how they can determine that.

He noted that their only option was to prohibit the use of entertainment i

devices. They will probably get an enforcement action if they don't have some pretty conclusive assurance that it maintains or enhances.

, Minutes / Human Factors 9 Subcommittee Mtg. .

April 27, 1988 i

Mr. West pointed out that the staff is aware of the industry initiatives on professional conduct of operators. He referred to the management principle and the professional codes for nuclear power plant operators. -

He noted.that the staff is considering an option of deferring the policy statement until the industry initiatives are complete and the staff has had an opportunity to discuss and review their efforts. He noted that another possibility would be to issue a policy statement endorsing INP0's efforts.

Dr. Siess noted that a policy statement by itself is not enforceable and asked if the staff has any implementation plan.

Mr. West responded that the policy statement would request voluntary res'ponse from the utilities.

Mr. Wylie commented that the staff should defer action until they see what the NUMARC and INP0 initiatives accomplish.

The subcommittee discussed the full Comittee presentation and decided that a subcomittee chaiman's report would be the appropriate way to handle it. A staff member was requested to be in attendance during the full Committee to answer any questions.

Dr. Tom Ryan, Office of Research Dr. Ryan talked about two projects under human performance reliability research. The first was NUCLARR which is a nuclear computerized library

Minutes / Human Factors 10 Subcommittee Mtg.

April 27, 1988 for assessing reactor reliability. The Idaho National Engineering.

Laboratory developed the system for coliating, storing and retrieving human error probability data. ,.

The second project that Dr 'Ryan discussed is called cognitive environ-ment simulation. The intent of this program is to analyze decision making. The emphasis is the cognitive processing that leads up to a decision to do somethin or not to do something The meeting was adjourned at 12:32 p.m. -

NOTE: A transcript of the meeting is available at the NRC Public Document Room, 1717 H Street, NW., Washington, D.C., or can be purchased from Heritage Reporting Corporation, 1220 L Street, NW., Washington, D.C. 20005, Telephone: (202) 628-4888.

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ATTACHMENT A

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TENTATIVE SCHEDULE l HUMAN FACTORS SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING APRIL 27, 1988 8:30 a.m.

8:30 a.m. Introductory Remarks - F. Remick 8:40 a.m. Industry Comments on Conduct of Operators - NUMARC 9:40 a.m. Proposed Policy Statement on Conduct of Operators 10:40 a.m. Suggested BREAK 10:50 a.m. Continuation of Policy Statement 11:15 a.m. Cognitive Environment Simulator - Tom Ryan, RES Nuclear Computerized Library 12:15 p.m. Subcommittee Discussion 12:30 p. m. ADJ0 URN l

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H. ALDERFAN ACR.5 50Bt0MM1TTEE MEETlNG ON pun.w rannoe LOC AT!O.' : -Room 1046,1717 H St. NW. Washington, D.C.

DATE: April 27,1988 ATTENDANCE LIST PLEASE PRINT:

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ATTACHMENT C HAND 0UTS FROM APRIL 27, 1988, HUMAN FACTORS MEETING

1. Ltr. from Z. T. Pate, President, INP0, to Mr. R. Patrick Mcdonald, Senior V.P. Alabama Power Co. March 14, 1988, discussing develop-rent of professional codes for operators.

2. Ltr. from Z. T. Pate, President, INPO, to Mr. Joseph M. Farley, President, Alabama Power Co. March 30, 1988, discussing "Principles for Enhancing Professionalism of Nuclear Personnel." .

3. Speech by Z. T. Pate, President, INP0, November 6, 1987, discussing professionalism in operators.

4 NRR Staff Presentation to the ACRS, April 27, 1988 "Proposed Connission Policy Statement on the Professional Conduct of Nuclear Power Plant Operators (SECY 88-57) (Gorman West, Jr.)

5. Presentation of selected products of the human performance and reliability activity - Thomas G. Ryan