ML20215K079
| ML20215K079 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | University of Buffalo |
| Issue date: | 05/01/1987 |
| From: | Gallo R NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I) |
| To: | Rennie D NEW YORK, STATE UNIV. OF, BUFFALO, NY |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20215K082 | List: |
| References | |
| OL, NUDOCS 8705110064 | |
| Download: ML20215K079 (2) | |
See also: IR 05000057/1987001
Text
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6
MAY 01 19S7
Docket No. 50-57
State University of New York at Buffalo
ATTN.
Dr. D. W. Rennie
Vice Provost For Research
and Gra ;uate Studies
521 Capen Hall
Amherst, New York 14260
Gentlemen:
SUBJECT: REQUALIFICATION PROGRAM EVALUATION REPORT NO 50-57/87-01 (0L)
On February 13, 1987, the NRC audited the administration of your annual requal-
ification written examination.
This audit was prompted by your letter dated
January 22, 1987 to Mr. Thomas C. Elsasser, Chief, Project Branch No. 3 in
which you reported circumstantial evidence which existed that one or more oper-
ators may have cheated on the 1986 written requalification examination. We
view this as a serious management deficiency in that the examination was admin-
ister.ed on an unproctored, honor-system basis and that proper examination
security was not maintained.
The requirement for establishing the integrity of
the requalification written examination by strict proctoring is clearly stated
in Generic Letter 83-17 (Enclosure 1), and giving " closed-book" examinations is
in accordance with the requirements of your requalification program.
Since receiving your letter we have held all operator license renewal requests
submitted by your facility in abeyance until an audit of your written requali-
fication examination program was complete.
Areas examined during this evaluation are described in the Region I Evaluation
Report which is enclosed with this letter. Within the scope of this evaluation
the requalification training program was found to be satisfactory.
The actions you have taken and which we audited were an appropriate response
to the problems you identified.
Your commitment to continue to administer your
requalification program in accordance with NRC policy as expressed in Generic Letter 83-17 and in your NRC approved requalification program is noted and will
be subject to future audit and inspection. Based on the findings nf this audit,
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and as of the date of this letter, we will continue to process operator license
renewal applications from your facility according to current NRC policy and
directives.
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the Commission's regulations, a copy of this
letter and the enclosure will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room.
8705110064 870501
0FFICIAL RECORD COPY
OL REQUAL BUFFALO - 0001.0.0
ADOCK 05000057
04/21/87
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MAY 01 1987
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Should you have any questions concerning this report, please contact us.
Sincerely,
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V Robert Gallo, Chief
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Reactor Projects Branch No. 2
Division of Reactor Projects
Enclosures:
1.
2.
Requalification Evaluation Report No. 50-57/87-01 (0L) with
Attachment I
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cc w/encls:
L. G. Henry, Director
P. M. Orlosky, Operations Manager
M. A. Pierro, Radiation Safety Officer
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Nuclear Safety Information Center (NSIC)
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State of New York
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Region I Docket Room (with concurrences)
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Management Assistant, DRMA (w/o encl)
Master Exam File (w/ Attachment)
D. Coe, Examiner
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ENCLOSURE 1
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TO ALL POWER AND NON-POWER REACTOR LICENSEES,
APPLICANTS FOR AN OPERATING LICENSE AND HOLDERS OF A CONSTRUCTION PERMIT
Gentlemen:
Subject:
Integrity of the Requalification Examinations for Renewal
of Reactor Operator and Senior Reactor Operator Licenses
Recently, an investigation was completed which determined that a ser.ior offi-
cial at a nuclear power plant certified to the NRC that a licensed individual
had successfully completed the licensed operator requalification program, when
in fact, that individual had cheated by submitting another person's work in
response to some examination questions.
Such an individual has not successfully completed the requalification program
and has not discharged his licensed responsibility in a safe and competent
manner, as required by 10 CFR 55.
Furthermore, it should be noted that cheat-
ing on examinations which are used to certify individuals to the NRC will
result in an automatic denial of a license application or license renewal and
could result in more severe penalties.
The purpose of this letter is to highlight the need for you to ensure that the
validity of the certifications required by 10 CFR Part 55 and the integrity and
honesty of the requalification program are adequately addressed in facility
procedures. You should review your procedures on this subject to ensure that
an applicant's individual performance can be determined.
Your procedures
should include provis;ur.s to detect and prevent instances of cheating.
In
particular, unproctored examination, take-home quizzes and on-shift tests allow
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ample opportunity for cheating which could go undetected and, therefore, are
not an acceptable means for certifying individual performance. While some
portions of examinations may be conducted in an open-book format (e.g. use of
steam tables on thermodynamics problems or use of facility procedures and
drawings during oral examinations), adequate monitoring provisions are essen-
tial to ensure that the persons being evaluated are working independently and
are using only authorized instructional or reference materials.
No submittals of procedures or results of your procedure reviews are required
by this letter; however, we will review these procedures as a part of our
audits of the licensed reactor operator and senior reactor operator requalifi-
cation programs.
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Darrell G. Eisenhut, Director
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