ML20235N070
| ML20235N070 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Millstone, Hatch, Haddam Neck, 05000000, Fort Saint Vrain |
| Issue date: | 12/31/1986 |
| From: | Stello V NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20235N034 | List: |
| References | |
| FOIA-87-299 GL-86-04, GL-86-4, SECY-86-383, NUDOCS 8707170422 | |
| Download: ML20235N070 (10) | |
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-December 31, 1986 SECY-86-383-For: The Commissioners From: Victor Stello,ilr.
Executive Pirector for Operations Sub.iect: ENGINFEPING EXPERTISE ON SHIFT, NORTHEAST UTILITIES.
HADDAP NECK AND MILLSTONE IINITS 1 AND P, AND F0PT ST. VPAIF Purposa: To inform the Comission of the staff's evaluation of Engineering Expertise on Shift for Northeast Utilities' Haddam Neck and Millstere l' nits 1 and 2, and Fort St Vrain.
Packground: SECY-86-T31 provided the Commission with information regarding how licensees and applicants are providing Engineering Expertise on Shift. This information was based on information received in response to Generic Letter 8f-04. Gereric Letter 86-04 providad all power reactor licensees and applicants for power reactor licenses a copy of the Federal Peoister notice of the Poliev Statement on Fnoineerina Expertise on Shift, and requested information on the current status, and future plans for the Shift Technical Advisor (STA) in light of that Policy Statement.
SECY-86-231 pointed cut that three Northeast Utilities' (NU)- ,
plants (Millstone 1 and 2, Paddam Neck), do not follow either -
i of the Policy Statement options. NU's position is that an
! Associate Degree,in nuclear engineering technolooy is sufficient l for the combined SRO/STA role. SECY-86-231 also pointed out l that the STAS I
at Fort St. Vrain are on-call.
1 SECY-86-231 concluded that the staff will meet with the licensees for these plants, and will rev.iew their STA programs on a case-by-case basis.
CONTACT:
F. Allenspach, NPR 40-24921 87072704P2 070715 PDRs FOIA PUR STENGER~ 87-299 h
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-2 Discussion: NU plans to use option 1 of the Policy Statement, which is the combined SR0/STA, except that the individuals they will use in this role hold Associate Degrees. The staff has reviewed these plans, including a review of the program to attain the Associate Degree. The Associate Degree is in nuclea; engineering tec..tology.
This two-year Associate Degree program was developed, in conjunction with Thames Valley State Technical College, to meet, as a minimum, the INP0 guidelines for STA training. Candidates for the dual role SRO/STA are Shift Supervisors who hold a senior operator's license. These individuals at NU have had, on an average, over 14 years of nuclear experience.
The staff considers that the NU program for dual role SRO/STA meets the intent of the Commission Policy Statement, and we find it acceptable.
Enclosure 1 is the staff SER that provides the basis for our findings regarding the NU program.
Public Service Company of Colorado plans to continue using option 2 of the Policy Statement which calls for maintenance of a separate STA. However, the STA at .rort St. Vrain is on-call to respord within one hour iristead of the 10-minute response time specified in TMI Action Item I.A.1.1. The staff has reviewed the basis for this approach and found it acceptable.
Enclosure 2 is the staff SER that provides the basis for our finding regarding Fort St. Vrain's program.
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tctor Stello, Jr.
Executive Director
. for Operations
Enclosures:
- 1. Memorandum to Addressees from D.M. Crut'hfield, c dated December 9, 1986
- 2. Memorandum to K. Heitner from D.M. Crutchfield, dated December 9, 1986 DISTRIBUTION:
Conunissioners OGC (H Street) ,
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
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December 9. 1986 Docket Nos.: 50-245, 50-336, and 50-213 MEMORANDUM FOR; Dave Jaffe, Project Manager PWR Project Directorate No. 7 Division of PWR Licensing-B-James Shea, Senior Project Manager
- Integrated Safety Assessment Project Directorate Division of PWR Licensing-B Frank Akstulewicz, Project Manager Integrated Safety Assessment Project Directorate Division of PWR Licensing-B FROM: Dennis M. Crutchfield, Assistant Director Division of PWR Licensing-B
SUBJECT:
ENGINEERING EXPERTISE ON SHIFT, NORTHEAST UTILITIES, MILLSTONE UNITS NO. I and 2 ~
AND HADDAM NECK (TAC NOS. 62190 AND 62189)
In response to Generic Letter 86-04, Northeast Utilities (NU) submitted by letter dated June 13, 1986, their plans for meeting the Commission Policy Statement on Engineering Expertise on Shift. N0 plans to follow option 1 of the Policy Statement which allows for the dual role of SR0/STA. However, they plan on utilizing in the dual role position experienced SRO's who have j earned an Associate Degree in Nuclear Engineering Technology rather than a ,
Bachelors Degree in an engineering or scientific field. The Comission i Policy Statement notes that modifications to the described options are acceptable if the program meets, the intent of the Policy Statement.
NU plans to apply this program to Haddam Neck and Millstone Unit Nos. I and 2. They are not planning any changes to the operating shift organization at Millstone Unit No. 3 at this time. However, in the future if changes were '
to be proposed for Millstone Unit No. 3, they envision them to be in line with the approach described for the above mentioned units.
CONTACT: ~
F. Allenspach, F0B/DPLB 49-24921 .
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Dave Jaffe December 9. 1986 The Enclosure provides our evaluation of NU's program for providing Engineer- .
ing Expertise on Shift. Based on our review, we find their program meets the intent of the Commissions Policy Statement, and is acceptable.
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Dennis M. Crutchfield Assistant Director Division of PWR Licensing-B
Enclosure:
As stated '
cc: E. Doolittle A. Thadani C. Grimes V. Noonan C. Rossi C. Goodman i
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Enclosure Staff Evaluation Northeast Utilities Millstone Units No. I and 2, and Haddam Neck Engineering Expertise on Shift Generic Letter 86-04 provided to all power reactor licensees a copy of the Federal Register Notice of the Policy Statement on Engineering Expertise on Shif t.
The Policy Statement offers the licensees two options for meeting the current requirements for providing Engineering Expertise on Shift (NUREG-0737. Item I.A.1.1). Option I provides for the elimination of.the separate Shift Technical Advisor (STA) position by allowing licensees to combine one of the required Senior Reactor Operator (SRO) positions with the STA position into a dual role (SR0/STA) position. The dual role individual would have an appropriate Bachelors Degree in Engir.eering. Option 2 states that a licensee may continue to place on each shift a dedicated STA who meets the STA criteria of NUREG-0737.
Item I.A.1.1. Licensees may use either optior, on each shift.
Generic Letter 86-04 requested that licensees provide the following information:
- 1. Their program for providing Engineering Expertise on Shift;
- 2. If their current STA program utilizes an " equivalency" criteria to an Engineering Degree, a description of the criteria used; and, .
-3. A description of any modifications they intend to propose to their current program in order to take ' advantage of the options identified in the Commission's Policy Statement.
The licensee for Millstone Units Nos. I and 2, and Haddam Neck, Northeast Utilities (NU), responded to Generic Letter 86-04 by letter dated June 13, 1986. In this letter NU stated its intent to use the dual role, described
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its program for training personnel to function in the dual role of SR0/STA, and provided its justification for deviating from the guidance contained in Generic Letter 86-04 The deviation consists of the individual having an Associate Degree in Nuclear Engineering Technology rather than a Bachelors Degree in an engineering subject or a Professional Engineer's license.
The staff net with the licensee on Septenber 25, 1986 to obtain further information on this training, and discuss additional information the licensee considered applicable to the staff's review in determining the acceptability of the licensee program. Below is a brief description and cur evaluation of NU's program for providing Engineering Expertise on Shift through. individuals that function in the dual role of SR0/STA.
NU argues that they meet the intent of the Commission Policy Statement for individuals functioning in the dual role by providing experienced Senior Licensed Operators who have successfully completed both an STA training program and an Associate Degree in Nuclear Engineering Technology program.
NU considers that an educational program that leads to the Associate Degree in Nuclear Engineering Technology adequately provides the engineering and accident assessment expertise needed on shift.
In 1982. Thames Valley State Technical College (TVSTC), Norwich, CT, esta-blished, in close conjunction with NU, a program leading to an Associate .
Degree in Nuclear Engineering Technology. TVSTC is a state Technical ,
College that has had programs in Chemical Engineering Technology, Electrical Engineering Technology, Manufac'turing Engineering Technology, and Mechanical Engineering Technology accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). The program in Nuclear Engineering Technology was developed with NU input to the curriculum and course content with the intent to provide Engineering Expertise en Shift, and to meet as a minimum the INPO Guidelines for the STA. In most cases the INP0 requirements are exceeded.
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The program is open to the public and the courses have received state licensure. TVSTC is aiming for ABET accreditation of this program within five years. At the completion of the Nuclear Engineering Technology program, a student will have earned 118-quarter credits, or approximately 78 semester hours.
The dual role candidates that are sent to TVSTC by NU attend, on a full-time basis, 3-quarter sessions each year for two years. In the remaining quarter (the summer), and during winter and spring break, the student rejoins his respective nuclear plant staff, and attends requalification training in order to maintain his Senior License. To date, 11 SR0's have completed this program and obtained an Associate Degree in Nuclear Engineering Technology.
Candidates for the dual role position are ER0's whose career paths would typically include, on average, 2.7 years as a non-licensed operator, 2 years as a licensed reactor' operator, and 8.6 years as a Senior Control Room Opera-tor (SCRO) or Shift Supervisor (55). The SCR0 and SS positions require a Senior License. Therefore, dual role candidates would typically have over 10 years nuclear experience, and have received RO training and SRO training.
The R0 training and SR0 training programs total about 77 weeks, and have been accredited by INPO at Millstone Units 1 and 2, and expect to be accredited this fall at Haddam Neck. NU currently uses only Shift Supervisors in the ,
dual role position.
The average number of years of nuclear experience of present dual role SR0/STA qualified personnel at Haddam Neck, Millstone Unit 1 and Millstone Unit 2 is l 14.3 years,15.3 years, and 15.2 years, respectively. The staff considers this experience, the bulk of wh'ich has been attained at NU, an excellent measure of the stability of the staff at these plants, and an extremely valuable resource I
which contributes significantly to operational safety.
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, ; i The training and requalification training at the NU nuclear plants is aided by plant specific simulators for each unit. Every six weeks each shift goes into a training mode that includes simulator training. The simulator training is conducted on a shift basis, with each member of the shift functioning in their respective roles. The dual role Shif t Supervisor /STA trains in that role.
We have reviewed NU's submittal of June 13, 1986, and met with NU to discuss their training program for the dual role SR0/STA. We find that NU has esta-blished an acceptable training program at TVSTC that exceeds in most cases the INPO Guidelines for STA training; that the present career path from non-licensed operator to dual role Shift Supervisor /STA fosters stability which has resulted in a high level of experience at.the Shift Supervisor level; and that plant specific simulator training contributes positively to well trained crews. Therefore, we find that the NU program for providing Engineering Expertise on Shift for the dual role Shift Supervisor /STA meets the intent of the Commission Policy Statement on Engineering Expertise en Shift.
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(* ..... December 9, 1986 Docket No.: 50-267 i
NE@RANDUM FOR: Kenneth L. Heitner, Pruject Manager Standardization and Special Projects Directorate-Division of PWR Licensing-B i FROM: Dennis M. Crutchfield, Assistant Director Division of PWR Licensing-B
SUBJECT:
ENGINEERING EXPERTISE ON SHIFT, FORT ST. VRAIN (TAC NO. 61635)
By letter dated May 15, 1986, Public Service Company of Colorado (PSC) responded to Generic Letter 86-04 (Engineering Expertise on Shift). This letter provided information on this subject, and pointed out that PSC had previously responded by letter dated January 20, 1986, on the Commission Policy Statement on Engineering Expertise on Shift.
In a memorandum dated August 12, 1986 from William T. Russell tu Frank J. Miraglia, on the subject of Results of Survey on Engineering Expertise that one of the findings of the survey is that Fort St. Vrain utilizes Shift Technical Advisors that are on-call, and thst this difference from the Commission Policy Statement is to be handled on a case specific basis.
The staff has reviewed PSC's program for providing Engineering Expertise on Shift, and found that while it deviates from the guidance of the Commission Policy Statement, it is acceptable. The Enclosure provides our basis for this detemin-ation.
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,e ni . Crute field, Assistant Director Division of PWR Licensing-B cc: H. Berkow
- 0. Lynch C. Goodman G.L. Plumlee, III L. Crocker
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- ,1; 'tI j Enclosure Staff Evaluation Public Service Company of Colorado Fort St. Vrain Engineering Expertise on Shift Fort St. Vrain, in response to Generic Letter 86-04, has stated that they plan to continue to use a separate Shift Technical Advisor (STA) (option 2 of the PolicyStatement). The STA is on-call to respond within one hour, in contrast to the position of the Policy Statement that the STA should assume an active role in shift activities. The former staff position required the STA to be able to respond within 10 minutes (NUREG-0737 Item I.A.I.1).
i In an enclosure to a letter dated August 6, 1981 to Mr. 0.R. Lee, Vice President Electric Production, Public Service Company of Colorado, from James R. Miller, Chief, Standardization and Special Projects Branch, Division of Licensing, the Commission issued an Order confirming the Licensee's comitments on TMI related issues. Item III.2. of this Order states that "the licensee *has agreed to the l requirements of item I.A.I.1, ' Shift Technical Advisor' with the exception that instead of the staff's position for a 10 minute response time, the licensee has committed to a one-hour response time for the on-call STA. Considering the unique features of gas cooled reactor, i.e., long times for accident conditions to develop, the staff finds the one-hour response time acceptable for Fort St. Vrain." '
Based on the previous review and Order by the Commission, we do not intend to pursue this issue any further with the licensee.
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