ML22209A202
| ML22209A202 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 07/28/2022 |
| From: | Lauren Nist NRC/NRR/DRO/IOLB |
| To: | |
| Lauren Nist, NRR/DRO/IOLB 301-415-6043 | |
| References | |
| Download: ML22209A202 (22) | |
Text
NMRP Conference 2022 NRC Update Lauren Nist Chief, Operator Licensing and Human Factors Branch
NRC Medical Requirements
- 55.21 Medical examination
- 55.33 Disposition of an initial application
- 55.33(a)(1) contains the health requirements
- 55.23 Certification
- Facility complete and sign NRC Form 396
- 55.31
- Applicant provide certification on NRC Form 396
- 55.25 Incapacitation because of disability or illness
- 55.27 Documentation
(some exceptions)
Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.134 and ANSI/ANS 3.4
- RG 1.134 endorses ANSI/ANS-3.4*
- Facility licensees can commit to any one of the revisions as endorsed by RG 1.134 (1983, 1996 or 2013)
- No significant change in distribution of facilities committed to different revisions
- With any necessary exceptions
4,208 4,066 3,919 4,233 3,838 3,628 3,000 3,200 3,400 3,600 3,800 4,000 4,200 4,400 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 ACTIVE POWER REACTOR OPERATORS
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 as of end of July NRC FORM 396 MRO REVIEWS
Restrictions 2021 2022 Active Licensed Commercial Operators With Restrictions 62%
63%
With 2 Restrictions 41%
42%
Top Restrictions Corrective Lenses 68%
67%
Medication 57%
58%
Therapeutic Devices 18%
7%
No-Solo 11%
11%
NUREG-1021, Revision 12
- Few changes for guidance related to medical requirements
- Section numbering changed (Section ES-2.2 provides guidance for medical certification and review)
- Recommendations for conditional license for corrective lenses, hearing aids, and now CPAP not forwarded to NRC medical reviewer
Other Updates
- OMB Clearance renewal is in progress for the NRC Form 396
- Adding a field to provide applicants email address
- Adding field for applicants date of birth
- Clearance date will be extended if not renewed before 9/30/2022
- Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI)
- Federal government transition to CUI (Fall 2022)
- https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/cui.html
Questions?
POCs Lauren.Nist@nrc.gov Bernard.Litkett@nrc.gov Ikeda.Betts@nrc.gov
USNRC Actions For A Drunk Reactor Operator NMRP User Group Conference Clearwater, Florida August 9, 2022 Don Jackson, Chief, Operations Branch, Region I
2 Event
- On January 3, 2022, Limerick Station submitted a 24-hour report concerning a positive, for cause FFD test for alcohol of a Reactor Operator who was at the controls
- The level of alcohol in the operators system was WELL above the legal limit to drive
- The operator was driven home, and his site access was revoked, pending review
Facility: Limerick Region: 1 State: PA Unit: [1] [2] []
RX Type: [1] GE-4,[2] GE-4 NRC Notified By: Richard Wagner HQ OPS Officer: Lloyd Desotell Notification Date: 01/03/2022 Notification Time: 17:01 [ET]
Event Date: 01/03/2022 Event Time: 08:41 [EST]
Last Update Date: 01/03/2022 FAILED FITNESS-FOR-DUTY TEST The following information was provided by the licensee via email:
"On January 3, 2022, a Licensed Reactor Operator violated the station's Fitness for Duty policy. The employee's unescorted access to Limerick Generating Station has been terminated in accordance with station procedures. The event was determined to be reportable under 10 CFR 26.719(b)(2)(ii).
"The NRC Resident Inspector has been notified."
4 Staff Suspected Wrongdoing
- An NRC staff member reported this event as Staff Suspected Wrongdoing, which kicks off the Allegation Process
- An allegation panel with NRC Senior Management was held to review the issue and determine next steps
- The Office of Investigations determined that they wanted to investigate the event
5 Office of Investigations Review
- The Office of Investigations set a HIGH priority for the review based on the facts as reported, and potential safety significance
- They investigated and interviewed all operators that had anything to do with the event under oath, with a court reporter present
- Questions were raised as to why a turnover was able to be completed with a high alcohol level
6 Next Steps
- The Office of Investigations referred this case to the U.S. Department of Justice (U.S.
Attorneys Office) for review and potential Criminal Prosecution
- The NRC Office of Enforcement processed a Severity Level III Traditional Enforcement Violation
7 Text From The Violation 10 CFR 55.53(j) requires, in part, that an (individual) licensee shall not perform activities authorized by a license while under the influence of alcohol. The term "under the influence" means the licensee exceeded, as evidenced by a confirmed test result, the lower of the cutoff levels for alcohol contained in subparts E, F, and G of 10 CFR Part 26, or as established by the facility licensee.
Contrary to the above, on January 3, 2022, you, the holder of an NRC-issued Reactor Operator (SRO) license (OP-500368), performed activities authorized under your NRC RO license at Limerick Generating Station Unit 2, while under the influence of alcohol.
Constellation identified that you were under the influence via a for-cause test administered to you on January 3, 2022, as part of its fitness-for-duty (FFD) program. The FFD test yielded a confirmed positive result for alcohol that exceeded the cutoff level established by the facility licensee.
This is a Severity Level III violation (NRC Enforcement Policy Example Violation 6.4).
8 Violation on Public Web Page
9 Overall Thoughts
- The Limerick Operator at the Controls was very drunk while on watch for 2 Hours-Could he have appropriately responded in an emergency?
- The level of alcohol was such that he was significantly impaired while at the controls of Limerick station
- Masking and distancing impacted other operators being able to detect alcohol on his breath-Only detected by slurred speech during shift turnover meeting
- Operator license was requested terminated by Constellation, and I terminated it
10 Overall Thoughts Operator was referred to the U.S. Department of Justice for potential federal prosecution The operator received a Severity Level III traditional enforcement violation, this document is publicly available with his name shown on the enforcement document The USNRC Office of Enforcement web page displays all personal escalated enforcement actions with the offenders name clearly displayed There may be in increasing trend in these types of FFD issues with control room staff-What is the cause? What is the fix?
Was the buzz really worth it ???
11 Questions ???