ML22290A148

Notification of Licensed Operator Initial Examination 05000259/2023301, 05000260/2023301, 05000296/2023301

ML22290A148
Person / Time
Site:	Browns Ferry
Issue date:	10/17/2022
From:	Tom Stephen NRC/RGN-II
To:	Jim Barstow Tennessee Valley Authority
References
IR 2023301
Download: ML22290A148 (4)

See also: IR 05000259/2023301

Text

October 17, 2022

Mr. James Barstow

Vice President, Nuclear Regulatory Affairs and Support Services

Tennessee Valley Authority

1101 Market Street, LP 4A-C

Chattanooga, TN 37402-2801

SUBJECT: BROWNS FERRY NUCLEAR PLANT - NOTIFICATION OF LICENSED

OPERATOR INITIAL EXAMINATION 05000259/2023301, 05000260/2023301,

05000296/2023301

Dear Mr. Barstow:

In a telephone conversation on October 13, 2022, between Mr. Donald Binkley, Exam Team

Supervisor, and Mr. Bruno Caballero, Senior Operations Engineer, arrangements were made for

the administration of operator licensing examinations at Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant. The on-

site preparatory week is scheduled for the week of May 8, 2023. The operating test is

scheduled to be administered during the week of June 12, 2023, and, if necessary, the week of

June 19, 2023. The written examination is scheduled to be administered the week of June 19,

2023.

As agreed during the telephone conversation, your staff will prepare both the operating test and

written examination based on the guidelines in Revision 12 of NUREG-1021, "Operator

Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors." The NRCs regional office will discuss

with your staff any changes that might be necessary before the examinations are administered.

To meet the above schedule, it will be necessary for your staff to furnish the operating test

outline and supporting reference materials identified in NUREG-1021, Examination Standard

(ES)-2.1, Preparing for Operator Licensing Initial Examinations, by January 13, 2023. Mr.

Bruno Caballero provided the written examination outline to your staff in June 2022. The written

examinations will be due by February 1, 2023, and the operating tests will be due by March 29,

2023. Pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 55.40(b)(3), an

authorized representative of the facility licensee shall approve the examinations and tests

before they are submitted to the NRC for review and approval. All materials shall be complete

and ready-to-use. Your staff has also agreed to make copies of all examination materials that

are necessary for administering the examination.

We request that any personal, proprietary, sensitive unclassified, or safeguards information in

your response be contained in a separate enclosure and appropriately marked. Delays in

receiving the required examination and reference materials, or the submittal of inadequate or

incomplete materials, may cause the examinations to be cancelled or rescheduled.

To conduct the requested written examinations and operating tests, it will be necessary for your

staff to provide adequate space and accommodations in accordance with ES-4.3,

Administering Written Examinations, and to make the simulation facility available on the dates

noted above. In accordance with ES-3.5, Administering Operating Tests, your staff should

J. Barstow 2

retain the original simulator performance data (e.g., system pressures, temperatures, and

levels) generated during the dynamic operating tests until the NRC takes licensing action on all

the applications and any adjudicatory actions on any hearing demands are complete.

ES-1.2, Guidelines for Taking NRC Examinations, contains a number of NRC guidelines for

the written examinations and operating tests as they are being administered.

To permit timely NRC review and evaluation, your staff should submit preliminary reactor

operator and senior reactor operator waiver and/or excusal requests (if any) (Office of

Management and Budget (OMB) control number 3150-0090) at least 60 days before the first

examination date (if possible). Contact Mr. Bruno Caballero to determine the method for

submission of the waiver or excusal requests. Preliminary reactor operator and senior reactor

operator license applications (OMB control number 3150-0090) and medical certifications (OMB

control number 3150-0024) should be submitted at least 30 days before the first examination

date. If the NRC does not receive the preliminary applications at least 30 days before the

examination date, a postponement may be necessary. Final, signed applications certifying that

all training has been completed and requesting any waivers or excusals, as applicable, should

be submitted at least 14 days before the first examination date.

Although the guidelines for waiver or excusal requests call for their receipt at least 30 days

before the first examination date (preliminary) and 14 days before the first examination date

(final), the requests should be submitted as early as possible in the process (see the 60-day

guideline above). Resolutions resulting from verbal inquiries by the facility licensee to the NRC

are not binding. Submittals addressing waivers or excusals, or both, should be in writing (i.e.,

using NRC Form 398, Personal Qualifications StatementLicensee, or as directed by Mr. /Ms.

[name of Chief Examiner] when contacting [him or her] to determine the method for

submission). The NRC will document its final decision on whether to grant a waiver or excusal

on the final (not preliminary) NRC Form 398 submitted for the applicant. The NRC will not

provide its decision until the final application is submitted to the agency.

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

This letter contains information collection requirements that are subject to the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). These information collections were approved

by the OMB, approval number 3150-0018.

The burden to the public for these [voluntary] mandatory information collections is estimated

to average [2,250 hours0.00289 days <br />0.0694 hours <br />4.133598e-4 weeks <br />9.5125e-5 months <br /> per examination or response] [[400 hours per examination or

response]], including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources,

gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the information

collections. Send comments regarding this information collection to the FOIA, Library, and

Information Collections Branch (T6-A10M), U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington,

DC 20555 0001, or by e-mail to Infocollects.Resource@nrc.gov, and to the OMB reviewer

at: OMB Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (3150-0018), Attn: Desk Officer for the

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 725 17th Street, NW Washington, DC 20503; e-mail:

oira_submission@omb.eop.gov.

J. Barstow 3

Public Protection Notification

The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection

of information, unless the document requesting or requiring the collection displays a currently

valid OMB control number.

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390, Public inspections, exemptions, requests for withholding, a

copy of this letter and its enclosures will be available electronically for public inspection through

the NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). ADAMS is

accessible on the NRCs Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html.

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. Mr. Donald Binkley has been advised of the

policies and guidelines referenced in this letter. If you have any questions about the NRC's

examination procedures and guidelines, please contact Mr. Bruno Caballero at (404) 997-4608,

(Internet E-mail: bruno.caballero@nrc.gov), or me at (404) 997-4703, (Internet E-mail:

thomas.stephen@nrc.gov).

Sincerely,

/RA/

Thomas A. Stephen, Chief

Operations Branch 1

Division of Reactor Safety

Docket Nos.: 50-259, 50-260, 50-296

License Nos.: DPR-33, DPR-52, DPR-68

ML22290A148 SUNSI REVIEW COMPLETE FORM 665 ATTACHED

OFFICE RII/DRS/OB RII/DRS/OB RII/DRS/OB

NAME DEgelstad BCaballero TStephen

DATE 10/14/2022 10/14/2022 10/17 /2022