ML23285A142
| ML23285A142 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 10/24/2023 |
| From: | Correll J NRC/NRR/DRO/IOLB |
| To: | Maurin Scheetz NRC/NRR/DRO/IOLB |
| References | |
| Download: ML23285A142 (10) | |
Text
October 24, 2023 MEMORANDUM TO: Maurin Scheetz, Chief Operator Licensing and Human Factors Branch Division of Reactor Oversight Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Signed by Correll, Jeffrey on 10/24/23 FROM: Jeff Correll, Reactor Engineer (Examiner Qualified)
Operator Licensing and Human Factors Branch Division of Reactor Oversight Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
SUBJECT:
SUMMARY
OF SEPTEMBER 21, 2023, PUBLIC MEETING WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF INDUSTRY On September 21, 2023, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff held a public meeting with representatives of the Nuclear Energy Institutes Licensed Operator Focus Group; NextEra Energy, Inc.; and other representatives of the industry.
The purpose of the meeting was for the NRC staff and industry representatives to discuss the administration of the NRCs Operator Licensing Program. Specifically, the NRC staff and industry representatives discussed examination scheduling, an effectiveness review of Revision 12 of NUREG-1021, Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors, ongoing rulemaking efforts, and plans for future revisions to NUREG-1021.
Enclosures:
- 1. List of Attendees
- 2. Agenda
- 3. Meeting Summary
- 4. NEI Presentation CONTACT: Jeff Correll, NRR/DRO (301) 415-2414
ML23285A142 NRR-106 OFFICE NRR/DRO/IOLB NRR/DRO/IOLB NAME JCorrell MScheetz DATE 10/24/2023 10/24/2023 LIST OF ATTENDEES - SEPTEMBER 21, 2023, PUBLIC MEETING WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF INDUSTRY Name Organization Maurin Scheetz NRC*
Jesse Seymour NRC*
Brian Tindell NRC*
Theresa Buchanan NRC*
Rebecca Riggs NRC*
Jeff Correll NRC Don Jackson NRC Tom Stephen NRC April Nguyen NRC John Kirkland NRC Abiola Oshunleti NRC Avinash Jaigobind NRC Brett Jebbia NRC Brian Bergeon NRC Clyde Osterholtz NRC Jason Carneal NRC Kelly Clayton NRC Maryia Bahndanovich-Kniazkova NRC Matt Emrich NRC Natalia Salazar NRC Nick Hernandez NRC Paul Briedenbach NRC Randy Baker NRC Tania Martinez Navedo NRC Ted Wingfield NRC Thomas Farina NRC Travis Iskierka-Boggs NRC Enclosure 1
LIST OF ATTENDEES - SEPTEMBER 21, 2023, PUBLIC MEETING WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF INDUSTRY Name Organization Troy Henning NRC Jimmy Wong NRC Tim Riti Nuclear Energy Institute*
Kostas Dovas Constellation Energy*
Tom Dean Constellation Energy*
Fred Bruns Constellation Energy*
Eric Salzwedel NextEra Energy*
George Asbeck Unknown Jana Bergman Curtiss-Wright Wyatt Godes Unknown John Conly Unknown Russell Joplin Tennessee Valley Authority Rayford Eugene Loggins, III Unknown Mary H Miller Unknown Michael Anderson Unknown Mike Montecalvo Unknown Norman Lynn Mynatt Unknown Michael M Peterson Unknown Joshua Reuer Unknown Chris Rop Unknown Sean Wylie NextEra Energy Note: An asterisk (*) indicates attendance was in person. All other attendees participated via video teleconference.
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AGENDA FOR THE U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION PUBLIC MEETING WITH INDUSTRY OPERATOR LICENSING REPRESENTATIVES Thursday, September 21, 2023 09:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time Hybrid meeting TOPIC PRESENTER Opening Remarks NRC/Industry Examination Scheduling NRC Written Examination Outline Generator NRC Operator Licensing Public Dashboard NRC Operator Licensing Program Feedback NRC Advanced Reactors NRC Ongoing Regulatory Activities NRC NUREG-1021 Rev.12 Effectiveness Review NRC Industry Topics Industry Public Comments Public Closing Remarks NRC/Industry Enclosure 2
MEETING
SUMMARY
Introduction This public meeting between Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff and representatives of the industry was to discuss the operator licensing (OL) program administered by the NRC staff. Specifically, the NRC staff discussed current topics of interest, including examination scheduling, Revision 12 of NUREG-1021, ongoing rulemaking, and plans for future revisions to NUREG-1021.
No regulatory decisions were made during the meeting.
The NRC staff opened the meeting with a discussion about the ongoing examination scheduling process, including an apparent increase in the number of future examinations requested and emphasized that the NRC staff has a small margin for accommodating emergent changes to the schedule. Due to NRC-wide hiring efforts, the NRC staff explained that there might be additional NRC observers during examinations and requalification inspections to allow for training and qualification of new NRC examiners. The NRC staff also stated that the annual operator licensing examination RIS responses are important to the budgeting and scheduling process used by the staff for allocating resources for operator licensing examinations. The industry representatives encouraged responses to the RIS and acknowledged that qualifying new NRC examiners also includes NRC-authored licensing examinations; they encouraged rotating these exams between the facility licensee sites. The industry representatives also stated that they understand the position the NRC staff is in with hiring and qualifying new personnel, and that they are having high turnover for facility licensee examination writers; they are looking for ways to ensure that new exam writers understand the requirements of NUREG-1021.
The NRC staff gave a presentation about the development of a new sample plan generator, with an overview of the features available to automatically generate a sample plan consistent with NUREG-1021 requirements. A question was asked about whether the use of the sample plan generator would enable facilities to generate their own written sample plans for initial operator licensing examinations. The NRC staff stated that the NRC will continue to generate the sample plans for NRC initial licensing examinations and provide these to the facility licensee for consistency of process purposes. Code for the sample plan generator will be made available for industry use, such as for generating outlines for audit examinations.
The NRC staff presented about upcoming changes to the operator licensing public website dashboard, including the future replacement of the static document detailing exam statistics with an interactive, automatically updated dashboard. One question was asked regarding what level of dashboard interaction is going to be allowed by the public. The NRC staff stated that the level of detail is yet to be determined because the dashboard is still being developed.
The NRC staff presented the status of operator licensing public feedback program. Some industry representatives stated that responses provided by the NRC to questions they asked via the program were very thorough and prompt and that they appreciated the effort by the NRC staff to respond to each question.
The NRC staff presented ongoing rulemaking actions related to operator licensing, including the status of the proposed Part 53 rulemaking. An industry representative asked if the staff has considered potential use of digital simulators for training and potential evaluation. The staff responded that they are evaluating simulator standards, including glass top simulators, as part Enclosure 3
Public Meeting with Industry Operator Licensing Representatives of the review of American National Standard Nuclear Power Plant Simulators for Use in Operator Training and Examination, ANSI/ANS-3.5-2018.
The NRC staff presented the status of the NUREG-1021, Rev.12 effectiveness review. An industry representative stated that some industry facilities also had performed an effectiveness review and had similar observations to what the NRC presented. The industry representatives also stated that all utilities were still teaching generic fundamentals content and examining applicants knowledge of generic fundamentals. The industry representative stated that the major change for generic fundamentals training is that facilities are now testing on fundamentals topics throughout the training period leading up to the initial operator licensing examination. The industry representative stated that this allows a better integration of the fundamentals knowledge with other plant-specific knowledge, and the applicants should retain the information longer due to the longer training period. Additionally, the industry shared that they did not observe any issues regarding the documentation of decisions related to applicant onsite time or degree requirements for applicants in the initial license classes.
An industry representative discussed the topic of Senior Reactor Operator (SRO) and Limited Senior Reactor Operator (LSRO) licenses. The industry is interested in the use of experienced SROs as LSROs at other similar facilities during refueling outages. This would involve dual licensing of SROs as LSROs at more facility sites. The industry representatives referenced NUREG-1021 Sections 7.1 and 7.2, regarding the administration of initial examinations and NRC requalification examinations for LSROs and the guidance in NUREG-1021 to request an additional LSRO license. For this type of licensing, the Nuclear Energy Institute is interested in developing industry guidance for sample exemption and waiver requests, management of licenses and program requirements, requalification examination requirements, and just in time training. The NRC staff expressed the need to be consider how to meet proficiency requirements and how to administer requalification examinations; the requalification examination process must remain equitable and consistent for all license holders at a facility.
The industry acknowledged these concerns and added that there is a potential safety benefit to having SROs who are exposed more frequently to fuel handling. The NRC staff acknowledged the industrys presentation and stated that the staff would look for a future submittal from NEI on this topic. There was one question from the NRC staff regarding NRC Form 398 and how an LSRO applicant would meet the requirement on this form for an accredited training program.
The NRC staff stated that, in lieu of an accredited training program, the NRC Form 398 allows the facility to provide all the content of the training program for NRC review and that this could be one way to fill out that portion of the application.
Finally, the industry mentioned that there is an NEI examiner workshop scheduled in February 2024 and would encourage anyone interested in attending to register.
Public Comments There were no public comments.
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NEI PRESENTATION Enclosure 4
Public Meeting with Industry Operator Licensing Representatives 2
Public Meeting with Industry Operator Licensing Representatives 3