ML24058A485

Notification of an NRC Biennial Licensed Operator Requalification Program Inspection and Request for Information

ML24058A485
Person / Time
Site:	Palisades
Issue date:	02/28/2024
From:	April Nguyen NRC/RGN-III/DORS/OB
To:	Nelson W Holtec Decommissioning International
Bergeon B.
References
Download: ML24058A485 (1)

Text

Walter Nelson Manager, Site Training Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC Palisades Nuclear Plant 27780 Blue Star Memorial Highway Covert, MI 49043-9530

SUBJECT:

PALISADES POWER PLANT; NOTIFICATION OF AN NRC BIENNIAL LICENSED OPERATOR REQUALIFICATION PROGRAM INSPECTION AND REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

Dear Walter Nelson:

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will perform an inspection in April and May 2024 of the licensed operator requalification program with an onsite portion conducted during the week of May 6, 2024, at the Palisades Nuclear Plant.

On June 13, 2022, Palisades ceased permanent power operations and subsequently removed all fuel from the reactor, as detailed in the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) at Accession No. ML22164A067. Upon Palisades transition into a decommissioning status, all operators licenses were terminated and licensed operator requalification training was stopped. On September 28, 2023, Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC (Holtec) submitted a letter to the NRC requesting exemptions from certain portions of the requirements of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 50.82(a)(2) to pursue the potential reauthorization of power operations at Palisades, detailed in ADAMS at Accession No. ML23271A140. The NRCs initial acceptance to review Palisades request for exemptions was documented in ADAMS at Accession No. ML23291A440 on November 3, 2023.

On February 8, 2024, in a meeting between Bryan Bergeon, Senior Operations Engineer, the NRC lead inspector for this inspection, and Chuck Sizemore, Operations Training Superintendent, final arrangements were made for the NRC to inspect the licensed operator requalification program at the Palisades Nuclear Plant. The onsite portion of the inspection is planned for the week of May 6, 2024, which coincides with your regularly scheduled requalification examination cycle. The staff at your facility should prepare and conduct the requalification examinations in accordance with your NRC-approved requalification program.

In accordance with 10 CFR 55.59(c), the NRC may request facility licensees to submit their biennial comprehensive requalification written examinations and annual operating tests as necessary to support the NRC's inspection program needs. In order to minimize the impact that the inspection has on the site and to ensure a productive inspection, we have enclosed a request for documents needed for the inspection. Please furnish the items listed in the first group of the attached enclosure, needed to support our in-office inspection activities, to the February 28, 2024 W. Nelson 2 NRC by April 29, 2024. Please have the items listed in the second group of the attached enclosure available for the inspectors during the onsite portion of the inspection activities.

Chuck Sizemore has been advised of this request. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. If there are any questions regarding either the inspection, or the material requested in the enclosure, please contact me at 630-829-9719 or via email at bryan.bergeon@nrc.gov.

This letter does not contain new or amended information collection requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). Existing information collection requirements were approved by the Office of Management and Budget, Control Number 3150-0011. The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a request for information or an information collection requirement unless the requesting document displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget Control Number.

This letter and its enclosure will be available for public inspection and copying at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html and at the NRC Public Document Room in accordance with 10 CFR 2.390, Public Inspections, Exemptions, Requests for Withholding.

Sincerely, April M. Nguyen, Chief Operations Branch Division of Operating Reactor Safety Docket Nos. 50-255 and 72-007 License No. DPR-20

Enclosure:

REQUESTED INFORMATION TO SUPPORT LICENSED OPERATOR REQUALIFICATION PROGRAM AND LICENSED OPERATOR PERFORMANCE INSPECTION (IP 71111.11) cc: Distribution via LISTSERV Signed by Nguyen, April on 02/28/24

W. Nelson 3

Letter to Walter Nelson from April M. Nguyen dated February 28, 2024.

SUBJECT:

PALISADES POWER PLANT; NOTIFICATION OF AN NRC BIENNIAL OPERATOR REQUALIFICATION PROGRAM INSPECTION AND REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

DISTRIBUTION:

RidsNrrPMPalisades Resource RidsNrrDorlLpl3 RidsNrrDroIrib Resource John Giessner Mohammed Shuaibi Jason Kozal Diana Betancourt-Roldan Allan Barker Harral Logaras David Curtis Jared Heck April Nguyen Paul Zurawski R3-DORS Ikeda Betts Lauren Nist Maryia Bahdanovich-Kniazkova Jamie Pelton Russell Felts Philip McKenna Prema Chandrathil Viktoria Mitlyng Carolyn Wolf Justin Poole Jennifer Dalzell Aaron McCraw

ADAMS Accession Number: ML24058A485 OFFICE RIII/DORS/OB/CE RIII/DORS/OB/BC NAME BBergeon:gmp ANguyen DATE 02/28/2024 02/28/2024 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY REQUESTED INFORMATION TO SUPPORT LICENSED OPERATOR REQUALIFICATION PROGRAM AND LICENSED OPERATOR PERFORMANCE INSPECTION (IP 71111.11)

Please provide the following information on a CD/DVD, or document upload to the BOX, if possible, by April 29, 2024.

1. All three (3) complete versions of the 2024 biennial requalification written examinations administered during the training cycle.

2. All fifteen (15) job performance measures (JPMs) and six (6) simulator scenarios associated with the 2024 annual requalification operating test required by 10 CFR 55.59(a)(2). The JPMs and scenarios to be reviewed should include those that will be observed during the onsite portion of this inspection, with any remaining JPMs and scenarios selected from other weeks within the same training cycle.

3. Complete versions of the approved reference materials used to develop the administered written examinations and operating tests. (Refer to NUREG-1021, Rev. 12, ES-2.1 Section F.4., Specific Reference Material to Provide, for relevant materials and clarification.)

4. Spreadsheets and/or test outlines which show the usage of written examination questions, JPMs, and simulator scenarios (overlap between exams).

5. A list of licensee-identified issues associated with licensed operator performance issues that have occurred during the biennial requalification cycle and their associated corrective actions (these issues are likely documented in condition/problem identification reports, licensee-conducted audits, and assessments, and in industry operating experience reports, etc.).

6. Approved facility licensee procedures for licensed operator requalification training and examination, including examination security procedures.

7. A schedule of the licensees examination activities during the on-site inspection week.

Please have the following information available for NRC review on May 6, 2024.

1. Licensed operator pass/fail statistics for any NRC-required requalification examinations that have been completed.

2. An overall schedule of the facility licensees requalification program since the last biennial inspection (cycle weeks, training topics, etc.), as well as a schedule for the upcoming biennial inspection cycle.

3. Crew notebooks for each operating crew, to review for operating crew performance strengths and weaknesses and how these change from cycle to cycle.

4. A list and descriptions of any examination security problems since the last biennial inspection (likely documented in training department condition/problem identification reports).

Enclosure

5. Records for licensed operator requalification training attendance, licensed operator performance in requalification, and any licensed operator remedial training.

6. Simulator testing, maintenance, modification, and performance records. Due to the recent IP 41502, Nuclear Power Plant Simulation Facilities, inspection during the week of February 4, 2024, that reviewed these records, only the following records will be required: lists of open/closed simulator deficiencies, and corrective actions taken, from 02/01/2024 through 05/03/2024; lists of open/closed simulator modifications from 02/01/2024 through 05/03/2024; Scenario-Based Testing for the 2024 annual operating test scenarios (one from each week, for three total); and an updated simulator differences list.

7. A current list of all operators pursuing relicensing at the site, by license level, a current list of all medical restrictions for those operators and selected individual operator medical files in support of the license being reapplied for.

2