ML25065A069
| ML25065A069 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Watts Bar  |
| Issue date: | 03/11/2025 |
| From: | Matthew Endress NRC/RGN-II/DORS |
| To: | Rausch T Tennessee Valley Authority |
| References | |
| 2025301 | |
| Download: ML25065A069 (1) | |
See also: IR 05000390/2025301
Text
March 11, 2025
Timothy S. Rausch, Executive Vice President
and Chief Nuclear Officer
Nuclear Regulatory Affairs and Support Services
Tennessee Valley Authority
1101 Market Street, LP 4A
Chattanooga, TN 37402-2801
SUBJECT: WATTS BAR NUCLEAR PLANT - NOTIFICATION OF LICENSED OPERATOR
RETAKE EXAMINATION 05000390/2025301 and 05000391/2025301
Dear James Barstow:
In a telephone conversation on 15 January 2025, between Mr. Michael Petersen, Operations
Training Examination Lead, and Mr. Mike Donithan, Senior Operations Engineer, arrangements
were made for administration of a JPM-only operator licensing retake examination for one
applicant at Watts Bar Nuclear Plant. The on-site preparatory week is scheduled for the week of
24 March 2025, and the retake JPMs will be administered the same week.
As agreed during the telephone conversation, your staff will prepare the JPM-only operating test
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 partial operating test is administered.
To meet the above schedule, it will be necessary for your staff to furnish the JPM-only operating
test outline by 22 January 2025 (action complete). The JPM-only operating test and supporting
reference materials identified in NUREG-1021, Examination Standard (ES)-2.1, Preparing for
Operator Licensing Initial Examinations, will be due by 12 March 2025. 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 partial operating test before it is submitted to the NRC for
review and approval. All materials shall be complete and ready-to-use.
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 retake operating test, it will be necessary for your staff to make the
simulation facility available on the dates noted above. ES-1.2, Guidelines for Taking NRC
Examinations, contains a number of NRC guidelines for the partial operating test as it is being
administered. Your staff has also agreed to make copies of all examination materials that are
necessary for administering the examination.
The preliminary senior reactor operator license application (OMB control number 3150-0090)
and medical certification (OMB control number 3150-0024) should be submitted at least 30
days before the first examination date. The final, signed application certifying that all remedial
training has been completed and requesting the appropriate excusals should be submitted at
least 14 days before the examination date.
J. Barstow
2
Although the guidelines for excusal requests call for their receipt at least 30 days before the
examination date (preliminary) and 14 days before the examination date (final), the request
should be submitted as early as possible in the process. Resolutions resulting from verbal
inquiries by the facility licensee to the NRC are not binding. Submittals addressing excusals
should be in writing (i.e., using NRC Form 398, Personal Qualifications StatementLicensee).
The NRC will document its final decision on whether to grant the excusal request 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 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, 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.
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.
J. Barstow
3
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. Petersen 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. Donithan at (843) 230-5102, (Email:
Michael.Donithan@nrc.gov), or me at (404) 997-4718, (Email: Matthew.Endress@nrc.gov).
Sincerely,
Matthew F. Endress, Chief
Operations Branch
Division of Operating Reactor Safety
Docket Nos.: 50-390, 50-391
License Nos.: DFP-90, NFP-96
Signed by Endress, Matthew
on 03/11/25
X
SUNSI Review
X Non-Sensitive
Sensitive
X Publicly Available
Non-Publicly Available
OFFICE
RII/DORS/OB
RII/DORS/OB
RII/DORS/OB
NAME
K. Wallace
M. Donithan
M. Endress
DATE
03/06/25
03/06/25
03/11/25