ML25345A015
| ML25345A015 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Prairie Island  |
| Issue date: | 12/15/2025 |
| From: | Paul Zurawski NRC/RGN-III/DORS/OB |
| To: | Paulhardt W Northern States Power Company, Minnesota |
| Nist L. | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML23202A207 | List: |
| References | |
| IR 2025301 | |
| Download: ML25345A015 (0) | |
Text
Werner K. Paulhardt Jr.
Site Vice President Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant Northern States Power Company, Minnesota 1717 Wakonade Drive East Welch, MN 55089-9642
SUBJECT:
PRAIRIE ISLAND NUCLEAR GENERATING PLANT - NRC INITIAL LICENSE EXAMINATION REPORT 05000282/2025301 AND 05000306/2025301
Dear Werner Paulhardt:
On November 20, 2025, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) completed the initial operator licensing examination process for license applicants employed at your Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant. The enclosed report documents the results of those examinations.
Preliminary observations noted during the examination process were discussed on November 14, 2025, with Amanda Jepson, Manager, Nuclear Fleet Ops Training, Regulatory and Simulator, and other members of your staff. An exit meeting was conducted via Microsoft Teams on December 8, 2025, between you and Lauren Nist, Operator Licensing Examiner, to review the proposed final grading of the examination for the license applicants. During the exit meeting, the NRC resolutions of post-examination comments submitted by the facility, initially received by the NRC on November 20, 2025, were discussed.
The NRC examiners administered an initial license examination operating test during the week of November 10, 2025. The written examination was administered by Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant training department personnel on November 17, 2025. Ten senior reactor operator (SRO) and four reactor operator (RO) applicants were administered license examinations. One of the SRO applicants received an excusal from taking the written examination and portions of the operating test based on previously passing those sections of the examination. The results of the examinations were finalized on December 10, 2025.
Fourteen applicants passed all sections of their respective examinations and received operator licenses.
The as-administered written examination and operating test, as well as documents related to the development and review (outlines, review comments and resolution, etc.) of the examination will be withheld from public disclosure until November 20, 2027. The enclosure contains details of this report.
December 12, 2025
W. Paulhardt 2
This letter, its enclosure, and your response (if any) will be made 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 Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 2.390, Public Inspections, Exemptions, Requests for Withholding.
Sincerely, Paul J. Zurawski, Chief Operations Branch Division of Operating Reactor Safety Docket Nos. 50-282, 50-306 License Nos. DPR-42, DPR-60
Enclosure:
- 1. Examination Report 05000282/2025301; 05000306/2025301
- 2. Post-Examination Comments, Evaluation, and Resolutions
- 3. Simulator Fidelity Report cc: Distribution via LISTSERV G. Lang, Training Director Signed by Zurawski, Paul on 12/12/25
W. Paulhardt 3
Letter to Werner K. Paulhardt Jr. from Paul J. Zurawski dated December 12, 2025.
SUBJECT:
PRAIRIE ISLAND NUCLEAR GENERATING PLANT - NRC INITIAL LICENSE EXAMINATION REPORT 05000282/2025301 AND 05000306/2025301 DISTRIBUTION:
Rodney Clagg RidsNrrPMPrairieIsland Resource RidsNrrDorlLpl3 RidsNrrDroIrib Resource Jack Giessner Mohammed Shuaibi Diana Betancourt-Roldan John Pelchat Jared Heck Jennifer Dalzell R3-DORS Lauren Nist Ikeda Betts Maryia Bahdanovich-Kniazkova ADAMS Accession Number: ML25345A015 OFFICE NRR/DRO/IOLB:CE RIII/DORS/OB:BC NAME LNist:gmp PZurawski DATE 12/11/2025 12/12/2025 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION REGION 3 Docket No:
50-282; 50-306 License No:
05000282/2025301; 05000306/2025301 Enterprise Identifier L-2025-OLL-0009 Licensee:
Northern States Power Company Facility:
Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant Location:
Welch, MN Dates:
November 10, 2025 to November 20, 2025 Examiners:
L. Nist, Reactor Engineer, Chief Examiner G. Roach, Senior Operations Engineer, Examiner J. Nance, Senior Operations Engineer, Examiner J. Robb, Operations Engineer, Examiner T. Wingfield, Operations Engineer, Examiner Approved by:
P. Zurawski, Chief Operations Branch Division of Operating Reactor Safety
2
SUMMARY
OF FINDINGS ER 05000282/2025301; 05000306/2025301; 11/10/2025-11/20/2025; Northern States Power Company, Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant. Initial License Examination Report.
The announced initial operator licensing examination was conducted by regional Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) examiners in accordance with the guidance of NUREG-1021, Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors, Revision 12.
Examination Summary:
Fourteen of fourteen applicants passed all sections of their respective examinations. Ten SRO applicants were issued senior operator licenses and four RO applicants were issued operator licenses. (Section 4OA5.1).
3 REPORT DETAILS 4OA5 Other Activities
.1 Initial Licensing Examinations a.
Examination Scope The NRC examiners and members of the facility licensees staff used the guidance prescribed in NUREG-1021, Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors, Revision 12, to develop, validate, administer, and grade the written examination and operating test. The written examination outlines were prepared by the NRC staff and were transmitted to the facility licensees staff. Members of the facility licensees staff developed the operating test outlines and developed the written examination and operating test. The NRC examiners validated the proposed examination during the week of September 29, 2025, with the assistance of members of the facility licensees staff. During the on-site validation week, the examiners audited all license applications for accuracy. The NRC examiners administered the operating test, consisting of job performance measures and dynamic simulator scenarios, during the period of November 10, 2025 through November 14, 2025. The facility licensee administered the written examination on November 17, 2025.
On November 20, 2025 the licensee submitted documentation noting that there was one post-examination comment for consideration by the NRC examiners when grading the written examination. The post-examination comment and the NRC resolution for the post-examination comment are provided in Enclosure 2 of this report.
b.
Findings (1) Written Examination The NRC examiners determined that the written examination, as proposed by the licensee, was within the range of acceptability expected for a proposed examination.
During validation of the written examination, several questions were modified or replaced. All changes made to the proposed written examination were made in accordance with NUREG-1021, Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors, and documented on Form 2.3-5, Written Examination Review Worksheet.
The Form 2.3-5, the written examination outlines, and both the proposed and final written examinations, will be available electronically in the NRC Public Document Room or from the Publicly Available Records component of NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) on November 20, 2027 (ADAMS Accession Numbers for the following: administrative files ML23202A206, examination outlines ML23202A208, proposed exam ML23202A209, and as-administered exam ML23202A200).
The NRC examiners graded the written examination on November 21, 2025 and conducted a review of each missed question to determine the accuracy and validity of the examination questions. There were no post-examination analysis generic weaknesses identified associated with the written examination.
4 (2) Operating Test The NRC examiners determined that the operating test, as originally proposed by the licensee, was within the range of acceptability expected for a proposed examination.
During the validation of the operating test, several job performance measures (JPMs) were modified or replaced, and some modifications were made to the dynamic simulator scenarios. Changes made to the operating test portion of the examination were made in accordance with NUREG-1021, Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors, and documented on Form 2.3-3, Operating Test Review Worksheet. The Form 2.3-3, the operating test outlines, and both the proposed and final as administered dynamic simulator scenarios and JPMs, will be available electronically in the NRC Public Document Room or from the Publicly Available Records component of NRC's ADAMS on November 20, 2027 (ADAMS Accession Numbers for the following: administrative files ML23202A206, examination outlines ML23202A208, proposed exam ML23202A209, and as-administered exam ML23202A200).
The NRC examiners completed operating test grading on December 3, 2025.
Post-examination analysis revealed generic weaknesses in applicant performance in correctly setting the boric acid integrator (1YIC-111) and reading the background and check source count rates on radiation monitor R-18 (specifically, using the narrow range indicator when the range selector switch was set to wide range).
(3) Examination Results Ten SRO and four RO applicants were administered examinations. One of the SRO applicants received an excusal from taking the written examination and portions of the operating test based on previously passing those sections of the examination. Ten SRO applicants were issued senior operator licenses, and four RO applicants were issued operator licenses.
.2 Examination Security a.
Scope The NRC examiners reviewed and observed the licensee's implementation of examination security requirements during the examination validation and administration to assure compliance with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Section 55.49, Integrity of Examinations and Tests. The examiners used the guidelines provided in NUREG 1021, Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors, to determine acceptability of the licensees examination security activities.
b.
Findings None.
5 4OA6 Meetings
.1 Debrief The chief examiner presented the examination team's preliminary observations and findings on November 14, 2025, to Amanda Jepson, Manager, Nuclear Fleet Ops Training, Regulatory and Simulator, and other members of the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plants Operations and Training Department staff.
.2 Exit Meeting The chief examiner conducted an exit meeting on December 8, 2025, with Werner Paulhardt, Site Vice President, via Microsoft Teams. The NRCs final disposition of the stations grading of the written examination and post-examination comment were disclosed and discussed during the Microsoft Teams meeting. The chief examiner asked the licensee whether any of the retained submitted material used to develop or administer the examination should be considered proprietary. No proprietary or sensitive information was identified during the examination or debrief/exit meetings.
ATTACHMENT: SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION
Attachment SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION KEY POINTS OF CONTACT Licensee W. Paulhardt, Site Vice President G. Lang, Training Director A. Jepson, Manager, Nuclear Fleet Ops Training, Regulatory and Simulator J. Hasner, Regulatory Exam Author C. Waits, Facility Operations Representative E. Sonnenberg, Principal Instructor U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission D. Tesar, Senior Resident Inspector J. Heimke, Resident Inspector L. Nist, Chief Examiner G. Roach, Examiner J. Nance, Examiner J. Robb, Examiner T. Wingfield, Examiner ITEMS OPENED, CLOSED, AND DISCUSSED Opened, Closed, and Discussed CAP-360-11242025201148, 2025 ILT NRC Exam Admin Roll-Up CAP LIST OF ACRONYMS USED ADAMS Agencywide Document Access and Management System CAP Corrective Action Program NRC U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission RO Reactor Operator SRO Senior Reactor Operator SWO Simulator Work Order Facility/Applicant Comments and NRC Resolutions Question #58
- UNIT 2 is in NO MODE.
- Core offload to the Spent Fuel Pool was just completed.
- UNIT 2 Reactor Cavity was drained to 1ft BELOW THE RV FLANGE.
With no operator actions, spent fuel pool _______(1)_______ will _______(2)_______.
A. (1) level (2) rise B. (1) level (2) lower C. (1) temperature (2) rise D. (1) temperature (2) lower Justifications:
A. Incorrect. Plausible if examinee believes SFP level will rise due to the displacement of water by the fuel assemblies within the spent fuel pool. This would not occur as the SFP and the reactor cavity are tied together during fuel motion.
B. Incorrect. Plausible if the examinee believes level will lower due to the evaporation of water. While this could occur over a long period of time, it is not due to the core offload.
C. Correct. The recently offloaded fuel has a significantly higher level of decay heat than the fuel already in the SFP. Per precaution 4.12, With high SFP heat loading (i.e., a complete core off-load) and only one units CC system available, it may be desirable to lower the CC HX temperature, and run two SFP pumps aligned to one SFP HX. This alignment is acceptable, providing the SFP flow through the SFP HX does not exceed 2600 gpm. This higher heat load will raise SFP temperature without operator action taken to remove the heat.
D. Incorrect. Plausible if the examinee believes the fuel is being supplied to fuel the spent fuel pool cooling system, similar to diesel fuel being added to the diesel cooling water pump which allows it to run and cool loads supplied by the cooling water system.
Reference: Operating Procedure C16, Spent Fuel Cooling System, Rev 72, page 5 (4.12)
Applicant comment: The applicant contends that without operator action, the SFP level normally lowers due to evaporation. With a fresh offload, evaporation occurs faster and SFP level lowers faster. Both answers B and C are correct.
2 Facility position on applicant comment: The facility licensee agrees with the applicants contention.
NRC Resolution: Recommendation accepted.
The facility licensee provided plant data showing that during a period of time when the core was offloaded during a recent outage, SFP level slightly lowered daily, and makeup occurred approximately once every two weeks. As discussed in the facilitys B16, Revision 7, section 4.1, General Precautions, Makeup is generally required only to compensate for water lost due to evaporation. Accordingly, SFP level may lower due to evaporation, regardless of whether a core offload has just occurred. The question does not direct the applicant to consider only the effects of core offload. Therefore, the NRC concludes that choice B is also correct. Two answer choices, B and C, as annotated on the answer key, are considered correct. The final written examination and answer key is revised to reflect the acceptance of B as an additional correct answer.
SIMULATION FACILITY FIDELITY REPORT Facility Licensee:
Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant Facility Docket No:
50-282; 50-306 Operating Tests Administered:
November 10, 2025 to November 14, 2025 The following documents observations made by the NRC examination team during the initial operator license examination. These observations do not constitute audit or inspection findings and are not, without further verification and review, indicative of non-compliance with 10 CFR 55.45(b). These observations do not affect NRC certification or approval of the simulation facility other than to provide information which may be used in future evaluations. No licensee action is required in response to these observations.
During the conduct of the simulator portion of the operating tests, the following items were observed:
ITEM DESCRIPTION SWO C5M-001 ERCS display not responsive to operator input At the beginning of one simulator scenario, an ERCS display was not responsive. Facility staff identified it was an issue with the simulator hardware. The issue was resolved, and there was no impact on administration of the operating test.
SWO C1D-022 Simulator executive halt error While resetting the simulator in between JPMs, the simulator had an executive halt error. The error was resolved and there was no impact on the administration of the operating test.