IR 05000458/2008301

Er 05000458-08-301; November 21-December 15, 2008; River Bend Station; Initial Operator Licensing Examination Report

ML090230682
Person / Time
Site:	River Bend
Issue date:	01/22/2009
From:	Ryan Lantz Operations Branch IV
To:	Mike Perito Entergy Operations
References
50-458/08-301 50-458/08-301
Download: ML090230682 (10)

Text

UNITED STATES NUC LE AR RE G UL AT O RY C O M M I S S I O N ary 22, 2009

SUBJECT:

RIVER BEND STATION - NRC EXAMINATION REPORT 05000458/2008301

Dear Mr. Perito:

On December 5, 2008, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) completed an examination at River Bend Station. The enclosed report documents the examination findings, which were discussed on December 4, 2008, with yourself, Messrs. Ken Higginbotham, Operations Manager, Marvin Chase, Training and Development Manager, and other members of your staff.

The examination included the evaluation of seven applicants for reactor operator licenses, two applicants for instant senior operator licenses, and three applicants for upgrade senior operator licenses. The written examinations and operating tests were developed using NUREG-1021,

"Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors," Revision 9, Supplement 1.

The license examiners determined that all applicants satisfied the requirements of 10 CFR Part 55, and the appropriate licenses have been issued.

No findings of significance were identified during this examination.

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the NRC's "Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter and its enclosure will be available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRCs document system (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (the Public Electronic Reading Room).

Sincerely,

/RA/

Ryan E. Lantz, Chief Operations Branch Division of Reactor Safety

Entergy Operations, Inc. -2-Docket: 50-458 License: NPF-47

Enclosure:

NRC Examination Report 05000458/2008301

REGION IV==

Docket: 50-458 License: NPF-47 Report: 05000458/2008301 Licensee: Entergy Operations, Inc.

Facility: River Bend Station Location: 5485 US Highway 61N St. Francisville, LA 70775 Dates: November 21-December 15, 2008 Inspectors: Brian Larson, Chief Examiner, Senior Operations Engineer Steve Garchow, Senior Operations Engineer Gabriel Apger, Operations Engineer Approved By: Ryan Lantz, Chief Operations Branch Division of Reactor Safety

Enclosure

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

ER05000458/2008301; November 21-December 15, 2008; River Bend Station; Initial Operator

Licensing Examination Report.

NRC examiners evaluated the competency of seven applicants for reactor operator licenses, two applicants for instant senior operator licenses, and three applicants for upgrade senior operator licenses at River Bend Station.

The licensee developed the examinations using NUREG-1021, "Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors," Revision 9, Supplement 1. The written examinations were administered by the licensee on November 21, 2008. NRC examiners administered the operating tests on December 1-5, 2008.

The examiners determined that all applicants satisfied the requirements of 10 CFR Part 55 and the appropriate licenses have been issued.

NRC-Identified and Self-Revealing Findings

The Senior Reactor Operator (SRO) written examination was determined to be outside of the acceptable quality range as identified in NUREG-1021.

Licensee-Identified Violations

None.

REPORT DETAILS

4OA5 Other Activities (Initial Operator License Examination)

.1 License Applications

a. Scope

NRC examiners reviewed all license applications submitted to ensure each applicant satisfied relevant license eligibility requirements. Examiners also audited two of the license applications in detail to confirm that they accurately reflected the subject applicants qualifications. This audit focused on the applicants experience and on-the-job training, including control manipulations that provided significant reactivity changes.

b. Findings

No findings of significance were identified.

.2 Examination Development

a. Scope

NRC examiners reviewed integrated examination outlines and draft examinations submitted by the licensee against the requirements of NUREG-1021. The NRC examination team conducted an onsite validation of the operating test.

b. Findings

NRC examiners provided outline, draft examination and post-validation comments to the licensee. The licensee satisfactorily completed comment resolution prior to examination administration.

NRC examiners determined that the Reactor Operator (RO) written examination and the operating tests initially submitted by the licensee were within the range of acceptability expected for a proposed examination.

The Senior Reactor Operator (SRO) written examination was determined to be outside of the acceptable quality range as identified in NUREG-1021. Eight questions (32%)

required significant modification or were replaced as a result of the NRC examiner review. Seven of the eight unsatisfactory questions were flawed in that they were not written to test knowledge that is only required of the SRO. The eighth question was a direct lookup given the proposed reference handout.

.3 Operator Knowledge and Performance

a. Scope

On November 21, 2008, the licensee proctored the administration of the written examinations to all 12 applicants. The licensee staff graded the written examinations, analyzed the results, and presented their analysis to the NRC on December 5, 2008.

The NRC examination team administered the various portions of the operating tests to all applicants on December 1-5, 2008.

b. Findings

No findings of significance were identified.

All applicants passed the written examination and all parts of the operating test. The final written examinations, operating tests and post-examination analysis can be accessed in the ADAMS system under the accession numbers noted in the attachment.

There were no post-examination comments as indicated in a letter received from the licensee dated December 5, 2008.

Three generic issues were identified, including: 1) senior applicants delaying EOP actions (i.e. waiting until RPV level reaches -186 inches to conduct an Emergency Depressurization; waiting until Suppression Pool temperature reaches 110 °F to initiate boron injection); 2) weakness in systems knowledge regarding affect of low vacuum bypass on the steam bypass valves; and 3) applicants consistently not checking fire doors shut while performing in-plant JPMs.

.4 Simulation Facility Performance

a. Scope

The NRC examiners observed simulator performance with regard to plant fidelity during examination validation and administration.

b. Findings

No findings of significance were identified.

.5 Examination Security

a. Scope

The NRC examiners reviewed examination security for examination development during both the onsite preparation week and examination administration week for compliance with 10 CFR 55.49 and NUREG-1021. Plans for simulator security and applicant control were reviewed and discussed with licensee personnel.

b. Findings

No findings of significance were identified.

4OA6 Meetings, Including Exit

The chief examiner presented the preliminary examination results to Mr. Michael Perito, Vice President, Operations, and members of his staff on December 4, 2008. A telephonic exit was conducted on December 15, 2008 between Ms. Laura Hurley, Operator Licensing Assistant, and Mr. Danny Williamson, Senior Licensing Specialist.

The licensee did not identify any information or materials used during the examination as proprietary.

ATTACHMENT:

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

KEY POINTS OF CONTACT

Licensee Personnel

M. Perito, Vice President, Operations

D. Williamson, Sr. Licensing Specialist

M. Chase, Manager, Training & Development

K. Higginbotham, Manager, Operations (acting)

J. Clark, Assistant Operations Manager

J. Fralick, Superintendant Training, Nuclear Operations

A. Orgeron, Exam Team

NRC Personnel

Grant Larkin, Senior Resident Inspector