ML22196A378

Notification of NRC Initial Operator Licensing Examination 05000528/2023301; 05000529/2023301; 05000530/2023301

ML22196A378
Person / Time
Site:	Palo Verde
Issue date:	07/15/2022
From:	Thomas Farina NRC/RGN-IV/DORS/OB
To:	Heflin A Arizona Public Service Co
Farina T
References
IR 2023301
Download: ML22196A378 (4)

See also: IR 05000528/2023301

Text

UNITED STATES

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

REGION IV

1600 E. LAMAR BLVD

ARLINGTON, TX 76011-4511

July 15, 2022

Mr. Adam C. Heflin, Executive Vice President

and Chief Nuclear Officer

Arizona Public Service Company

P.O. Box 52034, MS 7602

Phoenix, AZ 85072-2034

SUBJECT: PALO VERDE NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION, UNITS 1, 2, AND 3 -

NOTIFICATION OF NRC INITIAL OPERATOR LICENSING EXAMINATION

05000528/2023301; 05000529/2023301; 05000530/2023301

Dear Mr. Heflin:

In a telephone conversation on July 5, 2022, between Mr. John Rodgers, Lead Exam Author

and myself, chief examiner, arrangements were made for the administration of operator

licensing examinations at Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station during the week of May 1,

2023.

As agreed during the telephone conversation, your staff will prepare the examinations based on

the guidelines in Revision 12 to NUREG-1021, Operator Licensing Examination Standards for

Power Reactors. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commissions (NRCs) regional office will

discuss with your staff any changes that might be necessary before the examinations are

administered.

To meet the above schedule, it will be necessary for your staff to furnish the operating test

outlines by November 28, 2022. The written examinations, operating tests, and supporting

reference materials identified in NUREG-1021, Examination Standard (ES)-2.1, Preparing for

Operator Licensing Initial Examinations, will be due by February 13, 2023. 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 examinations and tests before they are 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 materials, or the submittal of inadequate or incomplete materials, may

cause the examinations to be cancelled or rescheduled. In addition, your support for on-site

validation of the examinations is required during the week of March 27, 2023.

To conduct the requested written examinations and operating tests, your staff will need to

provide adequate space and accommodations and to make the simulation facility available on

the dates noted above. In accordance with ES 3.5, Administering Operating Tests, your staff

should retain the original simulator performance data (e.g., system pressures, temperatures,

and levels) generated during the dynamic operating tests until the NRC takes licensing action

on all the applications and any adjudicatory actions on any hearing demands are complete.

A. Heflin 2

ES-1.2, Guidelines for Taking NRC Examinations, contains a number of NRC guidelines for

the written examinations and operating tests as they are being administered.

To permit timely NRC review and evaluation, your staff should submit preliminary reactor

operator and senior reactor operator waiver or excusal requests (if any) (Office of Management

and Budget (OMB) control number 3150 0090) at least 60 days before the first examination date

(if possible). Contact me to determine the method for submission of the waiver or excusal

requests. Preliminary reactor operator and senior reactor operator license applications (OMB

control number 3150 0090) and medical certifications (OMB control number 3150 0024) should

be submitted at least 30 days before the first examination date. If the NRC does not receive the

preliminary applications at least 30 days before the examination date, a postponement may be

necessary. Final, signed applications certifying that all training has been completed and

requesting any waivers or excusals, as applicable, should be submitted at least 14 days before

the first examination date.

Although the guidelines for waiver or excusal requests call for their receipt at least 30 days

before the first examination date (preliminary) and 14 days before the first examination date

(final), the requests should be submitted as early as possible in the process (see the 60-day

guideline above). Resolutions resulting from verbal inquiries by the facility licensee to the NRC

are not binding. Submittals addressing waivers or excusals, or both, should be in writing

(i.e., using NRC Form 398 or as directed when I am contacted to determine the method for

submission. The NRC will document its final decision on whether to grant a waiver or excusal

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 mandatory information collections is estimated to average

400 hours0.00463 days <br />0.111 hours <br />6.613757e-4 weeks <br />1.522e-4 months <br /> per examination, 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.

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

A. Heflin 3

accessible on the NRCs Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html.

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. John Rodgers has been advised of the policies

and guidelines referenced in this letter. If you have any questions about the the NRCs

examination procedures and guidelines, please contact me at 817-200-1117, or Heather

Gepford, Chief, Operations Branch at 817-200-1156.

Sincerely,

Signed by Farina, Thomas

on 07/15/22

Thomas J. Farina, Chief Examiner

Operations Branch

Division of Operating Reactor Safety

Docket Nos. 50-528; 50-529; 50-530

License Nos. NPF-41; NPF-51; NPF-74

ML22196A378

SUNSI Review: ADAMS: Non-Publicly Available Non-Sensitive Keyword:

By: Yes No Publicly Available Sensitive NRR-079

OFFICE OB:SOE

NAME TFarina

SIGNATURE TJF

DATE 7/15/2022