ML082800111

2008 -09 - Examination Report

ML082800111
Person / Time
Site:	Arkansas Nuclear
Issue date:	10/06/2008
From:	Ryan Lantz Operations Branch I
To:	Mitchell T Entergy Operations
References
50-313/08-301
Download: ML082800111 (10)

Text

UNITED STATES NUC LE AR RE G UL AT O RY C O M M I S S I O N R E GI ON I V 612 EAST LAMAR BLVD , SU I TE 400 AR LI N GTON , TEXAS 76011-4125 October 6, 2008 Timothy G. Mitchell, Vice President, Operations Entergy Operations, Inc.

Arkansas Nuclear One 1448 S.R. 333 Russellville, AR 72802

SUBJECT:

ARKANSAS NUCLEAR ONE, UNIT 1 - NRC EXAMINATION REPORT 05000313/2008301

Dear Mr. Mitchell:

On September 11, 2008, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) completed an examination at Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 1. The enclosed report documents the examination findings, which were discussed on September 12, 2008, with yourself, Mr. Randall Walters, Operations Manager, Ms. Sherrie Cotton, Training Manager, and other members of your staff.

The examination included the evaluation of three applicants for reactor operator licenses and six 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 eight of the nine 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. Docket: 50-313 License: DPR-51

Enclosure:

NRC Examination Report 05000313/2008301 cc w/enclosure:

Senior Vice President Entergy Operations, Inc.

P.O. Box 31995 Jackson, MS 39286-1995 Senior Vice President

& Chief Operating Officer Entergy Operations, Inc.

P.O. Box 31995 Jackson, MS 39286-1995 Vice President, Oversight Entergy Operations, Inc.

P.O. Box 31995 Jackson, MS 39286-1995 Manager, Licensing Entergy Operations, Inc.

Arkansas Nuclear One 1448 SR 333 Russellville, AR 72802 Associate General Counsel Entergy Nuclear Operations P.O. Box 31995 Jackson, MS 39286-1995 Senior Manager, Nuclear Safety & Licensing Entergy Operations, Inc.

P.O. Box 31995 Jackson, MS 39286-1995

Entergy Operations Section Chief, Division of Health Radiation Control Section Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services 4815 West Markham Street, Slot 30 Little Rock, AR 72205-3867 Section Chief, Division of Health Emergency Management Section Arkansas Department of Health 4815 West Markham Street, Slot 30 Little Rock, AR 72205-3867 Pope County Judge Pope County Courthouse 100 West Main Street Russellville, AR 72801

Entergy Operations Electronic distribution by RIV:

Regional Administrator (Elmo.Collins@nrc.gov)

DRP Director (Dwight.Chamberlain@nrc.gov)

DRP Deputy Director (Anton.Vegel@nrc.gov)

DRS Director (Roy.Caniano@nrc.gov)

DRS Deputy Director (Troy.Pruett@nrc.gov)

Senior Resident Inspector (Alfred.Sanchez@nrc.gov)

Resident Inspector (Jeffrey.Josey@nrc.gov)

Branch Chief, DRP/E (Chuck.Paulk@nrc.gov)

Senior Project Engineer, DRP/E (George.Replogle@nrc.gov)

ANO Site Secretary (Vicki.High@nrc.gov)

Public Affairs Officer (Victor.Dricks@nrc.gov)

Team Leader, DRP/TSS (Chuck.Paulk@nrc.gov)

RITS Coordinator (Marisa.Herrera@nrc.gov)

Only inspection reports to the following:

DRS STA (Dale.Powers@nrc.gov)

M. Cox, OEDO RIV Coordinator (Mark.Cox@nrc.gov)

ROPreports SUNSI Review Completed: __BTL__ ADAMS: Yes No Initials: __BTL__

Publicly Available Non-Publicly Available Sensitive Non-Sensitive ML082800111 SOE:OB RII:SOE:OB OE:OB C:PBE: C:OB BTLarson GLaska GGApger CPaulk RELantz

/RA/ BTL for GLaska /RA/ BTL for GApger /RA/ /RA/ /RA/

10/03/08 10/03/08 10/03/08 10/03/08 10/06/08 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY T=Telephone E=E-mail F=Fax

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION REGION IV Docket: 50-313 License: DPR-51 Report: 05000313/2008301 Licensee: Entergy Operations, Inc.

Facility: Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 1 Junction of Hwy. 64W and Hwy. 333 South Location:

Russellville, Arkansas Dates: September 5 - 26, 2008 Brian Larson, Chief Examiner, Senior Operations Engineer Inspectors: Gerard Laska, Senior Operations Engineer Gabriel Apger, Operations Engineer Ryan Lantz, Chief Approved By: Operations Branch Division of Reactor Safety 1

Enclosure

SUMMARY

OF FINDINGS ER05000313/2008301; September 5-26, 2008; Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 1; Initial Operator Licensing Examination Report.

NRC examiners evaluated the competency of three applicants for reactor operator licenses and six applicants for upgrade senior operator licenses at Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 1. The licensee developed the examinations using NUREG-1021, "Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors," Revision 9, Supplement 1. The written examination was administered by the licensee on September 5, 2008. NRC examiners administered the operating tests on September 8-11, 2008. The examiners determined that eight of the nine applicants satisfied the requirements of 10 CFR Part 55, and the appropriate licenses have been issued.

A. NRC-Identified and Self-Revealing Findings No findings of significance were identified.

B. Licensee-Identified Violations None.

2 Enclosure

REPORT DETAILS

4. OTHER ACTIVITIES (OA) 4OA5 Other Activities (Initial Operator License Examination)

.1 License Applications

a. Scope The NRC examiners reviewed all of the license applications submitted to ensure the applications reflected that each applicant satisfied relevant license eligibility requirements. The applications were submitted on NRC Form 398, Personal Qualification Statement, and NRC Form 396, Certification of Medical Examination by Facility Licensee. The examiners also audited one of the license applications in detail to confirm that it 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 Operator Knowledge and Performance

a. Examination Scope On September 5, 2008, the licensee proctored the administration of the written examinations to all nine applicants. The licensee staff graded the written examinations, analyzed the results, and presented their analysis to the NRC on September 11, 2008.

The NRC examination team administered the various portions of the operating test to all nine applicants on September 8-11, 2008. The three applicants for reactor operator licenses participated in two dynamic simulator scenarios, a control room and facilities walkthrough test consisting of 11 system tasks, and an administrative test consisting of four administrative tasks. The six applicants for upgrade senior operator licenses participated in two dynamic simulator scenarios, a control room and facilities walkthrough test consisting of 5 system tasks, and an administrative test consisting of five administrative tasks.

b. Findings All of the applicants passed all parts of the operating test. Eight applicants passed the written examination. One upgrade senior operator failed the written examination. For the written examinations, the reactor operator applicants' average score was 88.8 percent and ranged from 82.6 to 96 percent; the senior operator applicants' average score was 83.3 percent and ranged from 60 to 96 percent. The overall written examination average was 87.6 percent. The text of the examination questions, the licensees examination analysis, and the licensees post-examination comments may be accessed in the ADAMS system under the accession numbers noted in the attachment.

3 Enclosure

Chapter ES-403 and Form ES-403-1 of NUREG-1021 require the licensee to analyze the validity of any written examination questions that were missed by half or more of the applicants. The licensee conducted this performance analysis for five questions that met this criterion and submitted the analysis to the chief examiner. The licensee considered all identified questions valid, technically correct and without construction problems.

.3 Initial Licensing Examination Development

a. Examination Scope The licensee developed the examinations in accordance with NUREG-1021, Revision 9, Supplement 1. All licensee facility training and operations staff involved in examination preparation and validation were on a security agreement. The licensee submitted the outlines for the written examinations and operating tests on June 19, 2008. The NRC reviewed the outlines against the requirements and provided comments to the licensee.

The licensee submitted the draft examination package on July 16, 2008. The NRC reviewed the draft examination package against the requirements and provided comments to the licensee on the examination on August 8, 2008. The NRC examination team conducted an onsite validation of the operating test and provided further comments during the week of August 11, 2008. The licensee satisfactorily completed comment resolution on September 3, 2008.

b. Findings The NRC approved the initial examination outlines and advised the licensee to proceed with development of the written examinations and operating tests.

The examiners determined that the written examinations and operating tests initially submitted by the licensee were within the range of acceptability expected for a proposed examination.

No findings of significance were identified.

.4 Simulation Facility Performance

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

b. Findings No findings of significance were identified.

.5 Examination Security

a. Examination Scope 4

Enclosure

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 examination results to Mr. Randal Martin on September 26, 2008. The licensee acknowledged the findings presented.

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

ATTACHMENT: SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION 5

Enclosure

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION KEY POINTS OF CONTACT Licensee Personnel Randall Walters, Operations Manager Sherrie Cotton, Training Manager John Cork, Superintendent of Fleet Exam Process Randal Martin, Superintendent of Unit 1 Operations Training Steve Pullin, Exam Writer Ken Canitz, Exam Writer NRC Personnel Alfred Sanchez, Senior Resident Inspector ADAMS DOCUMENTS REFERENCED Accession No. ML082750419 - FINAL Written Examination Accession No. ML082750410 - FINAL Operating Test Accession No. ML082750425 - FINAL Post Examination Comments A-1 Attachment