ML17076A426

South Texas Project Electric Generating Station - Amended Notification of NRC Initial Operator Licensing Examination 05000498/2017301 and 05000499/2017301

ML17076A426
Person / Time
Site:	South Texas
Issue date:	03/15/2017
From:	Vincent Gaddy Division of Reactor Safety IV
To:	Powell G T South Texas
References
50-498/17-301, 50-499/17-301
Download: ML17076A426 (4)

See also: IR 05000498/2017301

Text

March 15, 2017 Mr. G. T. Powell Executive Vice President and CNO

STP Nuclear Operating Company

South Texas Project Electric Generating Station

P.O. Box 289 Wadsworth, TX 77483

SUBJECT: SOUTH TEXAS PROJECT ELECTRIC GENERATING STATION - AMENDED NOTIFICATION OF NRC INITIAL OPERATOR LICENSING EXAMINATION

05000498/2017301 AND 05000499/2017301 Dear Mr. Koehl:

In a telephone conversation on November 16, 2016, between Messrs. T. Hurley, Supervisor for this Initial Licensing Exam, and K. Clayton, Chief Examiner, arrangements were made for the administration of licensing examinations at South Texas Project Electric Generating Station, Units 1 and 2, during the weeks of September 25 and October 9, 2017.

During this telephone conversation, it was agreed that your staff would prepare the

examinations based on the guidelines in NUREG-1021, "Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors," Revision 10, and NUREG-1122, "Knowledge and Abilities Catalog for Nuclear Power Plant Operators," Revision 2, Supplement 1.

The NRC program office informed regional NRC staff that Revision 11 of NUREG-1021,

"Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors," was released on February 15,

2017. The Federal Register Notice that accompanied this release requires that any initial examination administered after August 15, 2017, shall use the most recent revision of this standard to develop and administer the examinations. Based on this change, the NRC staff provided your site updated Revision 11 written examination outlines on March 1, 2017.

Because NUREG-1122, "Knowledge and Abilities Catalog for Nuclear Power Plant Operators,"

Revision 3, is not released, the examination will continue to be developed using Revision 2,

Supplement 1, of this catalog. To meet the above schedule, it will be necessary for your staff to furnish the examination outlines by June 26, 2017. The written examination, operating tests, and supporting reference materials with indices identified in Attachment 3 to ES-201 will be due by July 24, 2017.

Pursuant to Title 10, Section 55.40(b)(3), of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR 55.40(b)(3)), an authorized representative of the facility licensee shall approve the outlines, examinations, and tests before they are submitted to the NRC for review and approval. All materials shall be complete and ready-to-use.

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION REGION IV 1600 E. LAMAR BLVD ARLINGTON, TX 76011-4511

G. Powell 2 We request that any personal, proprietary, sensitive unclassified, or safeguards information in your response be contained in a separate enclosure and appropriately marked. Any delay in

receiving the required examinations and reference materials, or the submittal of inadequate or incomplete materials, may cause the examinations to be rescheduled. In addition, your support for on-site validation of the examinations is required during the week of August 14, 2017.

To conduct the requested written examinations and operating tests, it will be necessary for your

staff to provide adequate space and accommodations in accordance with ES-402 and to make

the simulation facility available on the dates noted above. In accordance with ES-302, your staff should retain the original simulator performance data (e.g., system pressures, temperatures, and levels) generated during the dynamic operating tests, along with any video and audio

recordings of the dynamic operating tests, until the NRC takes its licensing action on all of the applications and any adjudicatory actions on any hearing demands are complete. Appendix E to NUREG-1021 contains a number of NRC policies and guidelines that will be in effect while the written examinations and operating tests 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) approval number 3150-0090) at least 60 days before the first examination date (if able). Mr. K. Clayton should be contacted to determine the method for submission of the waiver and/or excusal requests. Preliminary reactor operator and senior reactor operator

license applications (OMB approval number 3150-0090) and, medical certifications

(OMB approval number 3150-0024) should be submitted at least 30 days before the first examination date. If the preliminary applications are not received 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 minimum guidelines for receiving waiver or excusal requests is 30 days before the

first examination date (preliminary) and 14 days before the first examination date (final), the requests should be submitted as early in the process as possible (see the 60-day guideline, above). Resolutions resulting from verbal inquiries by the licensee to the NRC are not binding. Submittals addressing waivers and/or excusals should be in writing (i.e., on NRC Form 398, or

as directed when Mr. K. Clayton is contacted to determine the method for submission). The

NRC's final decision on whether to grant a waiver or excusal will be documented on the final

(not preliminary) NRC Form 398 submitted for the applicant and will not be provided until the final application is submitted to the NRC. 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 Office of Management and Budget, 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 or response, including the time for reviewing instructions,

searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing

and reviewing the information collection. You may submit comments on any aspect of the information collection, including suggestions for reducing the burden, to the FOIA, Privacy and Information Collections Branch (T-5 F53), U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,

Washington, DC 20555-0001, or by electronic mail to:

G. Powell 3 INFOCOLLECTS.RESOURCE@NRC.GOV; and to the Desk Officer, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, NEOB-10202, (3150-0018), Office of Management and Budget, Washington, DC 20503. Public Protection Notification The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a request for information or an information collection requirement unless the requesting document displays a currently valid OMB control number.

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390, "Public Inspections, Exemptions, Requests for Withholding,"

of the NRC's "Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter and its enclosures will be available

electronically for public inspection in the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from the Electronic Reading Room page of the NRC's public Web Site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. Mr. Hurley has been advised of the policies and guidelines referenced in this letter. If you have any questions regarding the NRC's examination procedures and guidelines, please contact please contact Mr. Clayton at 817-200-1216 or myself at 817-200-1159.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Vincent G. Gaddy, Chief

Operations Branch

Division of Reactor Safety Docket Nos. 50-498 and 50-499

License Nos. NPF-76 and NPF-80

Electronic Distribution for STP

ML17076A426 SUNSI Review: ADAMS: Non-Publicly Available Non-Sensitive Keyword: By: VGG Yes No Publicly Available Sensitive OFFICE SOE:OB C:OB NAME KClayton VGaddy SIGNATURE /RA/ /RA/ DATE 3/15/2017 3/15/2017