IR 05000298/2009301
| ML093080636 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Cooper  |
| Issue date: | 11/04/2009 |
| From: | Garchow S M Operations Branch IV |
| To: | Minahan S B Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) |
| References | |
| ER-09-301 | |
| Download: ML093080636 (11) | |
Text
November 4, 2009
Stewart B. Minahan, Vice President-Nuclear and CNO Nebraska Public Power District 72676 648A Avenue Brownville, NE 68321
SUBJECT: COOPER NUCLEAR STATION - NRC EXAMINATION REPORT 05000298/2009301
Dear Mr. Minahan:
On September 25, 2009, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) completed an initial operator license examination at Cooper Nuclear Station. The enclosed report documents the examination findings and licensing decisions. The preliminary examination findings were discussed on September 25, 2009, with yourself and other members of your staff. A telephonic exit meeting was conducted on October 14, 2009, with Mr. M. Joe, who was provided the NRC licensing decisions.
The examination included the evaluation of seven applicants for reactor operator licenses, three applicants for instant senior reactor operator licenses and three applicants for upgrade senior reactor operator licenses. The license examiners determined that all of the applicants satisfied the requirements of 10 CFR Part 55, and the appropriate licenses have been issued. There were no post-examination comments submitted by your staff. The enclosure to this letter contains the details of this report.
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 NRC's 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/
Stephen M. Garchow, Acting Chief Operations Branch Division of Reactor Safety Nebraska Public Power District - 2 -Docket: 50-298 License: DPR-46
Enclosure:
NRC Examination Report 05000298/2009301
cc w/enclosure: Gene Mace Nuclear Asset Manager Nebraska Public Power District P.O. Box 98 Brownville, NE 68321 John C. McClure, Vice President and General Counsel Nebraska Public Power District P.O. Box 499 Columbus, NE 68602-0499
David Van Der Kamp Licensing Manager Nebraska Public Power District P.O. Box 98 Brownville, NE 68321 Michael J. Linder, Director Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality P.O. Box 98922 Lincoln, NE 68509-8922 Chairman Nemaha County Board of Commissioners Nemaha County Courthouse 1824 N Street Auburn, NE 68305 Julia Schmitt, Manager Radiation Control Program Nebraska Health & Human Services Division of Public Health Assurance P.O. Box 95026 Lincoln, NE 68509-5026
Nebraska Public Power District - 3 -Deputy Director for Policy Missouri Department of Natural Resources P.O. Box 176 Jefferson City, MO 65102-0176 Director, Missouri State Emergency Management Agency P.O. Box 116 Jefferson City, MO 65102-0116 Chief, Radiation and Asbestos Control Section Kansas Department of Health and Environment Bureau of Air and Radiation 1000 SW Jackson, Suite 310 Topeka, KS 66612-1366
Melanie Rasmussen, State Liaison Officer/ Radiation Control Program Director Bureau of Radiological Health Iowa Department of Public Health Lucas State Office Building, 5th Floor 321 East 12th Street Des Moines, IA 50319 John F. McCann, Director, Licensing Entergy Nuclear Northeast Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. 440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601-1813 Keith G. Henke, Planner Division of Community and Public Health Office of Emergency Coordination P.O. Box 570 Jefferson City, MO 65102
Art Zaremba Director of Nuclear Safety Assurance Nebraska Public Power District P.O. Box 98 Brownville, NE 68321
Nebraska Public Power District - 4 -Ronald D. Asche, President and Chief Executive Officer Nebraska Public Power District 1414 15th Street Columbus, NE 68601
Chief, Technological Hazards Branch FEMA, Region VII 9221 Ward Parkway Suite 300 Kansas City, MO 64114-3372
Nebraska Public Power District - 5 -Electronic distribution by RIV: Regional Administrator (Elmo.Collins@nrc.gov) Deputy Regional Administrator (Chuck.Casto@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 (Nick.Taylor@nrc.gov) Resident Inspector (Michael.Chambers@nrc.gov) Branch Chief, DRP/C (Geoffrey.Miller@nrc.gov) Senior Project Engineer, DRP/C (David.Proulx@nrc.gov)
CNS Site Secretary (Amy.Elam@nrc.gov) Public Affairs Officer (Victor.Dricks@nrc.gov) Branch Chief, DRS/TSB (Michael.Hay@nrc.gov) RITS Coordinator (Marisa.Herrera@nrc.gov) Regional Counsel (Karla.Fuller@nrc.gov) Congressional Affairs Officer (Jenny.Weil@nrc.gov) OEMail Resource ROPreports DRS STA (Dale.Powers@nrc.gov) OEDO RIV Coordinator (Leigh.Trocine@nrc.gov)
R:\_REACTORS\_CNS\2009 ADAMS ML ADAMS: No x Yes x SUNSI Review Complete Reviewer Initials: SMG x Publicly Available x Non-Sensitive Non-publicly Available Sensitive KEYWORD: SUNSI Review Complete SOE:OB OE:OB STI:TTC C:PBE C:OB S. Garchow G. Apger R. DeVercelly V. Gaddy S. Garchow /RA/ /RA/ /RA/
/RA//RA/ 11/3/09 11/4/09 11/4/09 11/3/09 11/4/09 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY T=Telephone E=E-mail F=Fax
1 Enclosure U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION REGION IV Docket: 50-298 License: DPR-46 Report: 05000298/2009301 Licensee: Nebraska Public Power District Facility: Cooper Nuclear Station Location: Brownville, Nebraska Dates: September 21, 2009 Inspectors: S. Garchow, Senior Operations Engineer R. DeVercelly, Senior Technical Training Instructor G. Apger, Operations Engineer Approved By: Stephen M. Garchow, Acting Chief Operations Branch Division of Reactor Safety
2 Enclosure
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
ER05000298/2009301; September 21, 2009; Cooper Nuclear Station; Initial Operator Licensing Examination Report.
NRC examiners evaluated the competency of seven applicants for reactor operator licenses, three applicants for instant senior reactor operator licenses and three applicants for upgrade senior reactor operator licenses at Cooper Nuclear Station.
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 18, 2009. NRC examiners administered the operating tests on September 21-25, 2009.
The examiners determined that all of the applicants satisfied the requirements of 10 CFR Part 55, and the appropriate licenses have been issued.
A. NRC-Identified and Self-Revealing Findings
The Operating Test submitted was considered unsatisfactory in that it did not meet the requirements of NUREG-1021, Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors.
B. Licensee-Identified Violations
None.
REPORT DETAILS
OTHER ACTIVITIES (OA)
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. The examiners also audited four of the license applications in detail to confirm that they accurately reflected the subject applicant's qualifications. This audit focused on the applicant's 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 tests.
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.
The Operating Test submitted by the licensee was considered unsatisfactory because the simulator scenarios did not meet the requirements of NUREG-1021, Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors. Specifically, for some individuals there were an insufficient number of events for a valid exam and in some cases the scenarios were not logical. For example, in one scenario a critical task was identified that stated the crew was to emergency depressurize following a large break LOCA. In addition, some individuals were to be given credit for simulator scenario events where there were no required operator actions and this is contrary to the guidance in the examination standard.
.3 Operator Knowledge and Performance
a. Scope
On September 18, 2009, the licensee proctored the administration of the written examinations to all thirteen applicants. The licensee staff graded the written examinations, analyzed the results, and presented their analysis to the NRC on September 30, 2009.
The NRC examination team administered the various portions of the operating tests to all thirteen applicants on September 21-25, 2009.
b. Findings
No findings of significance were identified.
All of the applicants passed the written examination and all parts of the operating test. The final written examinations and post-examination analysis may be accessed in the ADAMS system under the accession numbers noted in the attachment. There were no post-examination comments as indicated in the licensee submittal.
The examination team noted generic weaknesses in the areas of annunciator control and a quick restart of a reactor feed pump using the hard card.
.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 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 Messrs. Demetrius Willis, Rod Penfield, David VanDerKamp, and other members of the staff on September 25, 2009. A telephonic exit was conducted on October 14, 2009, between Messrs. S.
Garchow, Chief Examiner, and M. Joe.
The licensee did not identify any information or materials used during the examination as proprietary.
ATTACHMENT:
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION
KEY POINTS OF CONTACT
Licensee Personnel
- W. Gilbert, Exam Developer
- D. Sealock, Training Manager
- D. Werner, Operator Training Supervisor
NRC Personnel
M. Chambers
ADAMS DOCUMENTS REFERENCED
Accession No. ML092990549 - FINAL WRITTEN EXAMS Accession No. ML092990566 - POST EXAM ANALYSIS