ML20135F873

Confirms 970306 Telcon Between R Simpkins & D Mcneil Re Arrangements for Administration of Licensing Exams at DBNPS During Wk of 970707.Requests Proposed Exam Outlines by 970507 & Proposed Written Exams & Operating Tests by 970606

ML20135F873
Person / Time
Site:	Davis Besse
Issue date:	03/07/1997
From:	Lennartz J NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION III)
To:	Jeffery Wood CENTERIOR ENERGY
References
NUDOCS 9703170072
Download: ML20135F873 (4)

Text

_ -. . ._ ..__ _ _ _ _. _ _ _ _ . . _ . . . . _ _ . _ . _ .

i

, March 7, 1997 4

4 Mr. John K. Wood Vice President - Nuclear i Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station j Centerior Service Company

, 5501 North State - Route 2 Oak Harbot, OH '3449 f

i

Dear Mr. Wood:

1

i. 1 in a telephone conversation on March 6,1997 between Mr. R. Simpkins and

~

Mr. D. McNeil, arrangements were made for the administration of licensing examinations  !

at the Davis Besse Nuclear Power Plant the week of July 7,1997.

f Your staff has agreed to participate in a voluntary pilot examination program in which

! your staff will prepare the written examinations and operating tests and submit them to

} ' ' ~

the NRC regiona.i.. office..fo.r evaluati.on.and.epproval ..Your staff wi!!-propara tha$fcpoaad~ ~-

f ' examinations in accordance with the guidelines in Revision 7, Supplement 1, of NUREG- ]

1021, " Operator Licensing Examiner Standards," Revision 5 of NUREG/BR-0122, i

" Examiners' Handbook for Developing Operator Licensing Written Examinations," and the l

enclosure to this letter. The NRC regional office will discuss with your staff any  !

! examination changes that might be necessary prior to their administration.

i 1 To meet the above schedule, it will be necessary for your staff to furnish the proposed i

examination outlines by May 7,1997. The proposed written examinations and operating tests will be due by June 6,1997. Reference materials will be requested as needed. Any i

delay in receiving the required reference and examination materials or the submittal of inadequate or incomplete materials may result in the examinations being rescheduled.

4 i

In order to conduct the requested written examinations and operating tests, it will be necessary for your staff to provide adequate space and accommodations in accordance j with ES 402 and to make the simulation facility available on the dates noted above.

ES-402, Attachment 1, and ES 302, Attachment 1, contain a number of NRC policies and

{ guidelines that will be in effect while the written examinations and operating tests are being administered. in accordance with ES-302, your staff should retain the original

{ simulator performance data (e.g., system pressures, temperatures, and levels) generated i

during the dynamic operating tests until the examination results are final.

i Your staff should submit preliminary reactor operator and senior reactor operator license j

applications and waiver requests at least 30 days before the first examination date so that 1

the NRC will be able to review the applications and the medical certifications and evaluate any requested waivers. If the applications are not received at least 30 days before the -

examination date, a postponement may be necessary. Signed applications certifying that all training has been completed should be submitted at least 14 days before the first examination date.

)

1 This request is covered by Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Clearance Number

< 3150 0101, which expires April 30,1997. The estimated average burden is 7.7 hours8.101852e-5 days <br />0.00194 hours <br />1.157407e-5 weeks <br />2.6635e-6 months <br /> per Yl 9703170072 970307 1

PDR V

ADOCK 05000346 PDR l%,E%%kEkg .

{d 72

i J. K. Wood March 7, 1997 response, including gathering, copying and mailing the required material. Send comments l regarding thi: burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the Information and Records Managemor t Branch, Mail Stop T-6 F33, Office of Information Resources Management, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555; and to the Paperwork Reduction Project (3150-0101), Office of information and Regulatory Affairs. NEOB-10202, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, D.C. 20503. '

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. Mr. Simpkins has been advised of the polictsa and guidelines referenced in this letter, if you have any questions regarding  !

the NRC's examination procedures and guidelines, please contact Michael Bielby at 630-829-9762, or me at 630-829-9721. ,

Sincerely,

/s/ J. A. Lennartz

.. . . . . . .. . . - . - . . - - - - - - - - - - - -- -- - ~~ - ~~ ** * ' ~ ' ^ ' ~ * ' ~

Jay A. Lennartz, Acting Chief Operator Licensing Branch Docket No. 50-346

Enclosure:

Pilot Examination Guidelines cc w/ encl: J. P. Stetz, Senior Vice President - Nuclear -

J. H. Lash, Plant Manager J. L. Freels, Manager, Regulatory Affairs State Liaison Officer, State of Ohio Robert E. Owen, Ohio Department of Health C. A. Glazer, State of Ohio Public Utilities Commission R. A. Simpkins, Training Department Distribution:

Docket File w/enci DRS w/enct PUBLIC IE-42 w/ encl Rlli PRR w/enci OC/LFDCB w/enci SRI, Davis Besses w/ encl S. A. Richards, NRR/HOLB w/enci A. G. Hansen, NRR w/ encl J. M. Jacobson, DRP w/enci DOCUMENT NAME: G:DRS\DAV03037.0L To receive a copy of this document, Indicate in the box "C" = Copy without attach /enci "E" = Copy with attach /enci "N" = No copy OFFICE Rill // Alll N NAME MBielby:jp lD(n, JLennartz h DATE 03/6/97 03/7/97 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY

l l

l PILOT EXAMINATION GUIDELINES r i

i. Facility licensees will prepare the written examinations and operating tests (dynamic I simulator and walkthrough) in accordance with the instructions in Revision 7, Supplement 1, of NUREG 1021 (" Operator Licensing Examiner Standards") and Revision 5 of

' NUREG/BR-0122 (" Examiners' Handbook for Developing Operator Licensing Written l Examinations"), subject to the following additional criteria: l i

(1) The facility licensee will prepare an integrated examination outline (written and operating test) and submit it to the NRC regional office for review, comment, and

{ approval at least 60 days before the scheduled examination date. The NRC chief

i. I examiner will. work with the facility licensee to resolve any problems and to avoid i

unnecessary revision of the final examination products. I i-(2)

Facility employees who are involved with developing the examinations and tests will sign a standard security agreement (Form ES-201-2) before they gain specific knowledge of the examinations and tests. Facility employees who played a substantial role in training the license applicants will generally not be involved in 1

developing the license examinations or tests. If the facility licensee considers such t.._.. .... . . . . -- emp,loyees necessary.f.or.devel.oping.the eyaminations ostostcrit-w& define the- ~' ~ ' - "j I

compromised and discuss the process with the NRC chief examiner, j

(3) l The written examinations and operating tests will satisfy the following specific 1 criteria:

• \

A maximum of 50 percent of the written examination questions may be taken directly from the facility question bank; up to an additional 40 percent of the questions may be taken from the facility bank but must be significantly i modifiedi and a minimum of 10 percent of the questions will be newly developed. As discussed in NUREG/BR 0122, new questions should emphasize the applicants' understanding at the comprehension or application levels of knowledge because they have the greatest operational and discriminatory validity.

No more than 25 percent of the questions on the examination may be repeated from examinations, quizzes, or tests administered to the license applicants during their license training class, or from the past two NRC license examinations at the facility. No questions may be drawn directly from the applicants' audit examination or similar testing vehicle given at the end of the license training class.  !

Each walkthrough test willinclude at least two job performance measures j

(JPMs) that are either new or significantly altered, and each simulator scenario i

set will include at least one new or significantly altered scenario. Other '

scenarios used may be drawn directly from the facility scenario bank; however, they will be altered to the degree needed to prevent the applicants from immediately recognizing the scenarios based on initial conditions or other cues.

1

A significant modification, for purposes of the written questions, means a change to the conditions in the stem and at least one distractor significantly i changed. Similarly, JPMs and simulator scenarios will have at least one substantive event or condition change that alters the course of action in the JPM or scenario.

(4)

The facility licensee will submit the final written examinations and operating tests

' to the NRC regional office at least 30 days before the scheduled examination date, In its submittal, the facility licensee will include a history (e.g., bank, revised, new,

[

and date last used) of each test item used on the written and operating tests.

(5)

The NRC regional office will assign a chief examiner to coordinate the review, revision (as determined necessary by the NRC), and validation of the written examinations and operating tests with the facility licensee. Additional NRC staff l

examiners will be assigned as necessary (typically one or two, depending on the i number of applicants) to assist the chief examiner with administering and grading the operating tests in accordance with existing procedures. The facility licensee will administer and grade the written examinations; NRC examiners will review and approve the licensee's grading.

^^ ~~

. . . . . . - . . . ..- - ~ - - . - - - ~ * - ~ ~ ~ ~* ^ *

• l I

l 2 l 1