IR 05000263/2018301

NRC Initial License Examination Report 05000263/2018301

ML18361A809
Person / Time
Site:	Monticello
Issue date:	12/27/2018
From:	Robert Orlikowski Operations Branch III
To:	Church C Northern States Power Company, Minnesota
Demarshall J
Shared Package
ML17164A415	List: IR 05000263/2018301 ML18296A715
References
50-263/18-301
Download: ML18361A809 (10)

Text

ber 27, 2018

SUBJECT:

MONTICELLO NUCLEAR GENERATING PLANTNRC INITIAL LICENSE EXAMINATION REPORT 05000263/2018301

Dear Mr. Church:

On November 8, 2018, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) completed the initial operator licensing examination process for license applicants employed at your Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant. The enclosed report documents the results of those examinations.

Preliminary observations noted during the examination process were discussed on November 7, 2018, with Mr. T. Shortell, General Manager of Training, and other members of your staff. An exit meeting was conducted by telephone on December 6, 2018, with Mr. C. Dieckmann, Plant Manager, other members of your staff, and Mr. J. DeMarshall, Chief Operator Licensing Examiner, to review the final grading of the written examination for the license applicants. The NRC also confirmed that the station submitted documentation noting that there were no post-examination comments for consideration during NRC grading of the examination.

The NRC examiners administered an initial license examination operating test during the weeks of October 29, 2018, and November 5, 2018. The written examination was administered by Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant training department personnel on November 8, 2018.

Eight Senior Reactor Operator and six Reactor Operator (RO) applicants were administered license examinations. The results of the examinations were finalized on December 4, 2018.

Fourteen applicants passed all sections of their respective examinations. Eight applicants were issued senior operator licenses and three applicants were issued operator licenses. Issuance of the licenses for three RO applicants has been delayed pending the receipt of additional information. These RO applicants were issued Notification Letters providing the details associated with the need for additional information.

The administered written examination and operating test, as well as documents related to the development and review (outlines, review comments and resolution, etc.) of the examination will be withheld from public disclosure until November 8, 2020. This letter, its enclosure, and your response (if any) will be made available for public inspection and copying at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html and at the NRC Public Document Room in accordance with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 2.390, Public Inspections, Exemptions, Requests for Withholding.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Robert J. Orlikowski, Chief Operations Branch Division of Reactor Safety Docket No. 50-263 License No. DPR-22

Enclosures:

1. OL Examination Report 05000263/2018301 2. Simulator Fidelity Report

REGION III==

Docket No: 50-263 License No: DPR-22 Report No: 05000263/2018301 Licensee: Northern States Power Company Facility: Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant Location: Monticello, MN Dates: October 29, 2018, through November 8, 2018 Examiners: J. DeMarshall, Senior Operations Engineer, Chief Examiner B. Bergeon, Operations Engineer, Examiner J. Seymour, Operations Engineer, Examiner Approved by: R. Orlikowski, Chief Operations Branch Division of Reactor Safety Enclosure 1

SUMMARY

Examination Report 05000263/2018301; 10/29/2018-11/8/2018; Northern States Power

Company, Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant; Initial License Examination Report.

The announced initial operator licensing examination was conducted by regional Nuclear Regulatory Commission examiners in accordance with the guidance of NUREG-1021,

Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors, Revision 11.

Examination Summary Fourteen of fourteen applicants passed all sections of their respective examinations.

Eight applicants were issued senior operator licenses and three applicants were issued operator licenses. Three Reactor Operator applicants were issued Notification Letters for delayed issuance of their licenses pending the receipt of additional information (Section 4OA5.1).

REPORT DETAILS

4OA5 Other Activities

.1 Initial Licensing Examinations

a. Examination Scope

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) examiners and members of the facility licensees staff used the guidance prescribed in NUREG-1021, Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors, Revision 11, to develop, validate, administer, and grade the written examination and operating test. The written examination outlines were prepared by the NRC staff and were transmitted to the facility licensees staff. Members of the facility licensees staff prepared the operating test outlines and developed the written examination and operating test. The NRC examiners validated the proposed examination during the week of October 1, 2018, with the assistance of members of the facility licensees staff. During the onsite validation week, the examiners audited five license applications for accuracy. The NRC examiners, with the assistance of members of the facility licensees staff, administered the operating test, consisting of job performance measures and dynamic simulator scenarios, during the period of October 29, 2018, through November 6, 2018. The facility licensee administered the written examination on November 8, 2018.

b. Findings

(1) Written Examination The NRC examiners determined that the written examination, as proposed by the licensee, was within the range of acceptability expected for a proposed examination.

Less than 20 percent of the proposed examination questions were determined to be unsatisfactory and required modification or replacement.

During the validation of the written examination, several questions were modified or replaced. All changes made to the written examination were made in accordance with NUREG-1021, Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors, and were documented on Form ES-401-9, Written Examination Review Worksheet. The Form ES-401-9, the written examination outlines (ES-401-1 and ES-401-3), and both the proposed and final written examinations, will be available electronically in the NRC Public Document Room or from the Publicly Available Records component of NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) on November 8, 2020 (ADAMS Accession Numbers ML17164A416, ML17164A425, ML17164A427, and ML17164A417, respectively).

On November 28, 2018, the licensee submitted documentation noting that there were no post-examination comments for consideration by the NRC examiners when grading the written examination.

The NRC examiners graded the written examination on November 29, 2018, and conducted a review of each missed question to determine the accuracy and validity of the examination questions.

(2) Operating Test The NRC examiners determined that the operating test, as originally proposed by the licensee, was within the range of acceptability expected for a proposed examination.

Following the review and validation of the operating test, minor modifications were made to several job performance measures, and some minor modifications were made to the dynamic simulator scenarios. All changes made to the operating test were made in accordance with NUREG-1021, Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors, and were documented on Form ES-301-7, Operating Test Review Worksheet. The Form ES-301-7, the operating test outlines (ES-301-1, ES-301-2, and ES-D-1s), and both the proposed and final operating tests, will be available electronically in the NRC Public Document Room or from the Publicly Available Records component of NRCs ADAMS on November 8, 2020, (ADAMS Accession Numbers ML17164A416, ML17164A425, ML17164A427, and ML17164A417, respectively).

The NRC examiners completed operating test grading on December 3, 2018.

(3) Examination Results Eight applicants at the Senior Reactor Operator level and six applicants at the Reactor Operator level were administered written examinations and operating tests.

Fourteen applicants passed all portions of their examinations. Eleven applicants were issued their respective operating licenses on December 4, 2018. Three Reactor Operator applicants were issued Notification Letters for delayed issuance of their licenses pending the receipt of additional information pertaining to the completion of deferred items.

.2 Examination Security

a. Scope

The NRC examiners reviewed and observed the licensee's implementation of examination security requirements during the examination validation and administration to assure compliance with Title10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 55.49, Integrity of Examinations and Tests. The examiners used the guidelines provided in NUREG-1021, Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors, to determine acceptability of the licensees examination security activities.

b. Findings

None.

4OA6 Management Meetings

.1 Debrief

The chief examiner presented the examination team's preliminary observations and findings on November 7, 2018, to Mr. T. Shortell, General Manager of Training, and other members of the Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant staff.

.2 Exit Meeting

The chief examiner conducted an exit meeting on December 6, 2018, with Mr. C. Dieckmann, Plant Manager, and other members of the Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant staff, by telephone. The chief examiner asked the licensee whether any of the material used to develop or administer the examination should be considered proprietary. No proprietary or sensitive information was identified during the examination or debrief/exit meetings.

ATTACHMENT:

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

KEY POINTS OF CONTACT

Licensee

C. Dieckmann, Plant Manager

M. Antony, Operations Manager

T. Shortell, General Manager of Training (Monticello and Prairie Island)

P. Albares, Training Manager

C. Griest, Operations Training Supervisor

B. Koenig, ILT Class Manager

R. Becker, NRC Exam Developer

A. Ward, Regulatory Affairs Manager (Monticello and Prairie Island)

G. Hernandez, Site Regulatory Affairs Manager

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

P. Zurawski, Senior Resident Inspector

D. Krause, Resident Inspector

J. DeMarshall, Senior Operations Engineer, Chief Examiner

B. Bergeon, Operations Engineer

J. Seymour, Operations Engineer

ITEMS OPENED, CLOSED, AND DISCUSSED

Opened, Closed, and Discussed

None

LIST OF ACRONYMS USED

ADAMS Agencywide Document Access and Management System

NRC U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

RO Reactor Operator

SIMULATOR FIDELITY REPORT

Facility Licensee: Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant

Facility Docket No: 050-263

Operating Tests Administered: October 29, 2018, through November 6, 2018

The following documents observations made by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

examination team during the initial operator license examination. These observations do

not constitute audit or inspection findings and are not, without further verification and review,

indicative of non-compliance with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 55.45(b).

These observations do not affect U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission certification or approval

of the simulation facility other than to provide information which may be used in future

evaluations. No licensee action is required in response to these observations.

During the conduct of the simulator portion of the operating tests, the following items were

observed:

ITEM DESCRIPTION

During administration of a scenario event, the As-Found CLOSE stroke

time (14 seconds) for AO-2379, Reactor Building to Torus Vacuum

AO-2379 CLOSE Relief Damper, was found to be outside of the acceptable band (7.8 to

Stroke Time 13 seconds), but within the Tech Spec Limiting Stroke Time value of

15.6 seconds, specified in Test 0141, Reactor Building to Torus

Vacuum Breaker Operability Check.

2