June 30, 2009 

MEMORANDUM TO: Michael Junge, Chief 

Operator Licensing and Human Performance Branch 

Division of Construction Inspection and Operational Programs 

Office of New Reactors 

FROM: Mark Lintz, Senior Reactors Operations Engineer /RA/ 

Operator Licensing and Human Performance Branch 

Division of Construction Inspection and Operational Programs 

Office of New Reactors 

SUBJECT: SUMMARY OF JUNE 3, 2009, MEETING WITH THE INDUSTRY FOCUS 

GROUP ON NEW REACTOR OPERATOR LICENSING 

On June 3, 2009, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff held a public meeting 

with the Industry Focus Group on new reactor operator licensing to discuss the project plan for 

the revision of the knowledge and abilities (K&A) catalogs. A copy of the meeting notice and 

meeting agenda are located in the NRC’s agency wide documents and management system 

(ADAMS) at ADAMS accession number ML091400069. Enclosed is a list of attendees at the 

meeting. Meeting handouts from the meeting are located in ADAMS (ML091610089 and 

ML091610090). 

This meeting was the latest in a series intended to promote efficient, effective, and consistent 

preparation and administration of new reactor operator licensing examinations. The industry 

provided the status of the plans to update the existing K&A catalogs. Four design-centered 

working groups have been working on the K&A catalogs. The K&A working groups are: ABWR, 

composed of representatives from South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company 

(STPNOC), Toshiba, and GE Hitachi; ESBWR, composed of representatives from GE Hitachi; 

AP1000, composed of representatives from Southern Nuclear Operating Company, South 

Carolina Electric & Gas, Duke Energy, Progress Energy, and Westinghouse; and EPR/APWR, 

composed of representatives from Luminant Generation Company LLC, Unistar Nuclear Energy, 

Ameren UE, PPL Bell Bend LLC, and Mitsubishi. 

Individual design centers provided the following information: 

AP1000: AP1000 will use Vision software for development of the K&A catalog. As the NRC 

does not use Vision, the group agreed to provide the catalog in a form usable by the NRC. The 

group has met in March, April, and May, and plans three more meetings. Sixteen systems 

remain to be addressed. An early August meeting has been requested to present a draft of the 

completed work to the NRC. A draft K&A catalog is planned to be submitted to the NRC by the 

end of 2009. The final K&A catalog submittal will consist of a docketed electronic submittal. 

CONTACT: Mark Lintz, NRO/DCIP/COLP 

 (301) 415-4051
M.Junge - 2 -

ABWR: STPNOC and Toshiba have been working to develop a catalog since December 2008. 

The project plan identifies that STPNOC will evaluate all systems and review the changes with 

Toshiba and representatives from those Japanese utilities using ABWR technology. The group 

is reviewing the existing BWR K&A catalog and modifying the list of plant systems. Safety 

ratings will be reviewed at a later date. The group plans to observe the AP1000 group to see 

what lessons can be learned. The ABWR group provided a description of the proposed 

composition of its expert panels (ADAMS ML091610090). The group plans to have a small 

panel review the revised K&A catalog and a larger panel to conduct the final review. 

ESBWR: GE Hitachi reported that work involving training has been placed on hold. As a result, 

its K&A catalog efforts are on hold. 

EPR/APWR: The EPR/APWR group reported that it had observed the AP1000 group meeting 

in May, and that their own efforts would be modeled after those of the AP1000 group. The 

EPR/APWR group continues to believe that its effort will result in a revision to the existing PWR 

K&A catalogue. The group expects to meet its K&A catalog submittal date of January 2011. 

NEI submitted Revision 4 of its catalog revision plan (ADAMS ML091610089). 

All groups indicated that progress on job task analysis was being made. 

The NRC asked why there was a substantial increase in the proposed number of reactor 

operators to be trained and licensed during the 2013 – 2015 time period, while the projected 

number of operational reactor units was decreasing from ten to four over the same time period. 

This is an unexpected increase in licensed operators and it will be difficult for the NRC to 

support. The industry explained that they were intentionally overstaffing licensed operators and 

that they expected this overstaffing to last about 5 years. The reasons for overstaffing were to 

provide licensed operators with experience and to allow for coverage through the construction 

period. 

In closing, it was decided that the next meeting related to the licensing and examination of 

reactor operators should be held by the end of the summer. No final positions were taken during 

the meeting. 

Enclosure: 

List of Attendees 

cc: w/encl: 

See next page 
ABWR: STPNOC and Toshiba have been working to develop a catalog since December 2008. 

The project plan identifies that STPNOC will evaluate all systems and review the changes with 

Toshiba and representatives from those Japanese utilities using ABWR technology. The group 

is reviewing the existing BWR K&A catalog and modifying the list of plant systems. Safety 

ratings will be reviewed at a later date. The group plans to observe the AP1000 group to see 

what lessons can be learned. The ABWR group provided a description of the proposed 

composition of its expert panels (ADAMS ML091610090). The group plans to have a small 

panel review the revised K&A catalog and a larger panel to conduct the final review. 

ESBWR: GE Hitachi reported that work involving training has been placed on hold. As a result, 

its K&A catalog efforts are on hold. 

EPR/APWR: The EPR/APWR group reported that it had observed the AP1000 group meeting 

in May, and that their own efforts would be modeled after those of the AP1000 group. The 

EPR/APWR group continues to believe that its effort will result in a revision to the existing PWR 

K&A catalogue. The group expects to meet its K&A catalog submittal date of January 2011. 

NEI submitted Revision 4 of its catalog revision plan (ADAMS ML091610089). 

All groups indicated that progress on job task analysis was being made. 

The NRC asked why there was a substantial increase in the proposed number of reactor 

operators to be trained and licensed during the 2013 – 2015 time period, while the projected 

number of operational reactor units was decreasing from ten to four over the same time period. 

This is an unexpected increase in licensed operators and it will be difficult for the NRC to 

support. The industry explained that they were intentionally overstaffing licensed operators and 

that they expected this overstaffing to last about 5 years. The reasons for overstaffing were to 

provide licensed operators with experience and to allow for coverage through the construction 

period. 

In closing, it was decided that the next meeting related to the licensing and examination of 

reactor operators should be held by the end of the summer. No final positions were taken during 

the meeting. 

Enclosure: 

List of Attendees 

cc: w/encl: 

See next page 

ADAMS Package Accession Number: ML091770678 

Meeting Notice Accession Number: ML091400069 

Meeting Handout Accession Number: ML091610089 

Meeting Handout Accession Number: ML091610090 

Meeting Summary Accession Number: ML091760752 

OFFICE DCIP/COLP DCIP/COLP 

NAME MLintz MJunge 

DATE 6/25/2009 6/30/2009 

OFFICIAL RECORD COPY 
Enclosure 

Meeting with the Industry Focus Group on 

New Reactor Operator Licensing 

February 4, 2009 

Meeting Attendees 

Name Organization 

Mike Junge NRC / HQ 

Nancy Salgado NRC / HQ 

Sarah Price NRC / HQ 

Fred Guenther NRC / HQ 

Mark Lintz NRC / HQ 

Timothy Kolb NRC / HQ 

Russell Smith NEI 

Charles Sawyer Duke 

Greg Sparks Entergy 

Christopher Paulsen Mitsubishi 

Hamer L. Carter Progress Energy 

Richard Hons Progress Energy 

Al Koon SCANA 

Theodore E. Amundson SNC 

Charlie Nesbitt SNC

Wes Sparkman SNC 

Glenn Macdonald STP 

Michael Marler STPNOC 

Yasuo Ohta Toshiba America Nuclear Energy 

Jeremy Quinn Toshiba America Nuclear Energy 

Daniel P. Sanchez TVA 

Thomas Wallace TVA 

Phil Polefrone UNISTAR 
 

 

Memo to Michael Junge from Mark Lintz dated 

SUBJECT: SUMMARY OF JUNE 3, 2009, MEETING WITH THE INDUSTRY FOCUS 

 GROUP ON NEW REACTOR OPERATOR LICENSING 

DISTRIBUTION:

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Mr. Anthony Pietrangelo, Vice President 

Regulatory Affairs 

Nuclear Energy Institute 

1776 I Street, NW, Suite 400 

Washington, DC 20006-3708 

arp@nei.org 

Mr. Jack Roe 

Nuclear Energy Institute 

1776 I Street, NW, Suite 400 

Washington, DC 20006-3708 

jwr@nei.org 

Mr. Gary L. Vine, Executive Director 

Federal and Industry Activities, Nuclear 

Sector 

EPRI 

2000 L Street, NW, Suite 805 

Washington, DC 20036 

gvine@epri.com 

Ms. Barbara Lewis 

Assistant Editor 

Platts, Principal Editorial Office 

1200 G Street, NW, Suite 1100 

Washington, DC 20005 

Barbara_Lewis@platts.com 

Mike Melton, Senior Project Manager 

1776 I Street, NW, Suite 400 

Washington, DC 20006-3708 

man@nei.org 

Alexander Marion, Executive Director 

Nuclear Operations & Engineering 

Nuclear Energy Institute 

1776 I Street, NW, Suite 400 

Washington, DC 20006-3708 

am@nei.org 

Mr. James H. Riley, Director 

Engineering 

Nuclear Energy Institute 

1776 I Street, NW, Suite 400 

Washington, DC 20006-3708 

jhr@nei.org 

Mr. Jay Thayer, Vice President 

Nuclear Operations 

Nuclear Energy Institute 

1776 I Street, NW, Suite 400 

Washington, DC 20006-3708 

jkt@nei.org 

Mr. John Butler, Director 

Safety-focused Regulation 

Nuclear Energy Institute 

1776 I Street, NW, Suite 400 

Washington, DC 20006-3708