POLICY ISSUE 

INFORMATION 

July 3, 2008 SECY-08-0096

FOR: The Commissioners 

FROM: R. W. Borchardt 

 Executive Director for Operations 

SUBJECT: TRAINING AND INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS TO ACCOMPLISH NEW 

REACTOR INSPECTIONS AND OPERATOR LICENSING 

PURPOSE: 

The purpose of this paper is to provide the staff’s plan for assessing and meeting training and 

infrastructure (e.g., simulator) needs to accomplish inspections and operator licensing related to 

new reactors, including pre-construction, construction, and operations phases. The 

Commission requested this information paper in staff requirements memorandum (M071024B) 

entitled “Periodic Briefing on New Reactor Issues,” dated November 13, 2007. 

BACKGROUND: 

The U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has developed and implemented an effective 

and efficient program to train NRC inspectors and operator licensing examiners (examiners) for 

the current fleet of operating reactors. The NRC requires construction inspectors to complete 

the training and qualification program outlined in Inspection Manual Chapter 1252, “Construction 

Inspector Training and Qualification Program.” Reactor inspectors and examiners must 

complete the training and qualifications program outlined in Inspection Manual Chapter 1245, 

“Qualification Program for the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Programs.” These 

programs include a seven-week training regimen in either Westinghouse pressurized-water 

reactor or General Electric boiling-water reactor technology and use existing NRC simulators. 

CONTACTS: Michael A. Junge, NRO/DCIP 

 301-415-7745 

 Mark S. Miller, HR/HRTD 

 423-855-6507 
The Commissioners - 2 - 

The seven-week technology series includes three weeks of vendor-specific systems training, 

two weeks of training on transients and technical specifications, and two weeks of simulator 

training on normal and emergency operations. The Westinghouse full course series provides a 

sound basis for efficient three-week cross-training courses in Combustion Engineering and 

Babcock and Wilcox technologies. The cross-training courses include a mix of classroom and 

simulator training, and focus on the differences in systems, transient response, and technical 

specifications from the Westinghouse technology. 

The NRC owns four full-scope nuclear power plant control room simulators, one for each of the 

current United States (US) nuclear reactor vendor types. The agency acquired the simulators 

as “used” equipment; that is, they were originally manufactured for use by the reactor vendor for 

vendor-sponsored training or by utilities for licensed operator training. A staff of three simulator 

engineers (NRC employees) with expertise in the four hardware/software combinations 

maintains the NRC simulators. Three contract workers provide hardware maintenance support. 

DISCUSSION: 

Technical Knowledge 

To develop the technical knowledge of plant design and operation specific to each new reactor 

design, the staff plans to apply the current inspector and examiner training model. It is essential 

that a complete plant design, including control room design and plant procedures, be available 

to develop a training program that will provide NRC inspectors and examiners with the technical 

knowledge of plant design and operation required to effectively carry out their regulatory 

responsibilities. At this time, control room designs have not been completed or approved for 

any new reactor design to be licensed in the US. 

Human factors engineering will be part of the final control room design process. A task 

analysis, performed as part of an applicant’s Human Factors Engineering Program, serves as a 

basis for highly integrated control room (HICR) design, emergency procedure development, and 

staffing decisions. The task analysis is used to identify specific knowledge and abilities (K&A) of 

licensed operators. K&As are cataloged and provided to the staff and then used in 

inspector/examiner training and in operator licensing examinations. The industry plans to 

provide the new K&As to the NRC to permit publication in April 2011. NRC examiners will use 

these catalogs in developing operator examinations. 

In the interim, the staff has developed four two-day training courses to provide an overview of 

the differences between the new reactor designs (Westinghouse's AP1000, General Electric 

Nuclear Energy's Advanced Boiling Water Reactor and Economic Simplified Boiling Water 

Reactor, AREVA Nuclear Power’s U.S. Evolutionary Power Reactor, and Mitsubishi Heavy 

Industries, Ltd’s. U. S. Advanced Pressurized Water Reactor) and the operating reactor 

designs. In addition, a more detailed two-week course, similar to the classroom portions of the 

Combustion Engineering and Babcock and Wilcox cross-training courses, has been tested in a 

pilot program for the Westinghouse AP1000 design. The staff plans to develop similar courses 

for the remaining new reactor designs. These two-day and two-week courses are also 

conducted at the Professional Development Center for Office of New Reactor licensing project 

managers and technical reviewers. Completion of the new reactor cross-training courses for 
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inspectors and examiners must await the completion of control room designs, as simulator 

acquisition cannot proceed without more detailed information on design-specific HICRs. 

The staff plans to use HICR simulators in inspector and examiner training for new reactor 

technologies. The lack of finality in HICR design for the next generation of plants poses a 

challenge to the staff in determining the optimal approach. The staff’s current plan is to identify 

the options associated with the use of HICR simulators, assess the pros and cons of each 

option, and develop a recommendation on which simulator option to pursue. For example, one 

option is the use of limited-scope simulators. Advances in computer technology allow for a high 

degree of modeling fidelity in a physical environment significantly smaller than a HICR. This 

portability may allow examiners and inspectors to run simulation models on personal computers 

to evaluate events and licensing scenarios. Regarding full-scope simulators, several options 

exist, including HICR plant-specific simulators, generic simulators that may accommodate 

multiple simulation models, and contract training services at facilities external to the NRC. 

As more data become available on simulator costs, new reactor construction schedules, the 

number of units of any particular design to be built, and the designs themselves (relative to 

HICR), the staff plans to assess the use of new reactor simulators to support inspector and 

examiner training. By late November 2008, the staff will have prepared an information paper on 

its assessment of options and recommendations for new reactor simulation. Although complete 

specific design information may not to be available, the time needed for simulator construction 

and acceptance testing requires that the simulator option decision be made in calendar year 

2009. To allow sufficient time to train and qualify inspectors and examiners, execution of the 

proposed or alternative options is expected in fiscal year (FY) 2010 with an HICR simulator 

expected for training in FY 2012. Qualifying examiners by FY 2012 will permit the NRC to 

conduct operator licensing examinations and to license operators in time for the projected fuel 

load of the first reactor in 2014. These dates are best estimates developed through discussions 

with industry stakeholders. 

Regulatory Oversight in the Highly Integrated Control Room Environment 

The advent of the HICR will necessitate changes to the regulatory oversight practices currently 

used to monitor plant operations. With the current operating plants, NRC inspectors and 

examiners can easily observe plant status and operator actions. In the HICR environment, 

inspector and examiner observation of operator performance will be different because the 

operators work at individual computer consoles rather than at large control room panels where 

their actions are readily observable. The staff plans to address this challenge through a variety 

of approaches including the use of HICR mockups and walk-through exercises and the conduct 

of focus meetings. For instance, the Technical Training Center (TTC) staff plans to meet with 

currently qualified licensing examiners and resident inspectors to investigate the impact of HICR 

on the new reactor training and qualification program. The purpose of the meetings will be to 

observe an HICR simulator to assist the staff in defining reactor inspector and examiner training 

and qualification program changes necessitated by HICRs, the digital human-system interface, 

and distributed control systems. Proposed topics of discussion include physical fidelity 

requirements for NRC HICR simulators, challenges to HICR crew interactions and 

communications, and inspector oversight in the HICR environment. The staff also expects to 

benefit from the experiences in Europe and Asia with the HICR environment and relevant 

regulatory oversight and monitoring in the HICR environment. The staff will continue to 
The Commissioners - 4 - 

communicate with its international regulatory counterparts in developing its inspection and 

examination processes for new reactors. 

Whereas a complete design is needed to support technical knowledge training of NRC 

inspectors and examiners, a generic HICR simulation is likely to be sufficient for training them 

on how to maintain regulatory oversight in an HICR environment. A generic HICR simulation is 

also likely to be useful in training the trainers on teaching techniques unique to digital controls. 

An example of an existing generic HICR simulation is the Halden Man-Machine Laboratory at 

the Halden Reactor Project in Norway. The staff plans to consider this simulator option and its 

use both for instructor training and for developing effective strategies that examiners can use to 

monitor operator actions and interject examination questions at appropriate times. The staff 

also plans to assess how such a simulator may help the staff develop effective strategies that 

inspectors can use to monitor plant status in the HICR environment during normal and 

off-normal operations. 

COMMITMENTS:

The staff has committed to provide a Commission Paper that discusses the staff’s assessment 

of options and recommendations for new reactor simulation by November 30, 2008. 

RESOURCES: 

To support licensed operator examination activities, the staff estimates resource needs of 6 

full-time equivalents (FTE) in FY 2010 and 4 FTE in FY 2011. These resources are addressed 

in the FY 2010 PBPM and will be addressed in the FY 2011 Planning, Budgeting, and 

Performance Management (PBPM) processes respectively. In addition, the staff is addressing a 

requirement of $15 million in FY 2010 PBPM process to support the range of options currently 

under investigation. 

COORDINATION: 

The Office of the General Counsel has reviewed this paper and has no legal objection. The 

Office of the Chief Financial Officer has reviewed this paper for resource implications and 

concurs. 

 /RA/ Bruce S. Mallett for 

R. W. Borchardt 

Executive Director 

 for Operations 
The Commissioners - 4 - 

communicate with its international regulatory counterparts in developing its inspection and 

examination processes for new reactors. 

Whereas a complete design is needed to support technical knowledge training of NRC 

inspectors and examiners, a generic HICR simulation is likely to be sufficient for training them 

on how to maintain regulatory oversight in an HICR environment. A generic HICR simulation is 

also likely to be useful in training the trainers on teaching techniques unique to digital controls. 

An example of an existing generic HICR simulation is the Halden Man-Machine Laboratory at 

the Halden Reactor Project in Norway. The staff plans to consider this simulator option and its 

use both for instructor training and for developing effective strategies that examiners can use to 

monitor operator actions and interject examination questions at appropriate times. The staff 

also plans to assess how such a simulator may help the staff develop effective strategies that 

inspectors can use to monitor plant status in the HICR environment during normal and 

off-normal operations. 

COMMITMENTS:

The staff has committed to provide a Commission Paper that discusses the staff’s assessment 

of options and recommendations for new reactor simulation by November 30, 2008. 

RESOURCES: 

To support licensed operator examination activities, the staff estimates resource needs of 6 

full-time equivalents (FTE) in FY 2010 and 4 FTE in FY 2011. These resources are addressed 

in the FY 2010 PBPM and will be addressed in the FY 2011 Planning, Budgeting, and 

Performance Management (PBPM) processes respectively. In addition, the staff is addressing a 

requirement of $15 million in FY 2010 PBPM process to support the range of options currently 

under investigation. 

COORDINATION: 

The Office of the General Counsel has reviewed this paper and has no legal objection. The 

Office of the Chief Financial Officer has reviewed this paper for resource implications and 

concurs. 

/RA/ Bruce S. Mallett for 

R. W. Borchardt 

Executive Director 

 for Operations 

ADAMS Accession No.: ML081540118 WITS 200700455/EDATS: SECY-2007-0545 

OFFICE PM:NRO/DCIP/COLP Tech Editor BC:NRO/DCIP/COLPHR/ADHRTD D:NRO/PMDA 

NAME RPelton:tsm6 HChang MJunge MMiller (via email) BGusack 

DATE 06/06/08 06/02/08 06/10/08 06/17/08 06/11/08 

OFFICE D:NRO/DCIP OGC D:OCFO D:NRO EDO 

NAME GTracy KWinsberg JDyer MJohnson RWBorchardt 

(BSMallett for) 

DATE 06/24/08 06/17/08 06/24/08 06/30/08 07/03/08 

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