Charles Sawyer

Duke Energy

Project Manager for APOG KA Catalog Project

Conference on Nuclear Training and Education 2011
History of the AP1000 KA Catalog 

Development

 2007 - Started discussions with NRC on the need for 

new or modified KA catalogs

 December 2008 - Issued Knowledge’s and Ability 

Catalog Revision Plan – NEI initiative

 January 2009 - First meeting to work on KA catalog

 February 2009 - Westinghouse developed proposal

 March 2009 - APOG executives approved proposal, KA 

team had the first meeting with Westinghouse and 

developed milestones

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History Continued

 September 2009 - Changed the process – describe later

 November 18, 2010 – Draft of new KA catalog 

complete!

 January 6, 2011 - Delivered the draft KA catalog to the 

NRC

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Future Activities

 2011 Respond to NRC and public comments

 Mid to late 2011 published as a draft for use in 

developing NRC exams

 Future of the catalog – resurvey at a later time –

possibly remove all items less than 2.5

Conference on Nuclear Training and Education 2009
Process

 Used Chemical Volume and Control System as the pilot 

 Based on the pilot we had a rule of thumb established 

 APOG team comprised of personnel from Southern 

Nuclear, Progress Energy, South Carolina Electric and Gas 

and Duke Energy.

 Westinghouse hired a project manager and the team 

utilized instructor SMEs

 NRC observed most of the meetings – key to success

 INPO also observed

Conference on Nuclear Training and Education 2011
Process

 Initially looked at each KA and it would be dispositioned in 

one of three ways 1) keep as it, 2) delete, and or 3) modify

 Added new KA’s as appropriate

 March 2009 until August 2009 – process

 August 2009 – decision point

 September 2009 until August 2010 – new process

 Mid 2010 began surveying the new KA’s – all surveys 

completed in October 2010

 Used same criteria as in current KA catalog 1-5 scale

Conference on Nuclear Training and Education 2011
Process

 Qualification of survey participants 

 AP1000 Training and,

 Current or previous RO or SRO, SRO Certified or,

 Ap1000 Subject Matter Expert, or

 NRC

 July to November 2010

 Reviewed survey results – team was surprised at results

 Compared average results of RO and SRO and average of 

the RO and SRO surveys to the SME

 Finalized the catalog

Conference on Nuclear Training and Education 2011
Significant Changes to AP1000 

Knowledge’s and Abilities Catalog

 Added a background document - explains who, how, 

why and when – historical narrative

 Changes stem statements where it made sense

 Removed the task list at the top of the systems 

 Added OE and PRA related to applicable KA’s

 Removed symbols for KA’s that had questionable results

 One importance number for all sections except A2’s and 

Fuel Handling System

 Knowledge and Ability Statements tie back to plant 

reference documents – background document

Conference on Nuclear Training and Education 2011
Changes to the AP1000 Knowledge’s 

and Abilities Catalog

 Section 2 – added new KA’s and tried to clarify items of 

confusion

 Draw a ‘box’ around KA’s – example is the 1 hour technical 

specification – ‘that require a unit shutdown’

 Utilized the SRO guidance document

 Example – 2.4.33 Knowledge of the emergency action level 

thresholds and classifications.

 RO the importance value is N/A

 Six RO KA’s in section 2 have N/A based on the SRO 

guidance document

Conference on Nuclear Training and Education 2011
Changes to the AP1000 Knowledge’s 

and Abilities Catalog

 Section 3 – Systems

 Changed the systems to reflect those in the AP1000

 Make stems consistent throughout the catalog

 Revised K1, K2, K3, K5, K6, A1 and A4 stems 

 Ensured every Knowledge and Ability statement 

supported the stem. Example System CRDS K5.39

 Old K5 Stem – Knowledge of the following operational 

implications as they apply to the CRDS.

 K5.39 – Definition and units of reactivity 

Conference on Nuclear Training and Education 2011
Changes to AP1000 Knowledge’s and 

Abilities Catalog

 Section 3 Systems – Changed the wording of some of 

the stem statements

 Example – K1 – used to have the words ‘cause and 

effect relationships’ – that phrase in now included in 

K5.

 K1 now identifies the systems that have a direct 

interaction with the system XXS topic.

 Either a plant protection/control logic relationship or a 

physical piping relation ship to system XXS.

Conference on Nuclear Training and Education 2011
Section 3 Continued

 New KA catalog - Stem K5– Knowledge of the 

operational implications or cause and effect 

relationships of the following as they apply to the 

Digital Rod Control System.

 K5.05 – Control rod position and core poison 

redistribution effect on AFD.

Conference on Nuclear Training and Education 2011
Changes to the AP1000 Knowledge's 

and Abilities Catalog

 K1 – Knowledge of the physical or control/protection logic 

relationship between the (system) and the following 

systems:

 System Specification Document (SSD) Section 8.0, 

‘Interfacing System Requirements,’ and Appendix A, 

‘Interface Lists,’ – list of supporting and dependent systems

 Example – Steam Generator System has no piping 

connection to PMS, but it does have a plant 

protection/control logic relationship in that SGS 

instrumentation provides for a reactor trip and ESAS, so 

they are included in K1.

Conference on Nuclear Training and Education 2011
Changes to the AP1000 Knowledge’s 

and Ability Catalog

 New KA catalog - Stem K5– Knowledge of the operational 

implications or cause and effect relationships of the 

following as they apply to the Digital Rod Control System

 K5 comes from Section 5.0 ‘Equipment Requirements’ of 

the SSD and some application of generic fundamental 

concepts

 Example - K5.05 – Control rod position and core poison 

redistribution effect on AFD

 Each K and A stem has reference point to aid the exam 

writer – information is in the background document

Conference on Nuclear Training and Education 2011
Changes to the AP1000 Knowledge’s 

and Ability Catalog

 Section 4 – Abnormal and Emergency Procedures

 Includes only AP1000 specific procedures

 New category – Shutdown Emergency Procedures

 Revised EK1, EK2 and EA2 stem statements

 EA2 change – ‘operate and/or monitor’ to ‘operate and 

monitor’ – from the control room

 Sections 5 and 6 were not reviewed for changes

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Summary

 Two year project – the team met monthly

 Must have a plan – but be willing to change

 The AP1000 KA catalog is a significant improvement over 

current PWR catalog – specific to the systems and 

procedures of the AP1000 

 AP1000 specific documents are the basis of the catalog

 Consistent application of stems and statements

 OE and PRA items are identified (OE Related) or 

(PRA Related)

 NRC observation of process is key to success

 Alignment with STP catalog – Stems and Section 2

Conference on Nuclear Training and Education 2011