ABWR K/A CATALOG

Glenn Macdonald

South Texas Project

Conference on Nuclear Training and Education 2011
ABWR K/A Catalog

 In December 2008 the NEI New Plant Licensed 

Operator Task commenced development of new K/A 

Catalogs in accordance with a Knowledge and Abilities 

Catalog Revision Plan

 Existing K/A Catalogs may not comprehensively reflect 

the knowledge and abilities required to operate 

advanced plants

 AP-1000 and ABWR draft K/A Catalogs represent the 

first results of this effort

Conference on Nuclear Training and Education 2011
ABWR K/A Catalog

 For the ABWR an expert panel was created to modify the existing 

catalog and determine the importance ratings:

 At least two STPNOC Operations Training Department personnel 

who have a BWR and ABWR background

 One STPNOC line organization member with BWR and/or ABWR 

knowledge

 One international ABWR subject matter expert (TEPCO)

 Operator of ABWRs

 One member that is an ABWR design subject matter expert 

(Toshiba)

 One optional member from the NRC

Conference on Nuclear Training and Education 2011
ABWR K/A Catalog

 A Gap Analysis with NUREG 1123 was conducted

 Reviewed existing K/As

 Reviewed ABWR nuclear plant design and operating 

information

 Reviewed ABWR Job and Task Analysis

 Identified current K/As that are applicable

 Deleted those K/As that are not applicable

 Identified new K/As associated with the new technology

Conference on Nuclear Training and Education 2011
ABWR K/A Catalog

 Revised Knowledge and Ability Stem Statements

 Standardized the stems with the AP-1000

 Clearly defined the scope of the stems

 Ensured the K/A statement supports the stem

 Summary of Significant Changes

 Cause-effect relationships moved from K1 to K5

 Clarified K2 and identified specific components

 Changed A4 to read “and” instead of “and/or”

 Removed K5 items that are already identified in the generic 

fundamentals section

Conference on Nuclear Training and Education 2011
ABWR K/A Catalog

 Deleted the task lists

 Existing task lists were generic and had limited value for 

writing exams

 Difficulty in revising a NUREG to reflect changes to a 

task list

 A plant specific task list is provided for exam generation

Conference on Nuclear Training and Education 2011
ABWR K/A Catalog

 Removed some systems from appearing in multiple 

safety functions

 Based on a review of the design information

 e.g. High Pressure Core Flooder removed from Safety 

Function 4 (Heat Removal from Core) because it is designed 

to prevent reactor vessel water level from dropping below a 

level which would initiate RHR or ADS

 e.g. Residual Heat Removal remains in Safety Function 2 

(Reactor Water Inventory Control) and Safety Function 4 

because it is designed to perform both functions

Conference on Nuclear Training and Education 2011
ABWR K/A Catalog

 Incorporated Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) and 

Operating Experience (OE)

 Added two additional systems (Reactor Service Water 

and Remote Shutdown)

 Identified PRA and OE related items in the catalog

Conference on Nuclear Training and Education 2011
ABWR K/A Catalog

 Revised some Generic Knowledge and Abilities

 Based on guidance contained within the NRC SRO 

Clarification Guidance, revision 1

Conference on Nuclear Training and Education 2011
ABWR K/A Catalog

 Determined Importance Ratings

 Only one importance ratings exists for those topics that 

have the same knowledge requirement for ROs and 

SROs

 For the ABWR these ratings were determined by 

consensus of the “expert panel” and are represented by 

whole numbers

 Following production of several license operators these 

ratings will be evaluated again

Conference on Nuclear Training and Education 2011
ABWR K/A Catalog

 Takeaways

 Changes made to the draft ABWR K/A Catalog do not 

impact the operating fleet

 PRA information included

 Very few changes made to the existing deterministically 

determined document

 RO/SRO differences clarified

 Standardization with the draft AP-1000 K/A Catalog

 The existing BWR and PWR catalogs have differences

 Template to evaluate changes to the existing K/A 

Catalogs

Conference on Nuclear Training and Education 2011