June 2, 2015 

MEMORANDUM TO: Scott A. Morris, Director 

 Division of Inspection and Regional Support 

 Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation 

FROM: Scott C. Sloan, Chief /RA/

 Operator Licensing and Training Branch 

 Division of Inspection and Regional Support 

 Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation 

SUBJECT: SUMMARY OF THE 2015 ANNUAL UNITED STATES NUCLEAR 

 REGULATORY COMMISSION/INSTITUTE OF NUCLEAR POWER 

 OPERATIONS COORDINATION MEETING ON TRAINING-RELATED 

 ISSUES 

On May 12, 2015, the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) conducted a public 

coordination meeting on training-related issues with the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations 

(INPO) at INPO Headquarters, Atlanta, Georgia. Such meetings are conducted in accordance 

with the NRC/INPO Memorandum of Agreement dated September 11, 2013. The purpose of 

the meeting was to discuss items of mutual interest concerning INPO's training program 

accreditation process and other initiatives. Participants included representatives of the NRC’s 

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR); Office of New Reactors (NRO); a Regional 

Operations Branch; INPO’s Workforce Training, Education and Proficiency Division, and a 

member of the public. The list of meeting attendees is provided as Enclosure 1. The meeting 

agenda is provided as Enclosure 2. A summary of the discussions related to key agenda topics 

covered during the meeting follows. 

Introductions and Opening Remarks

An introduction of present NRC and INPO personnel along with the members of the public were 

conducted. During opening remarks, NRC and INPO both discussed the importance of training 

and qualification, and the need to maintain alignment between the two organizations. INPO 

discussed organizational changes and their focus to advance workforce proficiency. 

Enclosures: 

1. Meeting Attendee List 

2. Meeting Agenda 

CONTACT: David Allsopp, NRR/DIRS/IOLB 

 301-415-3073 
S. Morris - 2 - 

Accreditation Update

INPO stated that it had conducted 30 Accreditation Team Visits (ATVs) and 37 Accreditation 

Boards in 2014. An NRC observer participated in INPO activities during the ATV and the 

National Nuclear Accreditation Board (NNAB) for the Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant. 

INPO reported the schedule of completed and planned training actions related to initial 

accreditation of training programs at new reactor facilities. 

INPO explained its assistance interactions with the industry including an INPO accreditation 

point of contact who initiates quarterly discussions with personnel at assigned stations. In 

addition, INPO conducts Accreditation Assistance visits, when needed, as well as semiannual 

Training Manager working meetings, an annual Corporate Training Manager working meeting, 

and frequent participation in meetings with the Regional Training Groups. 

INPO discussed the ongoing review and re-design of the accreditation program, including the 

transition to the six year accreditation cycle and two pilot ATVs planned for 2015. Phase one 

involves actions that will focus accreditation activities more on the quality of training results and 

less on process. As part of the re-design effort, a training evaluator will be added to each plant 

evaluation starting in 2016. 

Proficiency Discussion 

INPO discussed the status of its initiative to focus on proficiency. A model of proficiency is 

being used internally within INPO to gain a more holistic understanding of worker performance, 

along with the mitigation aspects that leaders should use to address challenges to proficiency. 

Regulatory Issues 

The NRC noted that significant progress has been made to update the Knowledge and Abilities 

Catalogs for Nuclear Power Plant Operators (NUREGs 1122 and 1123). The NRC will review 

the final industry submission and begin the process to revise the NUREGs upon receipt. 

The NRC discussed a recent change to Inspection Procedure 71111.11, “Licensed Operator 

Requalification Program and Licensed Operator Performance” to adjust the allotted time to allow 

more flexibility for an inspector to observe longer complex activities in the control room. The 

NRC solicited feedback on the change and any other issues associated with the inspection 

procedure. 

The NRC discussed the status of the Fukushima Rulemaking that relates to onsite emergency 

response capabilities. The Rulemaking has been delivered to the Commission for 

consideration. The current schedule indicates that the proposed rule will likely be released to 

the public near the end of FY15 and the Final Rule is due to the Commission by the end of 

December 2016. 

The NRC presented an overview of Operator Licensing Lessons Learned actions planned in 

response to the decision by the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) to overturn an NRC 

licensing decision. The NRC stated that the ASLB conclusion that NRC examiner decisions 

were “arbitrary and involved inappropriate use of discretion” was considered a “watershed” 

event and warranted a detailed review of the operator licensing process. The NRC is prepared 
S. Morris - 3 - 

to discuss 23 recommendations to change the operator licensing program in a public meeting 

on June 16, 2015, at NRC Headquarters. 

In preparation for that meeting, the NRC has publically released the final report from the 

Lessons Learned Review Team (ADAMS Accession No. ML15124A615) and is preparing to 

release the actions plans for implementing the recommendations. Following the June public 

meeting, the NRC will begin to revise NUREG-1021 to incorporate process changes. A draft 

revision will be released for public comment, and the revision process is expected to take 

approximately one year to complete. 

The NRC discussed several of the proposed changes, including expanding the range of 

simulator performance scoring to 0 to 3 while maintaining the passing threshold at 1.8. Another 

change would discontinue the practice of restoring a point when two non-critical errors are offset 

by correctly performing another activity in the same rating factor. The NRC also reported that 

staff will not be able to render pre-decisional determinations on any waiver or deferral requests 

that are not made in conjunction with the submittal of a license application (i.e., NRC Form 398). 

This change will impact the timeline for submitting license application paperwork if industry’s 

and the NRC’s eligibility guidance documents are not made more clear. 

Industry Learning Activities

INPO reported that about 2,100 nuclear professionals receive training from INPO’s facilitator-led 

training programs annually. INPO continues to see benefits from the National Academy for 

Nuclear Training e-Learning (NANTeL), a national web-based training system. Approximately, 

109,000 distinct learners used the NANTeL system to complete training last year. NANTeL 

contains training developed by INPO, utilities, or the Electric Power Research Institute. 

Emergency Response 

INPO discussed various post Fukushima actions and industry wide training. Specifically, two 

web-based training courses dealing with the industry’s Diverse and Flexible Coping Capability, 

or FLEX, program were deployed in 2013. These courses address the industry-common 

knowledge components of beyond design basis external events response. 

INPO also developed four event-related case studies to better equip decision makers to handle 

stress during extreme external events. The extreme events include Hurricane Andrew hitting 

Turkey Point, a tornado at Browns Ferry, and the earthquake and tsunami at Fukushima Daiichi 

and Fukushima Daini. 

Other Items of Mutual Interest Related to Training 

INPO stated that adding a training evaluator to plant evaluations would improve the ability to 

understand the application of knowledge and skills in the field and that any insights would be 

included in the training portion of the Plant Evaluation report. The NRC discussed its focus on 

regional office differences including the operator licensing process. These differences, due to 

ambiguities in the operator licensing process, resulted in a strongly unfavorable perception by 

the ASLB. The goal is to ensure examiners have the tools to discriminate an unsafe operator 

and that regulatory actions are consistent for all facilities. 
S. Morris - 4 - 

Closing Remarks

In closing, the NRC stated that interactions between INPO and the NRC were useful and should 

continue. NRC recognized the importance of INPO’s role in the accreditation of utility training 

programs. 
S. Morris - 4 – 

Closing Remarks

In closing, the NRC stated that interactions between INPO and the NRC were useful and should 

continue. NRC recognized the importance of INPO’s role in the accreditation of utility training 

programs. 

DISTRIBUTION: 

PUBLIC M Evans, NRR RidsNrrOdResource 

COLP Reading File S Morris, NRR D Jackson, RI 

IOLB Reading File M Cheok, NRO G McCoy, RII 

RidsNrrDirs S Sloan, NRR G Guthrie, RII 

RidsNroDcip M Junge, NRO H Peterson, R III 

RidsNroDcipColp R Pelton, NRO V Gaddy, RIV 

RidsEDOMailCenter RidsNrrDirsIolb 

ADAMS Accession No: ML15146A449 

 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY 

OFFICE DIRS/IOLB DIRS/IOLB 

NAME DAllsopp SSloan 

DATE 06/2/2015 06/2/2015 
 

ENCLOSURE 1 

 ATTENDEES

NRC-INPO Coordination Meeting, May 12, 2015 

Institute of Nuclear Power Operations 

Steve Johnson, Director, Industry Training and Proficiency 

David Hembree, Vice President, Emergency Response 

Elery Shoemaker, Manager, Accreditation 

Charlie Brooks, Manager, Accreditation Assistance and Support 

Tammy Love, Director, Industry Learning 

Greg Ruppert, Accreditation Team Manager 

Brian O’Donnell, Manager Learning Delivery 

Brenda Byrd, Manager Learning Services 

Brian Gollatz, Manager, Learning Development 

Ramon Martinez, Staff Assistant to CEO/Corporate Secretary 

Burl McCosh, Senior Evaluator 

Terry Bellocchio, Administrative Assistant, Accreditation 

NRC

Scott Morris, Director, Division of Inspection and Regional Support, NRR 

Michael Cheok, Director, Division of Construction Inspection and Operational Programs, NRO 

Scott Sloan, Chief, Operator Licensing and Training Branch, NRR 

Michael Junge, Chief, Operator Licensing and Human Performance Branch, NRO 

Hironori Peterson, Chief, Operations Branch, Division of Reactor Safety, RIII 

David Allsopp, Operator Licensing and Training Branch, NRR 

Richard Pelton, Operator Licensing and Human Performance Branch, NRO 

Other 

Robert Meyer, Professional Reactor Operator Society 
ENCLOSURE 2 

 AGENDA FOR PUBLIC MEETING 

WITH INPO ON TRAINING AND QUALIFICATION 

May 12, 2015 

12:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. 

Room 211 

Institute of Nuclear Power Operations 

700 Galleria Parkway, SE 

Atlanta, GA 30066 

TOPICS 

• Introductions and Opening Remarks 

• Public Input 

• Accreditation Update 

• Proficiency Discussion 

• Regulatory Issues 

• Industry Learning Activities 

• Emergency Response 

• Other Items of Mutual Interest Related to Training 

• Public Questions and Answers 

• Closing Remarks