31 December 2002
Source: http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/fr-cont.html


[Federal Register: December 31, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 251)]
[Notices]
[Page 79948-79950]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr31de02-82]

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


Standard Review Plan; Availability of Draft Standard Review Plan

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

ACTION: Notice of issuance of draft standard review plan.

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SUMMARY: The NRC is announcing the availability of draft standard
review plan (SRP) sections 13.2.1, ``Reactor Operator Training,''
13.2.2, ``Training for Nonlicensed Plant Staff,'' and 13.5.2.1,
``Operating and Emergency Operating Procedures,'' and chapter 18.0,
``Human Factors Engineering,'' for interim use and public comment.

DATES: Submit comments by March 31, 2003. Comments received after this
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the Commission
is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before
this date.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments to Richard J. Eckenrode, Senior Human
Factors Engineer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Mailstop O-6F2,
Washington, DC 20555-0001. Comments may be delivered to 11555 Rockville
Pike, Rockville, Maryland, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on Federal
workdays.

[[Page 79949]]

    These documents are available for public inspection (1) at the
NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North,
Public File Area 01F21, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, (2)
from the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System's (ADAMS)
Public Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at the NRC Web site,
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html, using the Accession Nos.
ML023460600 (for draft SRP section 13.2.1), ML023460612 (for draft SRP
section 13.2.2), ML023470047 (for SRP section 13.5.2.1), and
ML023470061 (for draft SRP chapter 18), and (3) at the NRC's Web site,
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/#comments. Persons
who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems accessing the
document in ADAMS should contact the NRC PDR Reference staff by
telephone at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard J. Eckenrode, Senior Human
Factors Engineer, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, by telephone at
301-415-3172 or e-mail at rje1@nrc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Draft SRP Sections 13.2.1, 13.2.2, and 13.5.2.1

    Draft SRP section 13.2.1 provides review guidance for the NRC staff
to use when evaluating a licensee's or applicant's licensed operator
training program. The purpose of NRC staff's review related to draft
SRP section 13.2.1 is to ensure that the training provided to reactor
operators will be adequate to provide assurance that all reactor
operator qualification requirements will be met at the time needed,
i.e., prior to operator license examinations, prior to fuel loading, or
prior to appointment or reappointment to the position.
    Draft SRP section 13.2.2 provides review guidance for the NRC staff
to use when evaluating a licensee's or applicant's nonlicensed plant
staff training programs. The purpose of NRC staff review related to
draft SRP 13.2.2 is to ensure that training provided for each position
on the plant staff will be adequate to provide assurance that all plant
staff personnel training and qualification requirements will be met
when needed, i.e., prior to properational tests, prior to fuel loading,
or prior to appointment or reappointment to the position. The document
also includes a detailed section on fire protection personnel training.
    Draft SRP section 13.5.2.1 provides review guidance for the NRC to
use when evaluating a licensee's or applicant's operating and emergency
operating procedures. The purpose of NRC staff review related to draft
SRP section 13.5.2.1 is to ensure that routine operating, off-normal,
and emergency activities are conducted in a safe manner. The review
covers procedure content and development process including schedules
for preparation of procedures. The classes of procedures covered by
this section are system procedures, general plant procedures, abnormal
or off-normal condition procedures, emergency operating procedures, and
alarm procedures.
    Minor revisions were made to draft SRP sections 13.2.1, 13.2.2, and
13.5.2.1 from the draft versions that were issued in 1996 for public
comment, including changes in terminology and organizations names,
updating of references and regulations, and the addition of technical
rationale discussions.

Draft SRP Chapter 18

    Draft SRP chapter 18.0 describes a process for evaluating (1)
human-system interface designs, (2) the design process, (3) design
reviews, and (4) operator actions submitted by applicants and licensees
for the broad range of NRC review responsibilities. This chapter
identifies the following 12 areas of review that are needed for
successful integration of human characteristics and capabilities into
nuclear power plant design:
    [sbull] Human Factors Engineering Program Management
    [sbull] Operating Experience Review
    [sbull] Functional Requirements Analysis and Function Allocation
    [sbull] Task Analysis
    [sbull] Staffing and Qualifications
    [sbull] Human Reliability Analysis
    [sbull] Procedure Development
    [sbull] Training Program Development
    [sbull] Human-System Interface Design
    [sbull] Human Factors Verification and Validation
    [sbull] Design Implementation
    [sbull] Human Performance Monitoring
    While the process defines 12 areas of review, not all may be
applicable to the review of a particular applicant's or licensee's HFE
program. The guidance in this chapter will be applied to new plant
designs, control station modifications, and modifications affecting
risk-important human actions.
    The changes to chapter 18.0 from the 1996 version are both in
organization and content. The organizational changes reflect three
types of reviews: (1) HFE aspects of new plant designs, (2) HFE aspects
of control room modifications (hybrid analog/digital control rooms),
and (3) HFE aspects of changes to risk-important human actions. The
first part on new plant designs is based on NUREG-0711, ``Human Factors
Engineering Program Review Model,'' developed through the review
process of the three certified advanced reactor designs. Its purpose is
to provide a design process model that, if followed, should produce a
control room acceptable to the NRC. This document has been recently
updated to provide guidance to the staff for reviewing the control room
design/development/implementation process, as it moves along, so that
there should be no surprises at the end. The reason for this type of
process and process review is that the three advanced reactor designs
were certified without control room designs in order to allow for the
significant advances in digital technology expected to be in place at
the time a plant might actually submit a construction/operating license
application. The second major reference in this chapter is NUREG-0700
``Human-System Interface Design Review Guidelines,'' which provides for
a systematic evaluation of the human engineering aspects of the human-
system interface. This document has recently been updated to reflect
the latest guidance in digital technology, all of which has gone
through a significant validation process.
    The second part of draft chapter 18.0 provides review guidance for
modifications to current analog control rooms. Most of these
modifications involve changes in systems and equipment from analog to
digital resulting in hybrid control rooms. The review guidance is based
on NUREG-0711, but reduced in scope to apply only to those sections of
the NUREG that are directly related to the modification. Again, NUREG-
0700 guidance applies to these modifications. Power uprates can include
analog-to-digital instrumentation change outs and this revised guidance
is needed to perform reviews of these changes.
    The final part of draft chapter 18.0 provides review guidance for
changes to operator actions often resulting from changes to systems and
equipment. It is based primarily on draft NUREG-1764, ``Guidance for
the Review of Changes to Human Actions.'' The guidance first evaluates
the risk associated with the action, based partly on the criteria of
Regulatory Guide 1.174, ``An Approach for Using Probabilistic Risk
Assessment In Risk-Informed Decisions on Plant-Specific Charges to the
Licensing Basis.'' Depending on the resulting level

[[Page 79950]]

of risk, the action is assigned to one of three risk regions. If the
risk falls in Region I, a detailed review based on NUREG-0711 is
conducted in the detail similar to the hybrid control room. If the risk
falls in Region II, a much reduced review is conducted, and if in
Region III, no human factors review is conducted. This facilitates a
much more efficient and effective use of staff resources. The NRC staff
review of power uprate applications that credit operator actions will
be more efficient when this screening criteria is added. Once again,
NUREG-0700 is used for those operator action changes involving changes
to the human-system interface.
    The three NUREGs discussed above are also available for review and
comment.

    Dated in Rockville, Maryland, this 19th day of December, 2002.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Kathy Halvey Gibson,
Acting Chief, Equipment and Human Performance Branch, Division of
Inspection Program Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 02-32998 Filed 12-30-02; 8:45 am]

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