NANTeL Conduct of Operations 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which principle of Conduct of Operations requires that plant personnel fully understand the current status of systems and equipment before taking action?
- Procedure adherence
- Operational awareness (Correct answer)
- Defense-in-depth
- Conservative decision-making
Correct answer: Operational awareness
Operational awareness requires operators to understand system status before taking any action to prevent unexpected consequences.
Question 2: What is the purpose of a pre-job brief in nuclear plant operations?
- To assign overtime pay rates
- To satisfy NRC documentation requirements only
- To ensure all workers understand the task, hazards, and expected outcomes (Correct answer)
- To replace the need for written procedures
Correct answer: To ensure all workers understand the task, hazards, and expected outcomes
Pre-job briefs align the team on task scope, hazards, roles, and hold points before work begins.
Question 3: When an operator discovers a discrepancy between a procedure step and actual plant conditions, the correct immediate response is to:
- Complete the procedure and document the discrepancy afterward
- Stop and notify the supervisor before proceeding (Correct answer)
- Skip the step and continue with the next one
- Improvise a solution to keep the procedure on schedule
Correct answer: Stop and notify the supervisor before proceeding
Discrepancies between procedures and plant conditions must be resolved with supervisory guidance before continuing.
Question 4: In nuclear operations, the term 'flagging' a component refers to:
- Marking a component as out of service on control room displays
- Physically marking a component to prevent inadvertent operation (Correct answer)
- Reporting a component to the NRC for inspection
- Documenting a component failure in the corrective action program
Correct answer: Physically marking a component to prevent inadvertent operation
Flagging involves placing physical tags or covers on components to prevent their inadvertent operation during maintenance or testing.
Question 5: Which conduct of operations element addresses ensuring that only authorized personnel perform specific tasks?
- Operator log-keeping
- Qualification and training verification (Correct answer)
- Equipment rounds
- Shift turnover
Correct answer: Qualification and training verification
Verifying qualification and training ensures only personnel who are properly trained and certified perform safety-significant tasks.
Question 6: What is the primary reason nuclear plants use a two-person integrity rule for certain evolutions?
- To reduce individual workload during complex tasks
- To satisfy union labor agreements
- To provide independent verification and prevent errors (Correct answer)
- To meet minimum staffing requirements for shift coverage
Correct answer: To provide independent verification and prevent errors
Two-person integrity provides an independent check that significantly reduces the likelihood of undetected errors during critical operations.
Question 7: Under Conduct of Operations standards, when should an operator use a self-checking technique such as STAR?
- Only during refueling outages
- Before any action on a component, especially in the field (Correct answer)
- Only when directed by a supervisor
- After completing a shift to review the work log
Correct answer: Before any action on a component, especially in the field
STAR (Stop, Think, Act, Review) should be applied before taking any action on plant equipment to prevent errors.
NANTeL Conduct of Operations 2
Which principle of Conduct of Operations requires that plant personnel fully understand the current status of systems and equipment before taking action?