United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Office of Public Affairs

Washington, DC 20555

Phone 301-415-8200 Fax 301-415-2234

Internet:opa@nrc.gov

No. 96-185 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Thursday, December 19, 1996)

COMMISSION APPROVES RULEMAKING PLAN FOR UTILITY ROLE

IN INITIAL REACTOR OPERATOR LICENSE EXAMINATIONS

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has authorized the NRC

staff to develop a rule requiring that all nuclear power plant

licensees prepare ˇ under NRC direction ˇ initial reactor

operator license examinations.

The proposed rule will be prepared for Commission review and

approval for public comment early next year. Until a final rule

is adopted, applicants for operator licenses will continue to be

examined by using either NRC-prepared tests or those prepared by

utilities participating voluntarily in an NRC-supervised pilot

program begun last year. The Commission will take the agency's

experience with the pilot program into consideration when it

evaluates both the proposed and final rules.

Reactor operator applicants seeking a license to manipulate

the controls of a nuclear power plant must pass both a

comprehensive, multiple-choice written test and a practical,

hands-on examination. The generic fundamentals examination, a

second written test that each applicant must pass to be

considered for the final license examination, will continue to be

written and administered by the NRC. In the practical phase,

applicants must demonstrate a mastery of plant systems and

procedures, and the ability to deal with operational events on a

control room simulator. Licenses are issued for a specific

facility.

The rulemaking plan includes these provisions:

 NRC will continue to administer and grade the control

room simulator and plant walk-through examination

phases, during which each candidate is evaluated on a

one-on-one basis.

 All examinations drafted by utilities will be subject

to review, modification and approval by NRC examiners

before the tests are given. NRC will have the option

of preparing a test in lieu of accepting or modifying

one prepared by a utility.
 To be approved by NRC, examinations must comply with

detailed NRC guidance which deals with such matters as

appropriate level of difficulty, maintenance of

examination security, and restrictions on test

preparation by those significantly involved in training

license applicants. The guidance document, "Operator

Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors"

(NUREG-1021), has been revised to implement the new

process.

 Once the new licensing examination process has become

fully operational, the NRC staff will prepare at least

one examination annually in each of the agency's four

regions to ensure that the staff maintains its

proficiency in examination writing and to serve as a

quality check on the process.

Historically, either NRC staff examiners or NRC contractors

have prepared and administered all operator license tests. But

in April 1995, the Commission approved a staff proposal that the

agency begin evaluating a system wherein nuclear power plant

licensees would prepare the tests under NRC oversight. The

Commission took this action to recognize substantial improvements

in industry training programs, to make the operator licensing

program more efficient, and to realize budgetary savings.

The staff solicited volunteers for a pilot program in a

letter sent to all nuclear utilities in August of last year, and

launched the program two months later. Between October 1995 and

April of this year, the staff reviewed and approved 22 operator

licensing examinations prepared by utilities in accordance with

published NRC guidance. These examinations were used to test 146

applicants for reactor operator and senior reactor operator

licenses.

After a staff briefing in June, the Commission authorized

continuation of the pilot program through July 1997 to provide

time for the rulemaking process. About half the initial reactor

operator licensing examinations now being given are prepared by

utilities taking part in the voluntary, pilot program.

It is estimated that the new license examination process

would permit the NRC to save between $3 million and $4 million

paid annually to contractors for support of operator licensing

and requalification inspection programs. Unaffected by the new

rule is the licensing of operators for non-power reactors, who

will continue to be examined by the NRC. Also unchanged is the

present system whereby utilities prepare and administer

requalification examinations to licensed operators as part of an

NRC-approved training program.
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