Withdrawn

NRC Regulatory Issue Summary 2010-08, “Preparation 

and Scheduling of Operator Licensing Examinations,” 

dated June 28, 2010, has been withdrawn.

 

ADAMS Accession Number: ML101460195

See Federal Register notice 81 FR 31969, dated 

May 20, 2016
ML101460195

OMB Clearance No. 3150-0131

UNITED STATES

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION

WASHINGTON, DC 20555-0001

June 28, 2010

NRC REGULATORY ISSUE SUMMARY 2010-08

PREPARATION AND SCHEDULING OF 

OPERATOR LICENSING EXAMINATIONS

ADDRESSEES

All holders of or applicants for a power reactor operating license or construction permit pursuant 

to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 50, “Domestic Licensing of 

Production and Utilization Facilities,” except those who have permanently ceased operations 

and have certified that fuel has been permanently removed from the reactor vessel.

All holders of or applicants for a power reactor early site permit, standard design certification, 

standard design approval, manufacturing license, or a combined license pursuant to 10 CFR 

Part 52, “Licenses, Certifications and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants. 

INTENT

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing this regulatory issue summary (RIS) 

to inform addressees of the NRC staff=s need for updated information on projected site-specific 

operator licensing examination schedules, as well as the estimated numbers of applicants 

planning to take operator licensing examinations and the NRC=s generic fundamentals 

examinations (GFEs). This information will help the NRC to more effectively use its resources. 

This RIS requires no action or written response on the part of addressees. Addressee actions 

to collect and transmit the information requested are strictly voluntary. 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Section 55.40, Subpart E, AWritten Examinations and Operating Tests,@ permits nuclear power 

facility licensees to prepare, proctor, and grade the written examinations required by 

10 CFR 55.41, AWritten Examination: Operators,@ and 10 CFR 55.43, AWritten Examination: 

Senior Operators,@ provided that they satisfy certain conditions. Under 10 CFR 55.40, facility 

licensees are also permitted to prepare the NRC-administered operating tests required by 

10 CFR 55.45, AOperating Tests.@ Pursuant to 10 CFR 55.40(c), facility licensees that choose 

not to prepare their own examinations and operating tests must request in writing that the NRC 

prepare the examination and the operating tests.

In RIS 2009-11, APreparation and Scheduling of Operator Licensing Examinations,@ dated July 

16, 2009, the NRC asked power reactor licensees to submit proposed schedules of 

examinations that they intended to prepare and estimate the number of applicants to be tested 

in site examinations and GFEs in calendar years (CYs) 2010 through 2012 and to add an 
RIS 2010-08

Page 2 of 4

estimate for CY 2013. 

This RIS requests licensees to voluntarily update examination schedules and applicant 

estimates for CYs 2012 through 2014, and add an estimate for CY 2015. 

SUMMARY OF THE ISSUE

The NRC uses nearly twice as many resources to prepare an examination as to review, 

approve, administer, and document a licensee-prepared examination. The number of 

examinations administered by licensees fluctuates from year to year. Consequently, the NRC 

has found it helpful to request an annual update of power reactor facility licensees’ operator 

licensing examination needs. Moreover, with the anticipated number of new operator positions 

that will need to be filled for new plants, the differences in upcoming years could be significant. 

Therefore, we request that you evaluate your response to this RIS in this light, particularly in the 

latter years. The update should include an estimate of the number of applicants to be examined 

and whether the licensee or the NRC will prepare the exam. For those utilities that are not 

planning to construct a new plant, evaluate your response to consider the impact of licensed 

operators moving between utilities to fill the many anticipated openings in the future. This 

information will help the NRC budget its resources. The NRC regional offices will continue to 

coordinate specific examination dates with the training managers of affected facility licensees. 

The NRC is requesting that each licensee provide the following information on the enclosed

NRC Form 536, AOperator Licensing Examination Data@. 

A. Proposed Examination Preparation Schedule 

Estimate the number of examinations you intend to prepare and the number of examinations 

you will request the NRC to prepare during CYs 2012 through 2015. For examinations that 

facility licensees will prepare, the NRC will assume that each examination includes the required 

outline, the written examination, and the operating test unless the licensee specifies otherwise. 

Joint NRC/licensee examination development is permitted and should be coordinated with the 

NRC regional office. Schedule changes that are required following submission of your RIS 

response, should be addressed in a letter submitted to the applicable NRC regional office for 

agreement to and coordination of examination administration changes. 

B. Initial Operator License Examinations 

For each desired examination, estimate the number of applicants to be tested and enter the 

proposed primary and alternate dates of the examination. If you are requesting more than one 

examination per CY, fill in applicable columns as appropriate through CY 2015. 

C. Proposed Generic Fundamentals Examination Schedule 

Estimate by month the number of applicants who plan to take the GFE in CYs 2012 and 2013. 

As requested by the industry, the NRC now administers the GFE four times per year.
RIS 2010-08

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VOLUNTARY RESPONSE

The NRC asks addressees choosing to submit the information requested in NRC Form 536 to 

do so within 30 days of receiving this RIS. NRC Form 536 is available on the NRC Web site at 

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/forms/. Direct your response to the U.S. Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission, ATTN: Document Control Desk, Washington, DC 20555-0001, and 

send a copy of the response to the applicable regional office. You may submit responses 

electronically.

BACKFIT DISCUSSION

This RIS requires no action or written response. Any action on the part of addressees to collect 

and transmit operator licensing examination data in accordance with the request contained in 

this RIS is strictly voluntary and, therefore, is not a backfit under 10 CFR 50.109, ABackfitting.@ 

Consequently, the NRC staff did not perform a backfit analysis.

FEDERAL REGISTER NOTIFICATION

The NRC did not publish in the Federal Register a notice of opportunity for public comment on 

this RIS because it pertains to an administrative aspect of the regulatory process that involves 

the voluntary submission of information on the part of addressees.

CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW ACT

This RIS is not a rule as designated by the Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C.''801-808) and, 

therefore is not subject to the Act.

PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT STATEMENT

This RIS information collection is subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 

3501 et seq.). This voluntary information collection is covered by Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) Clearance No. 3150-0131. 

Public Protection Notification

The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, an 

information collection unless the requesting document displays a currently valid OMB control 

number.
RIS 2010-08

Page 4 of 4

CONTACT

Please direct any questions about this matter to the technical contacts listed below.

 /RA/

Timothy J. McGinty, Director

Division of Policy and Rulemaking

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Technical Contacts: John McHale, NRR Michael Junge, NRO

 301-415-2942 301-415-7745

 email: john.mchale@nrc.gov email: michael.junge@nrc.gov

Samuel Hansell, RI Malcolm Widmann, RII

610-337-5046 404-997-4550

email: samuel.hansell@nrc.gov email: malcolm.widmann@nrc.gov

Hironori Peterson, RIII Mark Haire, RIV

630-829-9707 817-860-8159

email: hironori.peterson@nrc.gov email: mark.haire@nrc.gov

Enclosure: As stated
RIS 2010-08

Page 4 of 4

CONTACT

Please direct any questions about this matter to the technical contacts listed below.

 /RA/

Timothy J. McGinty, Director

Division of Policy and Rulemaking

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Technical Contacts: John McHale, NRR Michael Junge, NRO 

 301-415-2942 301-415-7745 

 email: john.mchale@nrc.gov email: michael.junge@nrc.gov 

Samuel Hansell, RI Malcolm Widmann, RII 

610-337-5046 404-997-4550 

email: Samuel.hansell@nrc.gov email: malcolm.widmann@nrc.gov

 

Hironori Peterson, RIII Mark Haire, RIV

630-829-9707 817-860-8159

email: hironori.peterson@nrc.gov email: mark.haire@nrc.gov

Enclosure: As Stated

DISTRIBUTION: 

RIS File 

ADAMS ACCESSION NO. ML101460195

OFFICE IOLB:DIRS TECH EDITOR C:IOLB:DIRS D:DIRS C:COLP:DCIP:NRO D:DCIP:NRO

NAME CRevelle QTE JMcHale FBrown MJunge e-mail GTracy

DATE 05/26 /2010 06/03/2010 06/07/2010 06/09/2010 06/11 /2010 06/21/2010

OFFICE OE OGC (NLO) OGC (CRA) PMDA OIS

NAME NHilton EWilliamson SCrockett LHill TDonnell

DATE 06/10/2010 06/08/2010 06/16/2010 06/10/2010 0610 /2010

OFFICE LA:PGCB:DPR PGCB:DPR BC:PGCB:DPR D:DPR

NAME CHawes SStuchell SRosenberg (SStuchell for) TMcGinty

DATE 06/24/2010 06/23/2010 06/24/2010 06/28/2010

 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
 Enclosure

RIS 2010-08

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