Withdrawn

NRC Regulatory Issue Summary 2011-04, “Preparation 

and Scheduling of Operator Licensing Examinations,” 

dated May 25, 2011, has been withdrawn.

 

ADAMS Accession Number: ML111170337

See Federal Register notice 81 FR 31969, dated 

May 20, 2016
ML111170337 

 UNITED STATES 

 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 

 OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION 

 WASHINGTON, DC 20555-0001 

 May 25, 2011 

NRC REGULATORY ISSUE SUMMARY 2011-04

PREPARATION AND SCHEDULING OF 

 OPERATOR LICENSING EXAMINATIONS

ADDRESSEES

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

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 under 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

Subpart E, “Written Examinations and Operating Tests,” of 10 CFR Part 55, “Operators’ 

Licenses,” contains the relevant NRC regulations. In particular, 10 CFR 55.40, 

“Implementation,” permits nuclear power facility licensees to prepare, proctor, and grade the 

written examinations required by 10 CFR 55.41, “Written Examination: Operators,” and 

10 CFR 55.43, “Written 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, “Operating Tests.” Under 

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 examinations and operating 

tests. 

In RIS 2010-08, “Preparation and Scheduling of Operator Licensing Examinations,” dated 

June 30, 2010, the NRC asked power reactor licensees to submit proposed schedules of 
RIS 2011-04 

 Page 2 of 4

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

for on site examinations and GFEs in calendar years (CYs) 2012 through 2015. 

This RIS requests licensees to voluntarily update examination schedules and applicant 

estimates for CYs 2013 through 2016. 

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, your response should consider the impact of licensed 

operators moving between utilities to fill the 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, “Operator 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 2013 through 2016. 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. You should address any schedule changes that are required following 

submission of your RIS response in a letter to the applicable NRC regional office for agreement 

to and coordination of changes to examination administration. 

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 2016. 

C. Proposed Generic Fundamentals Examination Schedule 

Estimate by month the number of applicants who plan to take the GFE in CYs 2013 and 2014. 

As requested by the industry, the NRC now administers the GFE four times per year. 
RIS 2011-04 

 Page 3 of 4

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, “Backfitting.” 

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 contains and references information collection requirements that are subject to 

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). Existing information 

collection requirements were approved by the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB), approval numbers 3150-0018 and 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 2011-04 

 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 

/RA/ 

Laura A. Dudes, Director 

Division of Construction, Inspections 

 and Operational Programs 

Office of New Reactors 

Technical Contacts: John McHale, NRR Michael Junge, NRO 

 301-415-3254 301-415-7745 

 E-mail: john.mchale@nrc.gov E-mail: michael.junge@nrc.gov

 Samuel Hansell, RI Malcolm Widmann, RII 

 610-337-5046 404-997-4550 

 E-mail: samuel.hansell@nrc.gov E-mail: malcolm.widmann@nrc.gov

 Hironori Peterson, RIII Mark Franke, RII 

 630-829-9707 404-997-4436 

 E-mail: hironori.peterson@nrc.gov E-mail: mark.franke@nrc.gov

 Mark Haire, RIV 

 817-860-8159 

 E-mail: mark.haire@nrc.gov

Enclosure: As stated 
RIS 2011-04 

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 

/RA/ 

 Laura A. Dudes, Director 

Division of Construction Inspection 

 and Operational Programs 

Office of New Reactors 

Technical Contacts: John McHale, NRR Michael Junge, NRO 

 301-415-3254 301-415-7745 

 E-mail: john.mchale@nrc.gov E-mail: michael.junge@nrc.gov

 Samuel Hansell, RI Malcolm Widmann, RII 

 610-337-5046 404-997-4550 

 E-mail: samuel.hansell@nrc.gov E-mail: malcolm.widmann@nrc.gov

 Hironori Peterson, RIII Mark Franke, RII 

 630-829-9707 404-997-4436 

 E-mail: hironori.peterson@nrc.gov E-mail: mark.franke@nrc.gov

 Mark Haire, RIV 

 817-860-8159 

 E-mail: mark.haire@nrc.gov

Enclosure: As Stated 

DISTRIBUTION: RIS File 

ADAMS ACCESSION NO. ML111170337

OFFICE IOLB:DIRS TECH 

EDITOR 

C:IOLB:DIRS D:DIRS C:COLP:DCIP:NRO D:DCIP:NRO 

NAME CRevelle QTE JMcHale FBrown MJunge /Kellum for LDudes/ 

Tappert for 

DATE 04/26/2011 04/21/2011 04/27/2011 05/02/2011 05/12/2011 05/12/2011 

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

NAME GGulla for NHilton SUtall JSuttenberg LHill TDonnell 

DATE 05/11/2011 05/04/2011 05/10/2011 05/11/2011 05/12/2011 

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

NAME CHawes TMensah SRosenberg TMcGinty 

DATE 05/18/2011 05/19/2011 05/24/2011 05/25/2011

 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY 
 

Enclosure