Withdrawn

NRC Regulatory Issue Summary 2012-07, “Preparation 

and Scheduling of Operator Licensing Examinations,” 

dated June 8, 2012, has been withdrawn.

 

ADAMS Accession Number: ML120650174

See Federal Register notice 81 FR 31969, dated 

May 20, 2016
UNITED STATES

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION

OFFICE OF NEW REACTORS

WASHINGTON, DC 20555-0001 

June 8, 2012

NRC REGULATORY ISSUE SUMMARY 2012-07

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 on the estimated number 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 reactor 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,” subject to 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 2011-04, “Preparation and Scheduling of Operator Licensing Examinations,” dated 

May 25, 2011, the NRC asked power reactor licensees to voluntarily submit proposed

ML120650174
RIS 2012-07

Page 2 of 4

schedules of examinations they intended to prepare and estimate the number of 

applicants to be tested for onsite examinations and GFEs in calendar years (CYs) 2013 

through 2016. 

This RIS requests that licensees voluntarily update examination schedules and 

applicant estimates for CYs 2014 through 2017. 

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 annually. Consequently, the NRC has found 

it helpful to request an annual update of the operator licensing examination needs of power 

reactor facility licensees. 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 licensees evaluate their 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 if the licensee or the NRC will prepare the exam. For those utilities not planning 

to construct a new plant, their 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 2014 through 2017. 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 and 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 the applicable columns as appropriate through CY 2017. 

C. Proposed Generic Fundamentals Examination Schedule 

Estimate by month the number of applicants who plan to take the GFE in CYs 2014 and 2015. 

As the industry has requested, the NRC now administers the GFE four times per year. 
RIS 2012-07

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.). These information collection 

requirements were approved by the Office of Management and Budget, approval numbers 

3150-0011, 3150-0151, 3150-0018 and 3150-0131.

PUBLIC PROTECTION NOTIFICATION

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

information or an information collection requirement unless the requesting document displays a 

currently valid OMB control number.
RIS 2012-07

Page 4 of 4

CONTACT 

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

/RA by JLuehman for/ /RA by SBahadur for/

Laura A. Dudes, Director Timothy J. McGinty, Director 

Division of Construction, Division of Policy and Rulemaking

Inspections and Operational Programs Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

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

 Donald Jackson, RI Malcolm Widmann, RII

 610-337-5306 404-997-4550

 E-mail: donald.jackson@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

 817-200-1159 

 E-mail: mark.haire@nrc.gov

Enclosure: As Stated
RIS 2012-07

Page 4 of 4

CONTACT 

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

/RA by JLuehman for/ /RA by SBahadur for/

Laura A. Dudes, Director Timothy J. McGinty, Director 

Division of Construction, Division of Policy and Rulemaking

Inspections and Operational Programs Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

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

 Donald Jackson, RI Malcolm Widmann, RII

 610-337-5306 404-997-4550

 E-mail: donald.jackson@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

 817-200-1159 

 E-mail: mark.haire@nrc.gov

Enclosure: As Stated

ADAMS ACCESSION NO.: ML120650174

OFFICE OLA:IOLB:

DIRS

TECH.

EDITOR

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

NAME CRevelle QTE JMcHale JLubinski MJunge/PPieringer for LDudes/J Luehman for

DATE 03/14/2012 03/30/2012 04/12/12 04/13/12 05/01/2012 05/02/2012

OFFICE OE OGC (NLO) PMDA OIS LA:PGCB:DPR PGCB:DPR

NAME NHilton/LCasel for BJones LHill TDonnell CHawes TAlexion

DATE 05/17/2012 04/25/12 05/08/12 04/24/12 5/31/12 6/1/12

OFFICE C:PGCB:DPR D:DPR

NAME KMorganButler/EBowman for TMcGinty/SBahadur for

DATE 6/1/12 6/8/12

OFFICIAL RECORD
RIS 2012-07

Page 1 of 1

Enclosure