November 22, 2010 

MEMORANDUM TO: Frederick D. Brown, Director 

Division of Inspection and Regional Support 

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation 

FROM: John McHale, Chief /RA/ 

Operator Licensing and Training Branch 

Division of Inspection and Regional Support 

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation 

SUBJECT: SUMMARY OF NOVEMBER 15, 2010, MEETING WITH THE NEI 

INDEPENDENT PANEL REGARDING OPERATOR LICENSING 

TRAINING AND EXAMINATION PROCESSES 

On November 15, 2010, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff held a public 

meeting with the NEI Independent Panel on the operator licensing training and examination 

process to discuss a number of operator licensing issues. Enclosure 1 lists attendees at the 

meeting. 

This meeting was the latest in a series of meetings intended to enhance the operator licensing 

training and examination processes. The discussions included the conclusions and 

recommendations of the panel’s review. Enclosure 2 is the agenda for the meeting, and the 

discussion topics are summarized in Enclosure 3. The presentation slides developed by the 

NEI Independent Panel are included as Enclosure 4. 

Representatives of the NRC and the industry agreed that this meeting was useful for the 

exchange of information. 

Enclosures: As stated 

CONTACT: Chris Cowdrey, NRR/DIRS 

 (301)415-2758 

 
MEMORANDUM TO: Frederick D. Brown, Director 

Division of Inspection and Regional Support 

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation 

FROM: John McHale, Chief /RA/ 

Operator Licensing and Training Branch 

Division of Inspection and Regional Support 

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation 

SUBJECT: SUMMARY OF NOVEMBER 15, 2010, MEETING WITH THE NEI 

INDEPENDENT PANEL REGARDING OPERATOR LICENSING 

TRAINING AND EXAMINATION PROCESSES 

On November 15, 2010, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff held a public 

meeting with the NEI Independent Panel on the operator licensing training and examination 

process to discuss a number of operator licensing issues. Enclosure 1 lists attendees at the 

meeting. 

This meeting was the latest in a series of meetings intended to enhance the operator licensing 

training and examination processes. The discussions included the conclusions and 

recommendations of the panel’s review. Enclosure 2 is the agenda for the meeting, and the 

discussion topics are summarized in Enclosure 3. The presentation slides developed by the 

NEI Independent Panel are included as Enclosure 4. 

Representatives of the NRC and the industry agreed that this meeting was useful for the 

exchange of information. 

Enclosures: As stated 

CONTACT: Chris Cowdrey, NRR/DIRS 

 (301)415-2758 

DISTRIBUTION: PUBLIC IOLB/NEI & Public Meetings Folders 

BBoger FBrown MCheok JMcHale 

JMunro MWidmann SHansell MJunge 

HPeterson MHaire 

ADAMS Accession No. ML103260159 Package No. ML103260196 

OFFICE IOLB IOLB/BC 

NAME CCowdrey JMcHale 

DATE 11/22/10 11/22/10 

 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY 
ENCLOSURE 1 

List of Attendees – NRC / NEI Independent Panel Meeting on Operator Licensing 

November 15, 2010 

Name Organization 

John (Jack) McHale NRC/NRR 

Bruce Boger NRC/NRR 

Mike Cheok NRC/NRR 

Mike Junge NRC/NRO 

Joel Munday NRC/RII 

Malcolm Widman NRC/RII 

Dave Reeser NRC/RIII 

Kriss Kennedy NRC/RIV 

Bryce Shriver NEI Independent Panel 

Audeen Fentiman NEI Independent Panel 

Ken Brockman NEI Independent Panel 

Bob Meyer Public (PROS) 

Tim Dennis Public 
ENCLOSURE 2 

AGENDA FOR THE CATEGORY 2 PUBLIC MEETING WITH THE NEI INDEPENDENT 

PANEL REGARDING OPERATOR LICENSING TRAINING AND EXAMINATION PROCESSES 

Monday, November 15, 2010 

10:15 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

One White Flint North 

11555 Rockville Pike – Room O 13D20 

Rockville, MD 20852 

TOPIC LEAD

Introductions and Opening Remarks NRC/NEI panel 

Public Comments Public 

Discussion of the Results of the Panel’s review of the 

Operator Licensing Training and Examination Processes NEI panel 

Public Comments Public 

Summary/Conclusions/Action Items NRC/NEI panel 
ENCLOSURE 3 

DISCUSSION SUMMARY

MEETING PURPOSE 

The panel mentioned that the purpose of the meeting was to review the panel’s conclusions and 

discuss the panel’s recommendations following their review of the operator licensing process. 

The panel outlined their view of the goals for the operator licensing process and stated that the 

result of the process should be to ensure that the personnel granted licenses are competent to 

fulfill their role in ensuring safe, reliable nuclear plant operations. Additionally, the panel 

mentioned that it is desirable that the process be reliable, consistent and efficient. 

The panel identified the reasons for conducting the review as an attempt to improve business 

effectiveness of the NRC and utilities, as well as to investigate any opportunities for 

improvement to the process in terms of technological and educational advances. The panel 

outlined the process that was followed and discussed the various organizations that were 

surveyed and consulted as part of the review. 

NEI REVIEW PANEL CONCLUSIONS 

The panel evaluated the current three-part exam process and concluded that it is effective, with 

the potential for improvements. The panel summarized the general view that the written 

examination is the most critical portion of the examination process due to perceived 

weaknesses in the simulator and job performance measure (JPM) portions of the examination. 

The panel identified the potential reasons for these weaknesses as the limited scope of these 

portions of the examination, narrowly defined failure criteria and difficulties associated with 

evaluating individual performance while significant team interaction is occurring. 

The panel further identified weaknesses in the utility training programs at some stations. 

Specifically, the panel mentioned that some training and evaluation programs may not 

necessarily reflect the operator knowledge and abilities (K/As) importance ratings. Additionally, 

the panel stated that the routine written examinations in some training programs tend to focus 

primarily on the most recent material and therefore do not prepare students for the 

comprehensive nature of the NRC examination. Further, the panel identified weaknesses in the 

audit and NRC written examination validation processes. 

The panel concluded that the K/A approach is effective, but would benefit from some revision. 

The panel suggested that the K/A catalog is outdated and lacks an understanding of current 

licensed operator job functions and that the K/As are not linked to current accredited training 

program objectives. The panel mentioned that some utilities attempt to link selected K/As to 

training program objectives while developing their NRC written examinations. The panel further 

identified an absence of any integrated guide to help determine whether a K/A would be better 

tested on the written or operating portion of the examination. Finally, the panel mentioned that 

there is limited use of the NRC examination bank while developing questions for the written 

examinations and determined the reasons to be a lack of questions that are linked to K/As and 

meet current NRC standards, an overall limited number of questions, and concerns with 

examination security and validity. 
2 

NEI REVIEW PANEL RECOMMENDATIONS 

The panel recommended the preservation of the current three-part examination process with a 

series of enhancements including an updated job task analysis and K/A catalog. The panel 

then followed with a recommendation to link the utility training programs objectives to the 

updated K/As. Additionally, the panel advised the completion of utility actions related to 

operator training programs as outlined by the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) in 

2009. Finally, the panel recommended an integrated plan be developed for the following 

process improvements: strengthened acceptance criteria for the operating examinations, 

established process for an approved examination bank, established guidance for use of the 

approved examination bank, and implementation of an integrated examination plan using the 

updated K/A approach. 

SUMMARY / CONCLUSION / ACTION ITEMS 

In summary, the NRC staff and attendees agreed that the meeting was useful and that 

continued communication between the panel and the NRC would be beneficial. The panel 

mentioned that the remaining actions included incorporating comments from the November 15, 

2010 meeting and consideration of further meetings with additional stakeholders. Following the 

completion of any additional meetings, the panel stated that they would then provide their 

recommendations to NEI and utility executives and provide insights on the implementation of 

the panel’s recommendations. No specific action items were taken from the meeting.