June 30, 2014 

MEMORANDUM TO: Scott Morris, Director 

Division of Inspection and Regional Support 

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation 

FROM: David Muller, Acting Chief /RA/

Operator Licensing and Training Branch 

Division of Inspection and Regional Support 

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation 

SUBJECT: SUMMARY OF MAY 6, 2014, MEETING WITH INDUSTRY 

FOCUS GROUP ON OPERATOR LICENSING ISSUES 

 

On May 6, 2014, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff held a public meeting 

with the Nuclear Energy Institute’s Operating Licensing Focus Group to discuss with the nuclear 

industry a number of operator licensing issues. 

This meeting was the latest in a series of meetings intended to promote efficiency, 

effectiveness, and open communications with regard to initial operator licensing and licensed 

operator requalification. The discussions addressed a variety of issues, including the current 

grading criteria on the simulator scenario portion of NRC operator licensing examinations; 

lessons learned regarding NRC Inspection Procedure 71111.11, “Licensed Operator 

Requalification and Licensed Operator Performance,” and NRC inspections of facility licensed 

operator requalification programs; and revisions to the eligibility guidelines for individuals 

applying for an NRC reactor operator license. Enclosure 2 is the agenda for the meeting, and 

the discussion topics are summarized in Enclosure 3. 

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

exchange of information and agreed to continue the periodic meetings. 

Enclosures: 

1. List of Attendees 

2. Agenda 

3. Discussion Topics 

CONTACT: Sean Currie, NRR/DIRS/IOLB 

 (301) 415-3967 
MEMORANDUM TO: Scott Morris, Director 

Division of Inspection and Regional Support 

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation 

FROM: David Muller, Acting Chief 

Operator Licensing and Training Branch 

Division of Inspection and Regional Support 

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation 

SUBJECT: SUMMARY OF MAY 6, 2014, MEETING WITH INDUSTRY 

FOCUS GROUP ON OPERATOR LICENSING ISSUES 

 

On May 6, 2014, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff held a public meeting 

with the Nuclear Energy Institute’s Operating Licensing Focus Group to discuss with the nuclear 

industry a number of operator licensing issues. 

This meeting was the latest in a series of meetings intended to promote efficiency, 

effectiveness, and open communications with regard to initial operator licensing and licensed 

operator requalification. The discussions addressed a variety of issues, including the current 

grading criteria on the simulator scenario portion of NRC operator licensing examinations; 

lessons learned regarding NRC Inspection Procedure 71111.11, “Licensed Operator 

Requalification and Licensed Operator Performance,” and NRC inspections of facility licensed 

operator requalification programs; and revisions to the eligibility guidelines for individuals 

applying for an NRC reactor operator license. Enclosure 2 is the agenda for the meeting, and 

the discussion topics are summarized in Enclosure 3. 

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

exchange of information and agreed to continue the periodic meetings. 

Enclosures: 

1. List of Attendees 

2. Agenda 

3. Discussion Topics 

CONTACT: Sean Currie, NRR/DIRS/IOLB 

 (301) 415-3967 

DISTRIBUTION: 

PUBLIC AHowe JMcHale RPelton DJackson 

MWidmann GGuthrie MJunge HPeterson VGaddy 

ADAMS Accession No. ML14178A034 

OFFICE IOLB IOLB/BC

NAME SCurrie DMuller

DATE 6/30/2014 6/30/2014

 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY 
 Enclosure 1 

List of Attendees – Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) / Nuclear Energy Institute 

Operator Licensing Focus Group (NEI OLFG) 

May 6, 2014 

Name Organization 

John (Jack) McHale NRC 

Tim Kolb NRC 

David Muller NRC 

John Munro NRC 

Sean Currie NRC 

Don Jackson NRC (via telephone) 

Pete Peterson NRC (via telephone) 

Gregg Ludlam NEI OLFG 

Chuck Sizemore NEI OLFG 

John Steely NEI OLFG 

Nick Pappas NEI OLFG 

Tom Giebelhausen NEI OLFG 

Michael Petersen NEI OLFG 

Russell Joplin NEI OLFG 

Bob Meyer Public - Professional Reactor Operator 

Society (via telephone) 

 
 Enclosure 2 

AGENDA FOR THE CATEGORY 2 PUBLIC MEETING WITH THE NEI OPERATOR 

LICENSING FOCUS GROUP REGARDING TRAINING, EXAMINATION, AND INSPECTION 

PROCESSES 

Tuesday, May 6, 2014 

8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time 

Nuclear Energy Institute 

1776 I St. N.W., Suite 400 

Washington, DC 20006 

TOPIC LEAD

Introductions and Opening Remarks NRC/NEI panel 

Public Inputs Public 

Simulator Evaluation grading NEI 

IP 71111.11 (Licensed Operator Requalification Program 

Inspection Procedure) changes NEI 

Review of IRT Recommendations and Current Status NEI 

ACAD 10-001 eligibility review: RO flowchart revision NEI 

NEI/NRC National Operating Licensing Workshop takeaways NEI 

Additional Items of Interest NRC 

Public Comments Public 

Summary/Conclusions/Action Items NRC/NEI 
 

 Enclosure 3 

DISCUSSION SUMMARY

Simulator Evaluation Grading

The NRC staff discussed with the Operator Licensing Focus Group (OLFG) their concerns 

regarding the current simulator scenario grading criteria for individuals taking NRC initial 

operator licensing examinations (as contained in NUREG-1021, “Operator Licensing 

Examination Standards for Power Reactors,” Section ES-303 D.2.b). In particular, the staff 

discussed that the current simulator scenario grading criteria does contain some ambiguity, 

which can allow for significant subjectivity when grading individuals on this portion of their NRC 

examination. The OLFG acknowledged the staffs’ concerns, but at this time, the OLFG had no 

specific recommendations for improvement. The staff further informed the OLFG that the NRC 

will be forming a team to recommend improvements to the simulator scenario grading criteria, 

as well as other possible enhancements to NRC operating tests. The OLFG offered to provide 

assistance to the staff in this area. 

During this portion of the discussion, the staff also presented to the OLFG two other items 

related to NUREG-1021: 

• Revision 10 of NUREG-1021, which largely adds guidance for the licensing and 

examination process for operators at new reactors, is likely to be issued in August 2014. 

This revision will include policies and practices for videotaping crews of applicants taking 

simulator examinations (for both new and existing reactors), and these policies were 

discussed with the OLFG. 

• With respect to grading individuals during simulator scenarios, revision 10 does provide 

some clarifications, but any significant changes to scenario grading will occur only after 

revision 10 has been issued, likely as a supplement to revision 10. 

Changes to IP 71111.11, Licensed Operator Requalification Program Inspections

The staff presented to the OLFG that a revision was being drafted to NRC Inspection Procedure 

(IP) 71111.11, “Licensed Operator Requalification Program and Licensed Operator 

Performance.” Changes contained in this revision will include: 

• A revised method for assessing requalification simulator scenario quality. The current 

method appears to overemphasize the importance of a single flawed scenario event, 

which will be corrected in the revision. 

• Due to being subjective and with no guidance provided in the IP, the NRC’s rating of 

the overall level of difficulty of simulator scenarios will be eliminated. 

• Eliminating the requalification retake exam 10 percent failure rate metric. This metric 

does not appear to be effective in evaluating the quality of remedial training. 

• Adding flexibility for NRC inspectors in conducting control room observations. Instead 

of requiring 4 hours of observations per calendar quarter, 16 hours per calendar year 

may be used instead. 

 
 

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The OLFG acknowledged these proposed changes, and that these changes would address 

some of their concerns they have with the current revision of the IP. The OLFG also stated that 

they would check with the nuclear industry for any additional comments on IP 71111.11, and 

provide them to the NRC. 

Review of IRT Recommendations and Current Status

In April of 2011, the OLFG issued an Independent Review Team (IRT) report, which contained 7 

overall recommendations for the initial operator licensing examination process. The OLFG 

provided to the staff an update on these 7 recommendations, and concluded that the 

recommendations were, for the most part, complete. One recommendation that was still in 

progress was the project to revise the Knowledge/Abilities (K/A) catalogs, i.e., NUREGs-1122 

and 1123, which provide a content basis for NRC licensing examinations for existing reactors. 

The OLFG stated that they expect to deliver revised K/A catalogs for NRC review in the 

September 2014 time frame. 

ACAD 10-001 Reactor Operability Eligibility Flowchart

Proposed changes to ACAD 10-001, “Guidelines for Initial Training and Qualification of 

Licensed Operators,” which contains industry standards for meeting the eligibility requirements 

for licensing new personnel, were presented by the OLFG and discussed with the staff. In 

particular, changes in crediting experience as a non-licensed operator and for crediting 

experience gained at non-comparable facilities were discussed as they pertained to meeting the 

eligibility requirements for individuals seeking an NRC reactor operator license. In general, the 

staff agreed with the proposed changes to ACAD 10-001. 

Additionally, the staff and the OLFG discussed issues and possible requirements for senior 

reactor operator (SRO) instructors to become licensed as SROs by the NRC. 

National Workshop Takeaways

On January 7-8, 2014, a National Examiner’s Workshop was held, attended by members of the 

NRC staff, the OLFG, and the nuclear industry. Based upon this workshop, the staff and the 

OLFG discussed some of the items of continued interest, including issues related to IP 

71111.11 (see previous item above), and what elements should be included in a proper 

alternate path job performance measure (i.e., elements to include in an individual test-item task 

that executes an alternate (non-normal) path). 

Additional NRC Items of Interest

The NRC informed the OLFG that additional guidance, consistent with the current revision of 

NUREG-1021, had been provided to NRC Regional Examiners regarding the grading of 

individuals taking NRC simulator scenario examinations, and for processing examination waiver 

requests, to add consistency in these areas. 

The staff presented an update on NRC activities associated with Fukushima Near-Term Task 

Force (NTTF) recommendation 8, which primarily concerns beyond design basis accident 

procedures and operator actions. 
 

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In particular, the staff informed the OLFG that rule making associated with recommendation 8 

will likely be combined with rule making associated with NTTF recommendations 4, 9, and 10. 

Additionally, 3 K/A areas associated with beyond design basis accidents are planned to be 

added to the K/A catalogs, such that in the future, these areas will be subject to testing on NRC 

operator licensing examinations. The staff further stated, in agreement with the OLFG, that care 

must be exercised in implementing NTTF recommendations, such that the current state of 

operator licensing training and examination is not negatively impacted. 

The NRC staff noted that draft regulatory guide DG-1310, which endorses the latest and heavily 

revised version of ANSI-3.4 for licensed operator medical standards, was released for public 

comment on April 25, 2014. The draft regulatory guide fully endorsed the revised ANSI 

standard without exception. The NRC asked that the OLFG publicize and endorse adopting the 

new standard, once the final regulatory guide is issued.