Information Notice No. 93-24: Distribution of Revision 7 of NUREG-1021, "Operator Licensing Examiner Standards"

                                UNITED STATES 
                         NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
                     OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION
                            WASHINGTON, D.C.  20555

                                March 31, 1993


NRC INFORMATION NOTICE 93-24:  DISTRIBUTION OF REVISION 7 OF NUREG-1021,       
                               "OPERATOR LICENSING EXAMINER STANDARDS"


Addressees

All holders of operator and senior operator licenses at nuclear power
reactors.

Purpose

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing this information
notice to inform all holders of operator and senior operator licenses at
nuclear power reactors that the NRC issued Revision 7 of NUREG-1021, "Operator
Licensing Examiner Standards."  Revision 7 of NUREG-1021 contains changes to
the processes for licensing operators and conducting NRC initial licensing and
requalification examinations.  It is expected that recipients will review the
information for applicability and consider actions, as appropriate, to their
licensed activities.  However, suggestions contained in this information
notice are not NRC requirements; therefore, no specific action or written
response is required.  

Discussion

In 1991, the staff proposed to evaluate a crew-based grading method for
dynamic simulator tests that would reduce examination stress, encourage
operator teamwork, and minimize the regulatory impact of NRC requalification
examinations on facility licensees and licensed operators.  With the
concurrence of the Commission, the staff wrote a crew-based simulator test
procedure and, in 1992, tested the procedure in a pilot program by examining
over 100 licensed operators at 6 facilities.  After completing the pilot
program, the staff incorporated the crew-based simulator test procedure into a
draft Revision 7 of NUREG-1021. 

In July 1992, the staff sent copies of the draft revision of NUREG-1021 to the
Professional Reactor Operator Society (PROS) and the Nuclear Management and
Resources Council (NUMARC) for comment, and placed a copy in the NRC Public
Document Room.  NUMARC distributed the draft NUREG-1021 to facility licensees
and sponsored a meeting at which the NRC staff discussed the draft revision
with industry representatives.  NUMARC consolidated the facility comments and
forwarded them to the NRC.  The PROS organization also forwarded comments on
the draft revision to the NRC.  The staff evaluated the comments and made
appropriate changes to the draft revision.  In January 1993, the staff sent
Revision 7 of NUREG-1021 to all holders of operating licenses or construction
permits.  A copy is also available in the NRC Public Document Room.


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                                                            March 31, 1993
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Changes made to Revision 7 of NUREG-1021 include refinements to the content
and structure of the initial and requalification examinations; these changes
will enhance the validity of the examination as well as improve its
administrative efficiency and consistency.  Significant changes in the
requalification examination include (1) condensing the walkthrough to five job
performance measures with no prescripted questions, (2) incorporating the
crew-based dynamic simulator evaluations and (3) using low-power and shutdown
job performance measures and low-power scenarios from facility reference
material in the operating test.  Examples of specific changes affecting the
NRC initial examinations include (1) use of only objectively scored questions
on the initial written examination and (2) a decrease in the number of
prescripted follow-up questions related to job performance measures on the
walkthrough portion of the operating test.  Revision 7 of NUREG-1021 contains
an Executive Summary which summarizes all of the non-editorial changes made to
Revision 7.  

In February 1993, the NRC published in the Federal Register a notice informing
the public of the revision.  As indicated in the Federal Register notice, the
NRC will use Revision 7 of NUREG-1021 for all initial and requalification
examinations scheduled to be conducted after August 9, 1993. 

This information notice requires no specific action or written response.  If
you have any questions about the information in this notice, please contact
one of the technical contacts listed below or the appropriate Office of
Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) project manager. 


                                         ORIGINAL SIGNED BY

                                    Brian K. Grimes, Director
                                    Division of Operating Reactor Support
                                    Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Technical contacts:  Fred Guenther, NRR
                     (301) 504-1056

                     Christopher Gratton, NRR
                     (301) 504-1055

Attachment:  
List of Recently Issued NRC Information Notices
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