Key Issues
Personnel Training
The NRC’s Role in Training
An Extensive Regulatory Infrastructure. The NRC oversees virtually every aspect of nuclear power plant personnel training—setting regulatory requirements, providing regulatory guidance, inspecting programs and enforcing requirements.
The NRC monitors company training programs and administers initial licensing examinations for plant operators. Requalification exams are routinely administered by the nuclear plant’s operating company, but if there is cause, the NRC may administer them. The NRC also closely monitors the industry’s accreditation process—observing industry accreditation team visits to companies, observing accrediting board meetings, and conducting random audits and training inspections. In addition, the NRC nominates some members of the National Nuclear Accrediting Board.
Training is also a major focus of NRC resident inspectors. All nuclear plant sites have a resident inspector for each unit, plus an additional inspector for the site. The inspectors routinely check plant performance, including training activities.
Evolution of the Regulations. Section 306 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 directed the NRC to issue regulations or “other appropriate regulatory guidance” on the training and qualification of nuclear plant personnel. Recognizing that the nuclear industry already had developed a highly effective training program and accreditation process, the NRC complied with Section 306 by issuing a policy statement in 1985. The statement endorsed the INPO-managed accreditation program. That same year, the industry created the National Academy for Nuclear Training.
In 1988, after a comprehensive review of the industry’s progress in training, the NRC reaffirmed its 1985 policy statement. It determined that regulatory guidance—coupled with a policy statement—was adequate to ensure public health and safety.
Training Rule. Because of challenges to the adequacy of the policy statement, the NRC drafted a revised, performance-based rule that takes the industry’s training and accreditation efforts into account. The rule endorses a systematic approach to training that has been an industry standard practice. The final rule was issued in April 1993, along with a revised manual setting forth guidelines for NRC inspectors.
Operator Requalification Rule. In February 1994, the NRC issued a final rule eliminating the requirement that licensed operators pass an NRC-administered comprehensive, written requalification examination and operating test every six years as a condition of license renewal. Instead, the written examination and operating test are administered by the plant’s operating company on a two-year cycle.
Operator Licensing Examination. In April 1999, the NRC issued a final rule that allows, but does not require, companies to prepare their own initial operator licensing examinations. Facilities, particularly those with small training staffs, may continue to have the examinations prepared and administered by the NRC staff. If a company volunteers to prepare the examination, the NRC will continue to approve and administer it, making a final determination to issue a license to an operator.
