ML19209C838
| ML19209C838 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Crane  |
| Issue date: | 02/28/1963 |
| From: | Biles M, Mccool W, Wilgus W US ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION (AEC) |
| To: | |
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| ML19209C834 | List: |
| References | |
| TASK-TF, TASK-TMR NUDOCS 7910180362 | |
| Download: ML19209C838 (17) | |
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- 29 The Education, Experience, Training, and Certification of Reactor Operators at AEC-Owned Reactors Walter S. Wilgus, Whittie J. McCool and Martin B. Biles Division of Operational Safety U. S. Atemic Energy Ccesission 1.0 Introduction The AEC's Division of Operational Safety has collected statistical data from 13 operating contractors which deal with the education, experience, training, and certification procedures for several hundred reactor super-visors, operators and rai'ses employed at AEC-cwned reactor facilities.
These data were collecteu rres questionnaires cc=pleted by reactor man-agers, and by qualified, full-time reactor supervisors, operators, and trainees assigned to the respective AEC-cwned reactors for the purpose of maintaining the normal weekly reactor operating schedules as of
""'* February 1963.
This paper presents average data on reactor supervisor and operatcr edu-cation, experience, and training, and cn certification procedures by re-actor category following the conventions and abbreviations employed in TID-8200 (7th Rev.), (Nuclear Reactors Built, Being Built, or Planned in the United States, as of December 31, 1962, United States Atomic Energy Cc==ission, Division of Technical Information) except for the Process Development Reactors which are included as Special Test Reactors.
2.0 Su=marv AEC reactor operating contractors are obligated by centract and are in-spected by the AEC to assure maintenance of acceptably high standards in bb4
)b}
7 91018 0 :3 6d'
. t the selection, training, examination, and certification of operators.
Con-tractors certify reactor operators, and maintain continuing surveillance of operational proficiency and safety.
The contractors also provide recertifica-tion training for supervisors and operators either through formal training programs or informally under the tutelage of a qualified supervisor. In most instances, formal written and/or manipulative examinations are required at regular intervals for operator and supervisor recertification.
Contractors generally differentiate between reactor supervisors and reactor operators and generally strive for higher achievement levels among super-visors than among operators.
Usually supervisor training and experience tends more toward the engineering, technical, and administrative aspects, while the operator training tends taiard the control room, laboratory and equipment manipulative skills.
Both supervisors and operators must demon-strate their operating proficiency through formal written, oral and/cr manipulative examinations, or through informal demonstrations to qualified supe rvisors.
The data Tables represent the averages obtained from questionnaires received frca 362 reactor supervisors, 393 reactor operaters 44 reactor supervisor trainees and 139 reactor operator trainees. Differentiation between super-visors, operators, and trainees was based upon the designation of the re-spective contractors.
Lackground 3.0 Education and Experts a
3.1 General Tables 1, 2, and 3 illustrate the average educational and experience 864 J82
. I backgrounds of reactor supervisors (Supv.), operators (Tech.), and trainees in each of the nine reactor categories.
The Tables show the percentage of reporting supervisors, operators, and trainees who are high school graduates, have attended te.anical school and/or college, and have received baccalaureate or advanced degrees.
Operator educa-tional data encompasses high school, technical school, college, and graduate school. The average education in each. category was determited by sunsing all education and dividing by the number of supervisors, oper-ators, or trainees in the respective categories.
The total education spread shows the individual highest and lowest educational background in each reactor category.
Experience backgrounds listed in Tables 1-3 include three types of ex-perience.
The first is actual reactor operating experience as a meeber of an operating crew or full-time operator of a reactor facility.
Sec-ond, is other nuclear experience which encompasses operation, research, analysis or design in such fit ds as accelerators, nuclear weapons, chemical separation plants, etc.
Finally, non-nuclear experiener
- 4. s tabulated, and ence= passes all industrial and professional experience in areas of endeavor, which eacn operator considered important to his job as reactor operator.
Reactor operating experience spread shows the highest and lowest experience background in reactor operations of in-dividuals in each reactor category.
864 J83
. TABLE 1 REACIOR OPERATOR EDUCATION AND EXP131ENCE BACKGROUNL
- l
'PRODECTION EXPERIMENTALPOWkR REACTOR RFACTORS REACTORS EXPERIMENTS 1ech I
supy
i No. of Operators **
68 66 34 44 33 62 HS Graduate - %
03 61 100 91 97 92
=
Tech. School - %
10 15 41 73 27 31 3
College Attend. - 7.
63 86 82 43 91 37 y
College Degree - 7.
83 0
68 7
82 3
O 12 0
Advanced Degree - 7.
2 c
12 a
O Tot. Ed. Spread -yrs 1.0-20.0 8.0-15.5 11.0-21.0
.0-17.0 11.0-19.0 9.0-18.C cn Average Ed. - yrs 15.7 11.3 16.6 13.8 16.1 13.1 l
e
$c
. lea.Op.Exv.Sprd-yrs
'. 0- 15. 0 1.0-18.0 0.5-21.0 0.5-10.0 0.5-16.0 0.8-11.3 Ci
. Avg.Rea.Op.Exp.-yrs 7.9 6.9 5.7 4.0 6.9 5.3 5!
Avg.0ther Nuc,Exp.
I, s
yrs 0.6 0.1 2.2 1.2
.3. 2 2.2 U
Avg.Non-Nuc.Exp.-yrs 3.7 0.5 5.6 6.6
- '. 4 2.3 I
I l
l t
l No. of Traineea "
l 3
2 14 8
17 l
HS Graduate - 7.
100 bo 100 90.
100 94 I
50' 53 g
Tech. School - 7.
33 0
0 86 l
College Attend. - %
100 0
100 29 75 65 h
College Degree - 7.
100 0
100 7
38 6
Advanced Degree - 7.
0 0
0 0
0 0
{
O 19t.Ed.0pread - yrs 16.0-17.0 9.0-12.0 16.0-16.5 12.0-18.5 12.0-19.0 10.0-17.0l-
=
Aig. Educacian - yrst 16.7 U,6 16.3 14.4 15.1 14.0 1
l 5
i, l'
i M
l.
'T I
I-l' g
Rac.Op.Exp.Sprd-yrs 1.0-4.5 1.0-14.0 0.5-3.1 0.3-4.8 0.8-6.8
- 0. 8 -4. 0 g
Av3.Rea.0p.Exp. -yrs 3.7 2.7 1.3 1.6 3.3 1.6 g
Avg.0ther Nuc.Exp.-
ia yrs 0.7 0.6 8.1 1.8 3.2 4.0
}
A v3.,lon-Nuc. Exp. -yrs 2.3 0.7 1.5 5.4 3.6 5.8 i.. _
- Data reported as of February 1963
- Nu:nber of ccepleted Questionnaires returned to A':C 864 384 O
r
_ TA3LE 1 REACTOR OPERATOR EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE BACKGROUND
- GENERAL 1RRADIATION 1 RESEARCH REACTOR SYSTEM TEST REACTORS REACTORS EXPERIMENTS
.supv tech bupv fecn bupv u
lecn No. of Operators **
16 32 120 122 14 8
HS Graduate - %
100 1C0 98 88 100 100
=
Tech. School - 7.
19 22 26 45 36 63 3
College Attend. - 7.
100 97 84 27 93 75 y
College Degree-7.
100 94 72 6
86 0
55 Advanced Degree - 7.
0 0
22 2
14 0
5 Tot. Ed. Spread -yrs 16.0-19.0 13. 5-h' 0 11.5-21.0 8.0-20.5 14.'0-18.0 12.5-15.s cn 5
Average Ed. - yrs 16.7 16.4 16.2 13.2 16.6 13.6-e I
sc U
Rea.Op.Exp.Sprd-yrs 3.3-8.6 0.8-11.0 0,2-19.01 1.0-19.0 0.6-11.6
- 1. 5 - 7. '1 E
Avg.Rea.Op.Exp.-yrs 5.4 3.0 6.0 6.1 3.8 3.0 E
Avg.0ther Nuc.Exp.
E yrs 0.4 0.2 3.1 2.7 1.6 1.9 5
Avg.Non-Nuc.Exp.-yrs 1.6 1.4 2.6 3.3 3.7 3.4 No. of Trainees **
1 19 8
23 9
17 HS Graduate - 7.
100 100 100 l
96 100 94
=
Tech. School - 7.
100 11 50 74 56 71 3
College Attend. - 7.
100 100 100 61 89 47 y
College Degree - 7.
100 100 100 13 56 29
- s Advanced Degree - 7.
0 0
50 0
0 0
20 Tot.Ed. Spread - yrs 18.0 16.0-18.0 16.0-20.0 10.0-18.0 16.0-20.0 11.0-17.0 Avg. Education - yrs 18.0 16.6 17.3 13. 9 17.2 14.5 l
Ie i
I g
Rea.0p.Exp.Sprd-yr-4.3 0.6-1.4
- 0. 5 - 1. 0 0.1-4.1 0.2-10.0' O.4-11.5 Avg.Rea.Op.Exp. -yrs 4.3 0.7 0.6 0.8 1.5 1.4
=
d Avg.0ther Nuc.Exp.-
5 yrs 0
0.2 1.6 1.9 2.7 1.7 "g
Avg.Non-Nuc.Exp.-yrs 4.0 0.8 1.8 2.9 8.4 5.3
\\
- Data reported as of February 1963
- Number of ccmpleted Questionnaires returned to AEC 864 285 TABLE 3 REACTOR OPERATOR EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE BACKGROUND
- TEACHING CRITICAL SPECIAL TEST REACTCRS FACILITIES REACTORS bupv Aech dupy i
fecn supy
(
secn No. of Operators **
3 6
46 27 47 27 HS Graduate - %
100 100 100 93 100 93
=
Tech. School - %
0 50 24 48 1
22 3
College Attend. - 7.
100 83 98 85 100 37 y
College Degree - 7.
100 67 96 60 100 15 Advanced Degree - 7.
67 33 63 15 38 4
=a S
Tot. Ed. Spread -yrs 17.0-20.0 15.0-19.5 15.0-24.0 12.0-20.0 16.0-21.0 8.0-l'
)
rn Average Ed. - yrs 19.0 16.8 18.3 16.2 17.5 13.2 s
N o,
y Rea.Op.Exp.Sprd-yrs 4.9-11.5 0.3-5. 0 0.3-12.5 0.5-12.7 0.5-12.5 0.5-15.0 G3 Avg.Rea.Op.Exp.-yrs 8.9 3.4 3.2 2.9 3.5 4.2 E
Avg.0ther Nuc.Exp.
d yrs 7.7 4.7 6.7 3.4 4.5 4.7 U
Avg.Non-Nuc.Exp.-yrs 10.0 4.2 2.4 3.7 2.5 2.3 I
i No. of Trainees **
6 1
4 18 3
23 HJ Graduate - %
100 0
100 94 100 100
=
Tech. School - %
83 100 50 61 0
56 3
College Attend. - 7.
100 0
100 78 100 74 h
College Degree - 7.
67 0
100 61 100 56 Advanced Degree - 7.
17 0
0 50 67 13
- 2
!O 5
Tot.Ed. Spread - yrs 16.0-19. 0 11.0 16.0-21.0 13.0-20.0 17.0-19.0 12.0-19.0 5
Avg. Education - yrs 16.7 11.0 16.5 16.9 18.0 15.3 I
i e
I Rea.Op.Exp.Sprd-yrs 2.5-8.1 0.8 0.5-1.4 0.3-7. 0 0.1-1.9 0.1-6.0
- a S
Avg.Rea.Op.Exp. -yrs 4.3 0.8 1.1 1,7 0.3 0.3 y
Avg 0ther Nuc.Exp.-
p yrs 4.9 0
0 2.8 2.3 3.8 si Avg.Non-Nuc.Exp.-yrs 3.1 1.0 4.3 4.7 3.0 4.8
- Data reported as of February 1963
- Ntnber of completed Questionnaires returned to AEC dr64 J86
. 3.2 Suceivisor Backgrounds Reactor supervisors currently employed by AEC contractors generally possess a college or equivalent educational background.
The average educational background for all supervisors within a reactor category ranget frem 15.7 years at the Production Reactors to 19.0 years at the Teaching Reactors. Formal education of individual reactor super-visors currently supervising operations ranges frem 11.0 years at several facilities to 24.0 years at one of the Critical Facilities.
The educational background for sueervisors is much higher at the smaller, less complex Teaching and Critical Facilities.
This is to be expected, because of the academic atmosphere prevalent at the Teaching and Critical Facilities.
Reactor operating experience background of reactor supervisors compli-ments their fornal educational backgrounds.
Those who possess less formal education than the average generally possess a large amount of reactor operating experience. Highest and lowest average reactor op-erating experience of 8.9 years and 3.2 years exists among the reac-tor supervisory groups in the Teaching and Critical Facility reactor categories, respectively. However, the Teaching Reactor data has a small statistical basis, sinc 2 the AEC ewns only two reactors in this category. Therefore, 7.9 years of reactor operating experience at the Production Reactors is more representative of the highest experience background.
864 387
. While the reactor operating experience background is generally higher for the supervisors at the large, cemplex facilities, it is interest-ing to note that the total nuclear and non-nuclear experience does not vary greatly among the reactor categories. These data indicate that AEC contractors generally e= ploy mature, experienced supervisors with good educational backgrounds.
3.3 Ooerator Backarounds Qualified individual reactor operators who are currently operating AEC reactors possess formal education ranging frem 8.0 years at sev-eral facilities to 20.5 years at one of the Research Reactors. The average educational background for reactor operators ranges from 11.3 years at the Production Reactors to 16.8 years at the Teaching Reactors.
Average reactor operating experience ranges from 2.9 years at the Critical Facilities to 6.9 years at the Production Reactors. Here also, as in the case of the supervisory personnel, it can be noted that the educational backgrounds are higher for the operators of the smaller facilities than for the larger, complex reactors, and that the operating experience is generally higher at the larger, more com-plex facilities.
Tables 1-3 show that AEC contractors employ operators with good educa-tion and experience backgrounds. Where the education background is slightly low, the experience background is correspondingly high, pro-viding a balanced background between education and experience at each facility.
864 ]88
. 3.4 Trainee Backgrounds Generally, a college degree or equivalent experience is the present day minimum educational requirpment for reactor supervisors. The average educational background for supervisor trainees ranges from 15.1 years at the Reactor Experiments to 18.0 years at the General Irradia-tion Test Reactors and Special Test Reactors.
The spread in educational level for individual reactor supervisor trainees who are currently in training ranges from 12.0 years at one of the Reactor Experiment Facili-ties to 21.0 years at one of the Critical Facilities.
The average reactor operating experience of supervisor trainees varies from 4 months at the Special Test Reactors to 4.3 years at the General Irradiation Test Reactors and Teaching Reactors. Those supervisor train-ees who do not have a college degree possess an average of 6.7 years re-actor operating experience and 8.9 years of odter nuclear and non-nuclear experience.
Generally, a high school diploma or equivalent experience is the present day minimum for reactor operators. The average education varies from 11.0 years at the Teaching Reactors to 16.9 years at the Critical Fa-cilities. Average operating experience among operator trainees ranges from 4 months at the Special Test Reactors to 2.7 years at the Pro-duction Reactors. The spread in education background for individual reactor operator trainees ranges frem 9.0 years at one of the Pro-duction Reactors to 20.0 years at several of the Critical Facilities.
Reactor operator trainees who are not high school graduates have an 864 289 average of 2.8 years reactor operating experience and 8.0 years of other nuclear and non-nuclear experience.
Ic is evident from these data that supervisory and operator trainees who do not possess the minimum educational background, do possess operating experience that is greater than the average for all trainees.
It is also evident from the above that the academic and developmental nat$are of the small reactors requires a higher educational standard than that employed for the large, complex facilities where operations are mora or less routine.
Due to the small number of supervisor and operator trainees, these data do not provide the same statistical accuracy as that for the qualified operators and supervisors. However, they do illustrate the general trend in each reactor category toward increasing the minimum educational requirements for operating and supervisory applicants.
4.0 Training 4.1 Formal Training Formal lecture training programs are generally provided for operator and supervisory trainees at the more complex facilities, to a lesser extent at the small, simpler reaccors, and are usually tailored to the trainee's needs for performing his tssigned duties at the reactor facility. The formal programs generally consist of instructions in reactor physics, instrumentation and controls, standard and emergency operating procedures, radiological safety, facility design and general safety criteria for reactor operations and testing programs with great-est emphasis on the first three.
864 290 Training programs vary in length from 1 to 23 weeks for both super-visory personnel, and for reactor operators, depending on the com-plexicy of the facility.
Tables 4, 5, and 6 illustrate the training programs in effect at AEC-owned reactors, and show the average hours actually spent on formal training in each of the several topics. In most cases, the total length of the formal program is longer. Few formal training pro-grams are carried on a full-time basis, since the services of th'e trainees is often required in other capacities.
4.2 On-the-Job Training On-the-job training is provided for supervisory personnel and reac-tor operators at all AEC-owned reactors. Tables 4, 5, and 6 illus-trate these programs, and show the average hours devoted to training in several copics. At some facilities, training under the direct tutelage of a qualified supervisor is preferred to forms.1 on-the-job training' programs.
The training programs generally consist of training in control manipu-lations and reactor startups, equipment and fueling operations, in-strumentation testing and operation, and reactor maintenance.
The length and scope of on-the-job training is determined by the needs of the trainees, the complexity of the operations and varies frem 1 week to 3 years for supervisors, and 1 week to 4 years for operators.
864 29l
TABLE 4 REACIOR OPERATOR TRAINING AND QUALIFICATION PROGRAMS *
. PRODUCTION REACTORS EXP.PWR REACTORS REACTOR EXPERIMENTS Supv Tech Suev Tech Suov l Tech Number of Reactors 13 13 5
5 5
5 Training Prog. - %
100 62 80 100 100 100 ei Total Hours Spread 94-13 0 30 114-902 90-902 148-500 52-440 5
Total Hours Average 109 30 377 321 219 195
'5 Tot. Hrs Avg.Rea. Phys.
53 10 117 96 49 42 g
Tot.Rrs Avg. Rad.Sc2.
16 9
12 12 16 15 H
Tot. Hrs Avg. Inst.&
Control 7
2 34 30 17 16 h
Tot. Hrs Avg.Proced.
21 4
119 99 46 46 Tot. Hrs Avg.Fac. Des.
6 2
34 31 38 28 Tot. Hrs Avg. Misc.
6 3
61 53 53 48 raining Prog. - %
100 100 100 100 100 100
.atal Hours Spread 940-8500 500-8500 30-1400 530-1400 210-1030 122-1030 g
Total Hours Average 5666 5425 766 948 686 521 Tot. Hrs Avg. Control A
Manipulations 2510 2280 178 274 220 173 Y
Tot. Hrs Avg. Equip.&
L b
Fuel Operations 1510 1630 238 368 253 220 Tot. Hrs Avg. Inst.&
7 Testing Op.
615 540 63 30 47 32 Tot. Hrs Avg. Reactor 7
Maintenance 281 0
85 90 43 15 5
Tot. Hrs Avg. Misc.
75 0 975 222 186 123 81 Ab Written Exam. - 7.
62 62 80 100 60 80 jy Oral Exam. - 7.
62 0
60 80 80 80 cr - Manipulative Exam.-%
0 0
80 100 80 80 4
3 Traini.; Prog. - 7.
100 100 100 100 60 60 Q
Training Avg. Hrs 59 47 13 0 55 67 50 Written Exam. - %
0 0
0 0
67 67 D
Avg.Freq. - yrs 0.5 0.5 d
Manipulative Exam.-%
0 0
0 40 0
0 y
Avg.Freq. - yrs se
- Data reported as of February 1963 i
i 864 ')92
TABLE 5 REACTOR OPERATOR TRAINING AND QUALIFICATION PROGRAMS
- GEN. IRR. TEST REA.
RESEARCH REACTORS REACTOR SvS em l
Suev l Tech Suoy Tech Suov l Tech i
Number of Reactors 2
2 17 17 9
9 Training Prog. - 7.
100 100 77 77 100 100 e< Total Hours Spread 172 172 36-146 32-179 44-170 36-176 5
Total Hours Average 172 172 92 77 127 114
'5 Tot. Hrs Avg.Rea. Phys.
80 80 17 17 19 14 Tot. Hrs Avg. Rad.Saf.
9 9
14 17 13 12 H
Tot. Hrs Avg. Inst.&
j Control 14 14 17 7
15 14 g
Tot. Hrs Avg.Proced.
38 38 13 10 25 22 2
Tot. Hrs Avg.Fac. Des.
8 8
12 9
37 36 Tot. Hrs Avg. Misc.
23 23 19 17 18 16 Training Prog. - %
100 100 100 100 100 100 Total Hours Spread 1589-1594 1589-1594 62-1420 62-1600 90-965 90-750 o
Total Hiurs Average 1593 1593 753 772 617 458 3
Tot. Hrs Avg. Control 3
Manipulations 167 167 209 219 140 122 I
Tot. Hrs Avg. Equip.&
Fuel Operations 38 33 172 195 13 1 101 Tot. Hrs Avg. Inst.&
7 Testing Op.
10 10 64.
66 115 78 Tot. Hrs Avg. Reactor Maintenance 120 120 86 95 28 21 5
Tot. Hrs Avg. Misc.
1258 1258 222 197 203 136 Ab Written Exam. - 7.
100 100 65 71 100 100 hh Oral Exam. - 7.
100 100 59 88 56 56 cr g Manipulative Exam.-%
100 100 71 100 78 78 3
Training Prog. - 7.
100 100 81 81 78 78 h
Training Avg. Hrs 250 250 26 23 2
10 Written Exam. - %
0 0
31 31 71 71 N
Avg.Freq. - yrs 1.0 1.0 2.0 2.0 N
Manipulative Exam.-7.
0 0
0 0
71-71 h
Avg.7 req. - yrs 2.0 2.0 m:
- Data reported as of February 1963 864 M3 TABLE 6 REACTOR OPERATOR TRAINING AND QUALIFICATION PROGRAMS
- TEACHING REACIORS CRITICAL FACILITIES SP. TEST REACTORS Suov Tech Supe Tech Supv Tech Number of' Reactors 2
2 20 20 17 17 l
Training Prog. - %
0 0
28 41 29 35 e< Total Hours Spread 0
0 1-30 9-170 30-137 32-216 5
Total Hours Average 0
0 20 52 72 117
'5 Tot. Hrs Avg.Rea. Phys.
0 0
3 22 12 41 T- :. Hrs Avg. Rad.Saf.
0 0
1 6
9 15 H
rot. Hrs Avg. Inst.&
4 Control 0
0 3
6 15 17 h
Tot. Hrs Avg.Proced.
0 0
3 3
13 13 R
Tot. Hrs Avg.Fac. Des.
0 0
3 6
14 18 Tot. Hrs Avg. Misc.
0 0
7 9
9 13 Training Prog. - 7.
100 100 100 100 100 100 Total Hours Spread 39 261-282 44-6133 44-3740 120-5760 150-2105 g~
Total Hours Average 39 272 1542 860 1912 948 Tot. Hrs Avg. Control
~
Manipulations 2
71 370 202 429 221 f
Tot. Hrs Avg. Equip.&
L Fuel Operations 2
80 330 205 163 123 Tot. Hrs Avg. Inst.&
7 Testing Op.
1 20 92 48 329 107 Tot. Hrs Avg. Reactor y
Maintenance 3
20 90 69 101 83 5
Tot. Hrs Avg. Misc.
31 81 660 336 890 414
[
Written Exam. - 7.
0 0
35 47 18 29 N{ Oral Exam. - 7.
0 100 30 37 53 59 6..,, Manipulative Exam.-%
0 100 20 26 47 59 a
3 Training Prog. - 7.
0 100 72 71 88 100 k
Training Avg. Hrs 0
2 13 14 14 10 M
Written Exam. - 7.
0 0
31 16 14 12 Avg.Freq. - yrs 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 j
Manipulative Exam.-7.
0 0
23 33 36 31 g-Avg.Freq. - yrs 2.0 2.0 1.5 1.5 a:
- Data reported as of February 1963 864.)94
. The length of the training is usually greater for supervisory per-sonnel than for reactor operators, and stresses the analytical, diagnostic and control aspects vf reactor operations for supervisors.
A total breakdown of on-the-job training is difficult to obtain, since all time spent in operations by the trainee is usually considered training until the actual assignment of definite responsibility is made to the operator and/or supervisor.
Therefore, the average figures for on the-job training' presented in Tables 4-6 only reflect the amount of training in the listed topics.
5.0 Certification Qualification examinations are required by AEC operating contractors, and are commensurate with the functions and responsibilities that will be as-signed ta reactor operators and supervisors. The examinations consist of written, oral and/or manipulative demonstration of those aspects of reac-tor operations where the operator or supervisor trainee will have assigned responsibilities, and where the trainee has received training or possess previous experier.ce or education.
Successful completion of the examina-tions and formal certification by the operating contractor is required at all facilities as a prelude to assign =ent of full responsibility as a supervisor or reactor operator.
Formal written, oral, and manipulative examinations are required by most of the large complex reactor facilities, while a significantly smaller percentage of the Critical Facilities, and Special Reactors require for=al examinations in all three areas. These reflect the multiple and complex 864 295 responsibilities of supervisors and operators in the large facilities, and reflect the higher educational achievement and specialized operation general-ly characteristic of the small reactor facilities.
6.0 Recertification All operating contractors provide supplementary and refresher training for previously qualified reactor operators and supervisors. In some cases, the program c,onsists of formal lecture and on-the-job supplementary training and, in other cases, the refresher training is provided under the tutelage of a qualified supervisor on an informal, as needed, basis.
Tables 4-6 reflect data only for those facilities which have formal supple-mentary training programs in effect. It can be seen frem the Tables that many facilities require formal examination as a prelude to recertification.
However, this practice is relt.tively new, and is not in effect at all fa-cilities. The greatest majority of AEC owned reactor facilities recog-nize retraining and continued proficiency as a prime requirecent of opera-tions supervision and, therefore, the b= ediate qualified supervisor is charged with the responsibility for supplementary training and recertifica-tion of reactor operators and supervisors.
This is generally accomplished on an informal basis with a letter from the supervisor to the facility management as evidence of recertification.
In addition to the constant surveillance of the operating contractor's management and internal safety review co=mittees, the perfor=ance of opera-tors and supervisors at AEC-owned reactor f acilities is also subject to AEC inspection at any time. Formal operational inspections are ce=pleted b
hhb for AEC-owned re. actors at least once per year, and more frequently on fa-cilities having high operational and/or construction activity. Consequent to this fact, in many facilities less emphasis is placed upon formal re-examination and recertificatie. of previously certified operators, as com-pared to the continuing surveillance and audit of proficiency and safety of operations by direct supervision, internal safety cecmittees, and by the AEC.
f J
,