ML23082A071

Operator Licensing Examination Performance Trends Between Fiscal Years 2013 - 2022

ML23082A071
Person / Time
Issue date:	03/22/2023
From:	Cushing S NRC/NRR/DRO/IOLB
To:
References
Download: ML23082A071 (1)

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Operator Licensing Examination Performance Trends between Fiscal Years 2013 - 2022 The following 15 graphs illustrate the results of the initial operator licensing examinations (applicants taking retake exams are excluded). The graphs provide historical data of the performance of reactor operator (RO) and senior reactor operator (SRO) license applicants in both the written examination and the operating test. The graphs are presented based on the fiscal year (FY) in which the examination was administered for each of the last 10 FYs.

Reactor operator pass rates have remained consistent over the past decade (Figure 9),

whereas senior reactor operator pass-rates have steadily increased (Figure 10), which is primarily caused by better SRO performance on the operating test portion of the examination (Figure 8). Many factors may cause a change in applicant performance, including changes to examination standards (NUREG-1021) and to the facility licensees initiative to have more selective and stringent training programs. Yet the performance of the RO and SRO applicants have still displays relatively consistent characteristics. For ROs, in recent years, their overall pass-rate is generally around 90% or better (Figure 9) and their average grades are between 84% and 92% (Figure 1).

For SROs, Figure 2 and Figure 3 show that SRO applicants perform slightly better on the overall written examination (i.e., driven by the reactor operator section) than they perform on SRO-only section of the examination by a few percentage points. Figure 5 and Figure 6 indicate that the overall SRO written examination pass-rate is driven by the SRO-only section pass-rate.

The operating test pass-rate is approximately 98% to 100% for RO license applicants (Figure 7) and approximately 96% to 100% for SRO license applicants (Figure 8).

For each FY, Figures 11 and 12 show the percentage of the total number of examinations that had zero failures, one failure, two failures, etc. The charts illustrate that 70% or more of the RO and SRO written examinations over the past 10 years have had zero failures. Overall, over 90%

of written examinations result in two or fewer failures.

Figure 13 shows the number of written examinations authored by NRC (N) or the facility licensee (F) per FY and shows the pass-rates based on examination author.

Figure 14 provides written examination failure rate, operating test failure rate, and the overall failure rate for SRO and RO applicants combined over the past 10 fiscal years.

As shown in Figure 15, since 2007, RO and SRO license applicants fail the written examination portion more commonly than the operating test.

List of Figures Figure 1. Reactor Operators Written Exam Average Grades ...................................................... 3 Figure 2. Senior Reactor Operators Written Examination Overall Average Grades .................... 3 Figure 3. Senior Reactor Operators Written Examination, SRO-Only Section Average Grades . 4 Figure 4. Reactor Operators Written Examination Pass-Rates ................................................... 4 Figure 5. Senior Reactor Operators Written Examination Overall Pass-Rates ........................... 5 Figure 6. Senior Reactor Operators Written Examination, SRO-only Section Pass-Rates.......... 5 Figure 7. Reactor Operators Operating Test Pass-Rates ........................................................... 6 Figure 8. Senior Reactor Operators Operating Test Pass-Rates ................................................ 6 Figure 9. Reactor Operators Overall Pass-Rates ....................................................................... 7 Figure 10. Senior Reactor Operators Overall Pass-Rates .......................................................... 7 Figure 11. Reactor Operators Written Examination Historical Performance ............................... 8 Figure 12. Senior Reactor Operators Written Examination Historical Performance .................... 8 Figure 13. Initial Licensing Examination Performance Over Past 10 years: Facility-Developed vs. NRC-Developed ................................................................................................................... 9 Figure 14. Overall Failure Rates ................................................................................................ 9 Figure 15. Initial Licensing Examination Performance Since 2007: Failures of Written Examination vs. Operating Test ................................................................................................10 2

Figure 1. Reactor Operators Written Exam Average Grades

1. Reactor Operators Written Exam Average Grades 100.00 96.00 92.00 Grades (%)

88.00 84.00 80.00 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Fiscal Year RI RII RIII RIV Average Figure 2. Senior Reactor Operators Written Examination Overall Average Grades

2. Senior Reactor Operators Written Examination Overall Average Grades 100.00 96.00 92.00 Grades (%)

88.00 84.00 80.00 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Fiscal Year RI RII RIII RIV Average 3

Figure 3. Senior Reactor Operators Written Examination, SRO-Only Section Average Grades

3. Senior Reactor Operators Written Examination, SRO-Only Section Average Grades 100.00 96.00 92.00 Grades (%)

88.00 84.00 80.00 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Fiscal Year RI RII RIII RIV Average Figure 4. Reactor Operators Written Examination Pass-Rates

4. Reactor Operators Written Examination Pass-Rates 100.00 96.00 Pass-Rates (%)

92.00 88.00 84.00 80.00 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Fiscal Year RI RII RIII RIV Average 4

Figure 5. Senior Reactor Operators Written Examination Overall Pass-Rates

5. Senior Reactor Operators Written Examination Overall Pass-Rates 100.00 96.00 Pass-Rates (%)

92.00 88.00 84.00 80.00 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Fiscal Year RI RII RIII RIV Average Figure 6. Senior Reactor Operators Written Examination, SRO-only Section Pass-Rates

6. Senior Reactor Operators Written Examination, SRO-only Section Pass-Rates 100.00 96.00 Pass-Rates (%)

92.00 88.00 84.00 80.00 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Fiscal Year RI RII RIII RIV Average 5

Figure 7. Reactor Operators Operating Test Pass-Rates

7. Reactor Operators Operating Test Pass-Rates 100.00 96.00 Pass-Rates (%)

92.00 88.00 84.00 80.00 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Fiscal Year RI RII RIII RIV Average Figure 8. Senior Reactor Operators Operating Test Pass-Rates

8. Senior Reactor Operators Operating Test Pass-Rates 100.00 96.00 Pass-Rates (%)

92.00 88.00 84.00 80.00 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Fiscal Year RI RII RIII RIV Average 6

Figure 9. Reactor Operators Overall Pass-Rates

9. Reactor Operators Overall Pass-Rates 100.00 96.00 Pass-Rates (%)

92.00 88.00 84.00 80.00 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Fiscal Year RI RII RIII RIV Average Figure 10. Senior Reactor Operators Overall Pass-Rates

10. Senior Reactor Operators Overall Pass-Rates 100.00 96.00 Pass-Rates (%)

92.00 88.00 84.00 80.00 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Fiscal Year RI RII RIII RIV Average 7

Figure 11. Reactor Operators Written Examination Historical Performance

11. Reactor Operators Written Examination Historical Performance 100%

90%

80%

70%

Percent of Exams 60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Fiscal Year Exams w/ 0 Failure Exams w/ 1 Failure Exams w/ 2 Failures Exams w/ 3 Failures Exams w/ 4+ Failures Figure 12. Senior Reactor Operators Written Examination Historical Performance

12. Senior Reactor Operators Written Examination Historical Performance 100%

90%

80%

70%

Percent of Exams 60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Fiscal Year Exams w/ 0 Failure Exams w/ 1 Failure Exams w/ 2 Failures Exams w/ 3 Failures Exams w/ 4+ Failures 8

Figure 13. Initial Licensing Examination Performance Over Past 10 years: Facility-Developed vs. NRC-Developed

13. Initial Licensing Examination Performance Over Past 10 years:

Facility-Developed vs. NRC-Developed 100.0%

98.0%

96.0%

94.0%

92.0%

Pass-Rate 90.0%

88.0%

86.0%

84.0%

82.0% N:4 N:2 N:5 N:3 N:3 N:4 N:2 N:4 N:5 N:3 F:48 F:39 F:45 F:41 F:37 F:42 F:38 F:33 F:38 F:28 80.0%

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Fiscal Year NRC Written Exam Pass-Rate Facility Written Exam Pass-Rate NRC Op Test Pass-Rate Facility Op Test Pass-Rate NRC Overall Pass-Rate Facility Overall Pass-Rate Figure 14. Overall Failure Rates

14. Overall Failure Rates 10.00 8.00 Failure Rates (%)

6.00 4.00 2.00 0.00 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Fiscal Year

% of Overall Failures  % of Written Exam Failures

% of Op Test Failures Linear (% of Overall Failures) 9

Figure 15. Initial Licensing Examination Performance Since 2007: Failures of Written Examination vs. Operating Test

15. Initial Licensing Examination Performance Since 2007:

Failures of Written Examination vs Op Test 104 Op Test Failures 6769 Pass 449 Fail 345 Written Exam Failures Total # Passed # Written Exam Failures # Op Test Failures 10