NRC Generic Letter 1983-17

NRC Generic Letter 1983-017: Integrity of the Requalification Examinations for Renewal of Reactor Operator and Senior Reactor Operator Licenses

ML031080412
Person / Time
Site:	Beaver Valley, Millstone, Hatch, Monticello, Calvert Cliffs, Dresden, Davis Besse, Peach Bottom, Browns Ferry, Salem, Oconee, Mcguire, Nine Mile Point, Palisades, Palo Verde, Perry, Indian Point, Fermi, Kewaunee, Catawba, Harris, Wolf Creek, Saint Lucie, Point Beach, Oyster Creek, Watts Bar, Grand Gulf, Sequoyah, Byron, Pilgrim, Arkansas Nuclear, Three Mile Island, Braidwood, Susquehanna, Summer, Prairie Island, Columbia, Seabrook, Brunswick, Surry, Limerick, North Anna, Turkey Point, River Bend, Vermont Yankee, Crystal River, Haddam Neck, Ginna, Diablo Canyon, Callaway, Vogtle, Waterford, Duane Arnold, Farley, Robinson, South Texas, San Onofre, Cook, Comanche Peak, Yankee Rowe, Maine Yankee, Quad Cities, La Crosse, Big Rock Point, Rancho Seco, Zion, Midland, Bellefonte, Fort Calhoun, FitzPatrick, McGuire, LaSalle, 05000514, 05000432, 05000000, 05000496, 05000497, 05000515, Zimmer, Fort Saint Vrain, Washington Public Power Supply System, Shoreham, Satsop, Trojan, Bailly, Atlantic Nuclear Power Plant, Clinch River, Skagit, Marble Hill, Black Fox
Issue date:	04/08/1983
From:	Eisenhut D Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
To:
References
GL-83-017, NUDOCS 8304110354
Download: ML031080412 (2)

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K,< UNITED STATES < />

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D. C. 20555 April 8, 1983 TO ALL POWEM AMD NON-PflIER REACTOR LICENSEES, APPLICANTS FOR AN

OPERATING LICENSE AND HOLDERS OF A CONSTRICTION PERMIT

Gentlemen:

Sub 4ect: Integrity of the Requalification Examinations for Renewal of Reactor Operator and Senior Reactor Operator Licenses (Generic Letter 83-17)

Recently, an investiqation was completed which' determined that a senior official at a nuclear power plant certified to the NRC that a licensed individual had successfully completed the licensed operator requalifi- cation program, when in fact, that individual had cheated by submitting another person's work in response to some examination ouestions.

Such an individual has not successfully completed the requalification proqram and has not discharged his licensed responsibility in a safe and competent manner, as required by 10 CFR Part 55. Furthermore, it should be noted that cheating on examinations which are used to certify indivi- uals to the NRC will result in an automatic denial of a license applica- tion or license renewal and could result in.more severe penalties.

The purpose of this letter is to highlight the need for you to ensure that the validity of the certifications reauired by 10 CFR Part 55 and the integrity and honesty of the requalification program are adequately addressed in facility procedures. You should review your procedures on this subject to ensure that an applicant's individual performance can be determined. Your procedures should include provisions to detect and prevent instances of cheating. In particular, unproctored examinations, take-home quizzes and on-shift tests allow ample opportunity for cheating which could go undetected and, therefore, are not an acceptable means for certifying individual performance. While some portions of examinations may be conducted in an open-book format (e.g., use of steam tables on thermodynamics problems or use of facility procedures and drawings during oral examinations), adequate monitoring provisions are essential to ensure that the persons being evaluated are working independently and are using only authorized instructional or reference materials.

8304110354

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-2- No submittals of procedures or results of your procedure reviews reouired by this letter; however, we will review these procedures are as a part of our audits of the licensed reactor operator and senior operator reaualification programs. reactor A I

Darrell G. Eisenhut, Director Division of Licensing h

6 &,,aaax OFFICE a . ........

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NRC FORM 318(10-80) NRCM 0240 O FFICIA L R EC O RD C OPY SGPO: 19814-3ffe96