Operator Licensing Examinations (Generic Letter 88-13)

                                UNITED STATES
                        NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
                           WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555

                               August 8, 1988

TO ALL POWER REACTOR LICENSEES AND APPLICANTS FOR AN OPERATING LICENSE

Gentlemen:

Subject:  OPERATOR LICENSING EXAMINATIONS (GENERIC LETTER 88-13)

To plan for the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) resources to be
consistent with your operator licensing needs, NRR needs the best estimate
of your operator licensing examination requirements for fiscal years 1989,
1990, 1991, and 1992. Please provide the anticipated number of candidates and
dates or each requested licensing examination site visit in the proposed
format provided as Enclosure 1. Also, please provide the dates for your
scheduled requalification examinations during the same fiscal years in the
proposed format provided as Enclosure 2. Your voluntary input will be used
to update the schedules you provided in response to Generic Letter 87-14.

In the absence of overriding circumstances, budget limitations dictate that
the staff limit initial and replacement examinations to two visits per site
each year, with one additional site visit per year dedicated to
requalification examinations. Every attempt will be made to provide
examination services at the times requested, however, excessive demand during
any particular time, period may require rescheduling site visits to maintain
the examiner workload within reasonable limits. Specific examination dates
will be confirmed or rescheduled through direct liaison with the NRC Regional
Offices.

In an effort to optimize examiner utilization, the United States Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC) intends to implement a national examination
schedule on October 1, 1989. This schedule will enable the NRC to equalize
the workload of examiners across the nation so that Regional and contract
examiners are employed at a relatively constant rate throughout the year. 
As currently planned, the FY 1990 schedule will become the baseline for
future fiscal year national examination schedules. It is envisioned that,
with minor modifications, the same schedule will be used year after year,
thereby allowing you to plan your training efforts with greater confidence
that your licensing examinations will be administered on their designated
dates, while at the same time enabling NRC to more efficiently employ its
limited examiner staff.

As in the past, it is imperative that you provide your best estimate of your
examination needs for each fiscal year through 1992. Your submittal will not
guarantee that the staff can administer examinations on the dates requested,
however, every effort will be made to do so. Once the national schedule is
implemented, your operator licensing and requalification examinations should
be expected on approximately the same dates every year. Your estimates of
licensing examination requirements for future fiscal years will be solicited
primarily to determine the number of candidates to be examined so that NRC
may modify its budget and staffing accordingly.


                                    -2-                         AUG 08 1988

Your schedules, to be submitted on the enclosed suggested formats, should be
returned to Mr. John Hannon, Chief, Operator Licensing Branch, OWFN-10D-18,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, with a courtesy
copy to the appropriate Regional Administrator by September 1, 1988. We
appreciate your assistance in this matter and invite you to address any
questions concerning this request or your response to Mr. John Hannon at
(301) 492-1031.

This request is covered by Office of Management and Budget Clearance Number
3150-0131 which expires August 31, 1988. The estimated average burden is two
man-hours per licensee response, including assessment of the new
requirements, searching data sources, gathering and analyzing the data, and
preparing the required reports. Comments on the accuracy of this estimate and
suggestions to reduce the burden may be directed to the Office of Management
and Budget, Room 3208, New Executive Office Building, Washington, DC 20503,
and to the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Records and Reports
Management Branch, Office of Administration ana Resource Management,
Washington, DC 20555.

                                   Sincerely, 


                                   Frank J. Miraglia, Associate Director 
                                     for Projects 
                                   Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation 

Enclosures:
1.   Proposed Operator Licensing Examination Schedule Format 
2.   Proposed Requalification Examination Schedule Format