Stress, undue stress, and the operation requalification examinationprocess

摘要

Individuals licensed to operate US commercial nuclear powerfacilities are required by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) topass a periodic requalification examination in order to maintain theirlicense. In a regulatory impact survey conducted by the NRC, theseexaminations were cited by the nuclear industry as a significant sourceof stress on operators. The potential for undue stress to unnecessarilydegrade operator performance in the examinations prompted a study toidentify the specific sources of undue stress and potential methods ofreducing the stress. This study was conducted using interviews,examination observations, and questionnaires. The results indicate thatthe three fundamental sources of undue stress are: (1) repeated changesin the examination process, (2) inconsistency in interpretation of theguidelines for administering the examination, and (3) specificexamination content and grading practices