Let's assume you're past GFES, which some plants count as part of License Class, and some do not. Counting it not, Systems is the first part of Reactor Operator License Class, which will have not only Reactor Operators, but also Senior Reactor Operators. Yes, they are in the same classroom, and take the same exams. (Until the very end)
Our last class had exams every other week, while the class before had exams every week. 80% was a minimal passing score, but anything below an 85%, or two standard deviations out from the pack, and you were in a remedial program. There's a lot of classtime, not so much self study time. A lot of classes run right next to each other.. So, you may have 4 hours of Power Block AC, followed after lunch by 4 hours of Reactor Coolant System. When do you study for exams, you may be wondering? You might think that you'll just pick up what you need to know while sitting in class, and indeed, there are occasional individuals who do learn that way. But the other 95% of us spent nights and weekends reading through lesson plans, the USAR, tech specs, system drawings and prints, and taking field trips to the plant to walk things down. There is occasional time when you'll visit the simulator, so you can see how things work on the boards, and start to become accustomed to component locations on the boards. Systems at my plant runs about 13 weeks. There is a final at the end.
Students rarely quit license class.. but they do leave. You get to the end of systems with your 81% average, and it might be time to cull you from the herd, depending upon site needs.
After systems, normal ops, which is a 3 or 4 week period where you learn more about... Normal ops. Lots of control board time in the simulator, running GENs to take the plant up and down, and this culminates with a reward of performing a simulated startup, from pulling rods to power reaching the power range. This is a graded exercise, and counts as a reactivity manipulation, of which you'll need about 5 on your qual card. Once you get through normal ops, the class might split into two sections. One will remain in class, while the other joins a crew on shift with their new qual card. Stand watches, take logs, get check outs, perform evolutions, and learn about what happens in the plant. The other half of the class will remain in the classroom, and begin Off Normal Procedures (name may vary). Because requal owns the simulator during the day, guess when you get to practice? Right! From 4-8, or 8-12, or even 12-4 AM. So, during this period, you'll sit through several hours of lecture, then head to the simulator to reinforce the lessons learned. After a month or so, you'll switch, head to the plant, and the other group will come back for classroom/Sim phase. You can kill the first year getting through Systems, Normal Ops, and Abnormal Ops. You may have an outage in there.. We stopped class and participated in the outage my class.. Last class, we taught straight through the outage. (Less $$$)
Along the way, there may be oral boards, mini audits, simulator evaluations, and lots and lots of tests. You'll learn to hate those tests, as they can be pretty stressful.
We had an analogy for how difficult it was in systems, how much info,and how fast its presented. Imagine you're driving through a town. You go on the main street past 15 side streets, and then, once on the other side of town, I ask you... 3rd street, 5th house from the corner, left side.. What was the house number? It's difficult, somefolks who have never failed at anything they've tried don't make it through.
Hope that gives you a flavor of a year of class.
