..............Before you all jump on me for that statement, please note that I said it was a "general statement". I can name several RRPTs that I wouldn't trust to turn a meter on let alone actually use it properly. At the same time, I can also name several Techs that couldn't pass the exam if they had to but are excellent in the field. That statement can be made for almost any certification program.
IIRC (it's been a long, long time) there were "references" or "sponsors" or "mentors" who were required to attest to the experience of the candidate as part of the application package.
If those persons are still required, and if those persons do not take their attestation seriously, then the NRRPT does become a sheepskin for folks who can test well but not implement well, known once upon a time as "head smart and hand stupid".
There are remedies to all this, yet without a standardized, coast to coast, "brotherhood", the vagaries of the radiation protection workforce will remain something akin to herding cats.
I think, actually I know, the cats like it this way.
Why did so many people take the NRRPT Exam in the early 90's? Why are so few people taking it these days?
IMNSHO:
there were 2 big pushes beginning in the late 80s and dissipating in the mid 90s:
1st - the brotherhood push, aka IBEW this or that, or the posers out of D.C., which tried to herd the cats into a bargaining unit,...
2nd - the "industry" counterpush which established the perception of the cat population as a herd of non-aligned, registered or certified "semi professional freelancers" who earned work based on their individual ability with contract companies acting as little more than "Kelly Girls" who wrote the paychecks and administered the regulated costs (FICA, IRS, etcetera),...
to this end; getting behind any type of registration, testing, core quals, etcetera in the here and now works out better in the long term than dealing with a bargaining unit for the interminable future,...
it also serves to fracture the united brotherhood, if the best, most experienced and brightest are doing better for themselves without a brotherhood, then those self-motivated, individuals with the stronger skillsets are not as likely to be involved in the organizing efforts,...
which deprives the organizing efforts of the valuable assistance and influence of it's best and brightest amongst the broader population of the cat herd,...
do not get me wrong: the industry knows how to work with a union effectively, but, in most cases, it is simpler to deal with an individual cat than a cat bargaining unit, and simpler tends to be less costly,...
if one reviews the graph in the opening post the influences stated in this post are either fairly correct or a really cool coincidence, as the NRRPT numbers before and after the influences outlined in this post are consistent in their similarity,...
enjoy the day,....