Nuclear University

What are the advanced features in your software?
All memberships gain full access to our intuitive web community. Features include the ability to take tests online, print tests, diagnostic score reports, and communicate with other students and instructors though the bulletin board. The highlight of the system is the software that delivers the practice tests.
Our test delivery software is fast and intuitive. We strive to make the experience as similar to the actual NRC GFES as possible. Once you complete an exam, you will receive a detailed diagnostic report on your performance.

Are my scores on the practice tests comparable to the scores on the real test?
The scores you achieve on the practice exams are an estimate of the scores you should achieve on an actual NRC administered exam. It is important for you to understand that the conditions under which you take practice tests only approximate the conditions of an actual administration. Factors that are known to affect score performance, such as your emotional and mental preparedness and the physical surroundings, will differ somewhat for the practice test and a nationally administered NRC GFES exam.

How many tests and questions does Nuclear University Exambank Online include?
The Online Exambank includes an ever growing number of practice questions and exams from the NRC. Currently there are over 3000 questions and 37 past exams in both the PWR and BWR sections.

Can I print the practice tests?
Yes. The tests are in a formatted PDF file that when printed, is similar to the paper test you will receive when you take the real NRC GFES. However, we strongly encourage students to provide the selected answers online to ensure the student tools are accurate.

How did you get started?
We gave a speech at CONTE 2011 after delivering a white paper on leveraging technology in the nuclear industry. We received wonderful feedback so decided to finish the idea of an online university tailored for our industrial users.
The GFES tools on the site have been really well received and we are now expanding into an online SRO certification course (with help from some good simulator friends) and have conceptualized many other useful courses.
We took our idea and, in keeping with Jack Welch's philosophy,"shamelessly borrowed" on an already good idea. Khan academy (www.khanacademy.org) is a wonderful onsite teaching tool that our children use so we emulated an already successful implementation of our idea and merged it with the NRC GFES exam bank (www.nrc.gov).

Thank You Sal Khan

How are you funding/making money off of this?
All of us at Nuke U have full time jobs. Presently we are not charging for any of the educational services offered by the site but foresee a time when bandwidth costs and development may require a fee. I

The job-board is fee driven by employers and advertising may also generate revenue to support the site.

Are you interested in VC funding?
Yes, but right now we are focusing on making the site an excellent tool for learning. We haven't had the time to really conceptualize what we would do with external capital to make the site better.

What is the long-term goal for Nuclear University?
With an aging workforce and attrition at unseen levels, we hope to bridge the learning gap that is being created by the loss of so much talent. We are striving to create a world-class virtual school where anyone can learn fundamentals, systems, AOP's, EOP, Technical Specifications...anytime, anywhere. Standardized Operating Experience (OE) lessons based upon SOER's and other hot topics are also planned.

What equipment do you use to make your videos?
I use Camtasia Recorder ($200) + SmoothDraw3(Free) + a Wacom Tablet ($789) on a PC. A much cheaper version of the tablet is available if you decide to become a contributor to the site.

(Incidentally, this is what Khan uses and that's why we chose this equipment)

What curricula are you following?
If the course of instruction is NRC licensing related we generally follow the associated KA catalog (NUREG 1122/1123). For courses that reference a standard (i.e. ANSI 3.1) we rigorously ensure the standard is met in our delivery.
How many times can I take the practice tests?
There is no limit to the number of times you can take the practice tests.

I have an Apple Mac. Can I use it the Online Exambank?
Yes. Nuclear University supports Safari and Firefox browsers on the Mac.

Why are some of the symbols in the test not properly displayed?
When we originally imported the questions into our database we did not have it configured to display some of the very special characters in our exam bank. It has since been fixed but we may have missed a few. Contact us and we'll correct them.