[en] This article is an overview of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission program for the evaluation and dissemination of the safety-related operating experience associated with all NRC-licensed reactors. It discusses the historical background and past problems that led to the recent formation of NRC's Office for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data (AEOD) and details its activities, organization, staffing, and proposed analysis and evaluation methodology. The programs of industry organizations and nuclear plant licensees and the integration of foreign operating experience are included in the overview. The problems and limitations of the Licensee Event Report (LER) program and the Nuclear Plant Reliability Data system program are discussed. The AEOD analysis and evaluation methodology program includes some new improvements in the assessment of safety-related operating experience. Of particular note is the sequence coding and search procedure being developed by AEOD under a contract with the Nuclear Safety Information Center at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This computer-based retrieval system will have markedly improved search strategy capability for such items as commoncause failures or complex system interactions involving various failure sequences and other relationships associated with an event. The system retrieves failure data and information on the principal LER occurrence and on related component and system responses. The computer-generated Power Reactor Watch List enables AEOD to monitor all critical or unusual situations warranting close attention because of potential public health and safety. This listing is supported by a preestablished computer search strategy of the historical data base permitting identification of all past events and statistical information that are applicable to the situation being watched