Move Over Homer Simpson: MCCC Training Nuke Plant Techs

The population may be aging, but so are the men and women who operate nuclear power plants in the United States.

“When the school was first contacted by Exelon (around three years ago) to develop this program, [Exelon was] concerned that their workforce of older workers was ready to retire,” said H. Thomas Tucker, assistant professor of engineering and coordinator of the Nuclear Engineering Technology program at Montgomery County Community College, in an e-mail interview. “[Exelon] wanted to start to train a younger work force for their nuclear plants.”

When the program was first introduced, Exelon, which operates 10 power plants and 17 reactors, including nuclear power plants at Limerick, Peach Bottom and Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, anticipated the retirement of more than 200 operators over the ensuing several years, Tucker said.

Since the program began, the U.S. economy changed the landscape.

“Even though the economic recession may have prompted some operators to postpone retirement, the fact remains that few operators are under the age of 50. There is no one in the pipeline,” Tucker said. “The economic change has also produced older students who are retraining.  They have become about half of the new students each semester! Some of these older students already have B.S. and master’s degrees in other unrelated subjects.”

In the past, technicians were trained on the job, arriving at the plant with a high school diploma or experience in the armed forces.

However, according to Tucker, today those jobs require an associate’s degree.

Toss those ideas about the lack of rigor in community college math and science classes.

Tucker said that two types of engineering degrees are available at the college. 

The transfer program (AS) starts engineering students in calculus I and takes them through five high-level math classes. The technical engineering program (AAS) requires a minimum of pre-calculus I and II.

“All the sciences require the student to be able to do calculus or at least pre-calculus,” he said.  “Many students graduating from high school cannot test into these math classes.  They must take a placement test to insure that they can do college-level math and science that is a standard across all colleges. The science classes are chemistry and physics.  These classes must be completed before they can take many of the engineering classes.”

According tyo Tucker, after successfully completing this program, students are eligible for entry-level employment in the nuclear energy workforce.

“Examples of job employment opportunities for program graduates include instrumentation and controls technician, electrical maintenance technician, mechanical maintenance technician, water chemistry technician and radiation protection technician.”

 “These are the people who operate the plant, who make the critical decisions. It’s important work,” Tucker said.

“We do not have a placement program for the graduates,” Tucker added. “Exelon does help. Students have a chance to work during the summer between the first and second

year at a nuclear plant to gain real world experience.

“In this economy, there aren’t many industries that are hiring and that will continue to be hiring for quite some time,” he said. “Also, there aren’t many degree programs — associate’s or bachelor’s – where a graduate can start at $70,000 — and that’s without overtime.”

For Arianne Masten of Lansdale, the NET program is a big step toward her future as an electrical engineer. Masten first enrolled at the college as an engineering science major, but when the NET program was introduced, she changed her focus. In May, she became the program’s first graduate, earning an Associate in Applied Science degree in Nuclear Engineering Technology.

Masten was able to complete the NET program quickly, thanks to the STEM Scholars Program, which offers full-tuition scholarships for academically talented and financially eligible students majoring in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and related disciplines.

She still plans to pursue a four-year degree, but she’ll work as a nuclear operator on the way to her goal.

“Exelon has great job placement and tuition assistance,” said Masten, who interned last summer at Exelon’s Oyster Creek facility in Forked River, N.J.

The goals of the program don’t mention salary. Program outcomes as defined by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology enable students to demonstrate mastery of the discipline and apply that mastery to applied mathematics, science, engineering and technology, Tucker said. Students are also expected to be able to perform experiments and apply the results to improve processes and to apply creativity to designing systems and processes in the field.

Tucker said other program goals are broader: Students are expected to function effectively on teams, solve technical problems, communicate effectively, behave ethically and respectfully and to realize the need for lifelong learning.

For more information about the NET or STEM Scholars programs, visit www.mc3.edu/academics.