Basic information for someone looking at industry
Hello , first thanks to anyway taking the time to look at this and attempt to help me out.
I am an ex navy nuke (ET) and have been out of the field working as an electronics field service engineer for the last 10 years, but am looking at getting back into operations.
Due to the new fatigue rules (at least that's my understanding) several operations apprentice positions have opened up at a facility near me and I have applied for one and been asked to test for it at least.
The POSS test seems to be simple enough but the GFES test sure doesn't seem like a normal preemployment aptitude test, seems someone would have to have already have had some pretty specific training to do well on it. Does anyone know how this test is used to determine employment is it a pass/fail pass it or you don't get a job or is it just a guideline used to help determine the best candidates. Just gleaming over the study guide it seems like it would be rather difficult to find many people to pass it pre employment. I'm fairly confident in my ability to pass it after some study since I have had similar training in the Navy but am just curious it really seems it would be extremely difficult to find many people to pass that test if its anything like the study guide.
My main point of interest though is the organization of the plant and the different jobs, if I'm hired as a operations apprentice does that mean I'm training as a RO or does that mean I'm coming in to stand fire watches. I see in these forums people talking about non licensed operators, ROs and SROs. Do you have to work for so many years as a non licensed operator before you can get licensed or is it strictly an academic standard pass the appropriate test stand the appropriate under instruction watches and your licensed.
I assume starting off I will take a pay cut from my current position as a field service engineer and that's acceptable, but how quickly does the scale go is it fairly flat till you get a SRO license or does it increase all along fairly linearly increasing with each new qualification.
Any information about the structure of the civlian plant operations and how they work would be greatly appreciated, I hate going into a situation completly blind and such information has been difficult to find online. It would be nice to be able to learn a little about exactly how things work so as to not waste my or a potential employers time.
I have applied at the Wolf Creek facility in Kansas.
Well the job posting says under Position Minimum Requirements:
it doesn't quite look like my nuke school final but it certainly doesn't look like stuff that would be common knowledge or the knowledge of would indicate "aptitude" instead of specific training. Any way that was more just a curiousity question as I understand it they are suppose to be hiring 18 people and I just personally find it hard to imagine finding 18 people in rural Kansas (or willing to travel to rural Kansas to take a test for a chance at a job) that could pass such a test, maybe I underestimate the amount of people with such training or who can cram a lot of information into their head in a week or two.
Thank you very much for the information it provided me a good guide of how the training and advancement from NLO to RO to SRO goes, I'm sure it varies somewhat from plant to plant but the general idea I imagine is similar.
Another thing that surprised me is the job posting on monster list a very wide range of salaries for the position ($15.33-$29.25), normally the salary range on a job posting is starting salary depending on qualifications. I would assume in this case the salary range is actually you start at the bottom of the range while your in the classroom and progress towards the top reaching the top listed range when you are fully qualified as a non licensed operator, but if that is true it seems a very odd way to list the salary on monster and would think it would result in a lot of disaapointed applicants thinking that they could start out a lot closer to that higher range than they will.
Lastly just another curiousity issue, how long till the new "fatigue" rules are suppose to go in place ? If qualifying as an RO is a 4 year process it seems that it would be extremely difficult to bring the necessary extra people in to meet the new rules and while hiring now is better than doing nothing it will be a long time before it puts extra ROs in the watch rotation.
At TVA starting pay for an AUO class is about $22 per hour, and full AUO pay is right at $29 per hour. I don't know what the job posting salary range means.
Maybe someone from Wolf Creek can answer more specific questions.
The fatigue rule is law right now, however I believe plants are in the grace period and are not required to comply with it until towards the end of 2009. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
Yes, you are correct there is not enough time to train a class to have in place by the time the fatigue rule hits unless it's a 'fast track' type program that consists of previously qualified people that complete the class quickly (I was a navy nuke, we had a class of navy nukes that qualified as AUO's in 6 to 8 months in 1992).It's impossible to go from 'on the street' to RO or SRO in that time frame. If wolf creek is just now worrying about staffing for that, they are behind most of the industry. Plants do hire and train non-licensed operator classes regularly to maintain staffing levels, this may not have anything to do with the fatigue rule.
I would guess the GFES they are talking about is a generic test administered by the site just to gauge your aptitude. I doubt it's a full blown GFES exam, and it most certainly will not be the GFES required for a license (the real GFES is an NRC written test given twice per year).
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Mr Blacketer,
While I am not at liberty to openly discuss all of our hiring strategies, I can tell you that this hiring effort is in support of the new fatigue rule and to account for attrition. The GFES exam that we give is a quiz in the style of the NRC GFES exam, but does not contain plant specific questions - that just wouldn't be fair. I have sent you my direct contact information. Please contact me if you have additional questions about these positions and our pay structure.
Thanks,
Alex Partridge, jopartr@wcnoc.com
Supervisor Operations Training
Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation
Which plant are you thinking about applying at? There is probably someone on here that can give you specific information about that particular plant and/or company. At my company (TVA) we require a 2 year degree or equivalent (Ex Navy Nuke is considered equivalent) to be considered for a non-licensed operator position. We require candidates to take the EEI exam which is an aptitude type test. I don't know of anyone that would require you to take a GFES pre-employment unless it's just to judge what your current knowledge level is.
The positions in operations are typically as follows:
1. Non-Licensed operator. They are called different things, TVA calls them AUO's or Assistant Unit Operators. This position requires 18 months to 2 years of training and the responsibilities include watch standing in the plant, equipment operation and monitoring in the plant (not the main control room), valve/equipment lineups, and clearance(equipment tagouts) placements for maintenance. You are 'the eyes and ears' of the control room operators. At TVA, this is a union position (hourly with overtime). At TVA, the pay increases at steps throughout the training, 'topping out' once you are fully qualified
2. Reactor operator. At TVA we call them Unit Operators or Reactor Operators. They are licensed by the NRC to operate the plant from the main control room. The training is again typically 18 to 24 months and the requirements are 3 years of power plant experience at the AUO level. Navy Nuc training counts by 1/2. This position at TVA is an upgrade position from AUO, and not typically filled directly from the outside.This is also a union position at TVA.
3. Senior Reactor Operator. At TVA they are also called Unit Supervisors. They are the senior licensed individual and supervise the plant from the main control room. We have 2 Unit Operators and one Unit Supervisor per nuclear unit, which is typical. To qualify to go into SRO training, one must be a UO with 2 years (I think) of experience, OR by a person with an engineering or technical bachelors degree, with some time working at the plant which the person is getting the senior license. This alternate path is called 'instant SRO'. The training is the same as for UO, 18 to 24 months. This is a management position at TVA.
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