Generating Jobs
Military talent fuels the growing nuclear power industry. Veterans needed now to fill open positions!
By Marty Levine 

It may not be possible to have a more varied Air Force career than Keith Britt.

Britt began his active duty in 1993 as a law enforcement specialist in a patrol car, then became a chaplain’s assistant before transitioning to the Air Force Reserve in 2001. As a Reservist, he was trained as an air transportation specialist – building and loading large palettes of cargo as part of a Red Horse Squadron (Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineer), which operate worldwide.

“You can fly us into an area that has a somewhat useable runway and we repair the runway so you can bring in larger aircraft,” he said, something his unit accomplished at Forward Operating Base Dwyer (now Camp Dwyer) in southern Afghanistan.

Since 2009, the second lieutenant has been an engineer with the Virginia Air National Guard.

“The highlight of my service is the fact that I’ve been able to do many things and hone it down to what I really like, which is engineering,” Britt said. “This is my home now.”

His home is also at Dominion, one of America’s biggest energy producers, serving customers in multiple states. Britt works as an engineer at Surry Nuclear Power Station in Surry, Va. 

Not Just Navy Nukes
The nuclear industry is on the upswing, and so is hiring, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) in Washington, D.C. As many as 25,000 of the 120,000 nuclear energy workers are projected to retire or leave their jobs by 2016, according to Elizabeth McAndrew-Benavides, manager of industry infrastructure for the NEI. The industry is seeking veterans from all military branches – not just Navy nuclear veterans.

Dominion, for instance, is looking for more nuclear engineers, control room operators, electricians, mechanics and nuclear security officers at starting salaries that are market competitive within the nuclear industry.  In addition, Dominion offers a competitive benefit package. 

‘I was really lucky’
Keith Britt’s route to Dominion and the nuclear industry was just as winding as his Air Force career. He attended a vocational high school, having little interest in college. “I like working with my hands,” he said. “I’m an outdoors guy. I know how to fix stuff.”

After separating from active duty, however, Britt realized he would need a college degree if he wanted to pursue his interest in engineering. He spent the next six years using the Montgomery GI Bill to pursue a bachelor’s degree in engineering. In the fall of his senior year, he attended a job fair, where he caught the attention of Dominion. “I was definitely not the typical college graduate,” he said. For one, he was 33 years old. “I was really lucky.”

Hard-earned luck
Britt worked hard to have that kind of luck. Part of his job-seeking preparation involved translating his Air Force experience into terms the civilian world could understand.

“The biggest asset was my wife,” he said. “I would sit down and try to crunch something out, then ask her, ‘Would you give me your honest feedback?’” His college counseling department also helped him with his résumé. “I tried to capture as much of what would be important, and what would say, ‘This guy is responsible, he was under stress and he made decisions.’” 

Connecting With Vets
Sharing a military background with his supervisor and so many colleagues also helped tremendously.

“Especially in a nuclear plant, there are a lot of ex-military,” he said. “The guy who hired me is former Navy. There is a connection there. Knowing I had the military experience, the discipline and everything that comes with it, they appreciated that. I was lucky landing a job at a place that had a lot of military in it. I can’t imagine doing anything else. It’s like a nuclear vessel and everybody is on the ship and they’re working together.”

But adjusting to the civilian work force still took some time. He recalls that his first evaluations noted his willingness to work late hours. “One of the things my supervisor appreciated about me was that I was an over-communicator,” another holdover from the his service days, Britt said.  It was nice to receive this recognition and for these traits not to be taken for granted. 

Safety at Surry
Dominion paid for Britt’s professional certification and put him through six months of what he calls “basic engineering training – everything you’d need to work in a nuclear plant and in an industrial setting.”

Today, his job is making sure the Surry Nuclear Power Station can continue to operate safely.

“This plant is older – it’s got a lot of parts that were built in the ’60s,” he said. This is why Dominion has engineers at the plants to upgrade and maintain equipment.  When a part needs to be replaced, it’s Britt’s job to find the equivalent piece meeting technical specifications and plant design. Plus, he has to document it all. 

Reserve- and Guard-Friendly
Britt greatly values Dominion’s attitude toward those serving in the Reserve and Guard. The company has a military liaison (who is a military spouse) to help make sure both activation and reintegration happen smoothly. Britt also appreciates that Dominion provides gap pay to its employees for those periods. “That’s huge, especially today,” he said. “They think of me as an important enough employee, as a policy, that they want to do that above and beyond the law.

“I’m trying to recruit people from my unit to work here,” he added. “Without a doubt, Dominion is great and Surry is great. They’ve taken very, very good care of me.” 

Winding Path to Westinghouse
Ben Walker’s path to becoming a site manager for two of the four nuclear plants Westinghouse Electric is building in China wasn’t always clear either, even though he entered Nuclear Propulsion Officer Candidate School shortly after joining the Navy in 1994. Today, Walker is module fabrication manager for Westinghouse, which provides fuel, services, technology, plant design and equipment for the commercial nuclear electric power industry.

Walker received his commission in February 1995, attending nuclear power school in Orlando, Fla., and training in reactors on a nuclear prototype in upstate New York. He graduated from ship-driving school in Newport, R.I., before working aboard the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman.

“I went to a ship that was new construction, and I thought it was going to be a shiny new ship where everything works,” Walker recalled. Rotating crews working 12-hour days did all the systems testing and turnover. It was a bunch of 18- and 19-year-olds led by a 23-year-old, he said. “Every day was a new adventure. We’d just do the craziest procedures. They used to say you had to read the manuals and get ready for the next day’s testing, and there wasn’t time because we were so busy.

“Ninety-nine percent of the time it went well, but occasionally there was a problem … It was pretty high stress.”

Getting It Done
The ship housed systems that had never been used before, including an electric rod drive with no moving parts. “We’d blow the circuit board, at $100,000 each board, and we’d go through them like candy,” Walker said. “You’re just walking through the dark, trying to figure it out. But these guys, time and time again, were able to figure it out.”

The crews still got the ship tested three months ahead of schedule, Walker said. “Even if you’re there for long hours, everybody was motivated to get things done. I keep in touch with these same guys. I guess we have a bond.” He likened it to Navy boot camp – the drill instructor is the common enemy so you all bond as a team.  The high stress work environment had the same effect. “We had each other’s backs.

We never pulled rank.”

False Start
A year before he left the Navy in 2000 as a lieutenant, Walker began looking for a job and learning how to deal with recruiters and head hunters. “I’d interview just for fun, just to get polished, just to understand the kinds of questions they’d ask me,” he said.

But he became concerned that head hunters were trying to press him into roles that were only partly appropriate. At his first job, for instance, he found himself at the same level with colleagues who were right out of college. “It’s easy to rely on the recruiters, to take a back seat and say, ‘Whatever they show me is what’s out there.’” 

What Worked
Instead, he sought out a lead role in a tire manufacturing plant in Thailand and got it. He also learned to tailor each résumé he sent out to the particular job listing, rather than blasting the same résumé to many employers.

In translating his Navy experience to a civilian audience, “I tried to stay more action-based,” he said, focusing on achievements and whatever was most tangible: for instance, how he took over an engine room that was “a real fiasco” and made it on-time, all the time, with all issues fixed. “‘Here’s how I achieved deadlines and goals.’” 

Culture shock
Walker’s transition was full of surprises, he said. “It was a shock to go from a senior [position] on an aircraft carrier, where you know everybody and you’re a rock star. ‘Really, you don’t want me to do anything else? It’s five o’clock: I can go home? You mean you’re not going to make me sleep here, in case something happens?’ In the beginning, it was a tough transition. I felt guilty, like I was cheating my company. I can do a lot more!”

Like Britt, Walker feels at home today in the nuclear industry. “We get a ton of Navy nukes, there’s one Army guy we used to hassle, and some guys from the Air Force.” Walker is pursuing professional engineering licensing now, since he earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering before entering the Navy. 

Still Hiring
“There are a lot of career opportunities at Westinghouse,” said John Orfanopoulos, the company’s global talent acquisition manager. “We’ve hired 4,500 people in the last three years, in what has been a tremendous growth rate. We still anticipate hiring several hundred people a year for the next few years.”

Westinghouse is hiring in all engineering disciplines, project management, quality assurance, the supply chain and licensing, as well as field service technicians and drafters. Navy nukes and other veterans are priorities, since, in addition to technical skills, they bring such

“soft skills” as teamwork, management and discipline. 

The Whole World’s Watching
“We offer very market-competitive salaries,” Orfanopoulos said, although he is unable to be more specific. A plant building project can create 3,000 jobs, he said, and another 400 to 700 jobs to run it. “Those types of positions tend to be above-market compared to other local positions in that geographical area.”

It takes about seven years to build a $4 billion nuclear plant – hence the need for modular construction, which Walker oversees from the Westinghouse headquarters in suburban Pittsburgh. He said the company is restarting the renaissance of nuclear power.

“The world’s watching us. Is Westinghouse going to build a plant on schedule, on budget? So far, we’re doing it.” 

Dominion
www.gijobs.com/dominion 

Jobs
Dominion has openings for:

• Engineer
• Nuclear control room operator
• Electrician
• Mechanic
• Nuclear security officer

Pay
Market-competitive salaries
 

Westinghouse
www.gijobs.com/westinghouse 

Jobs

• All engineering disciplines
• Project management
• Quality assurance
• Supply chain
• Licensing
• Field service technicians
• Drafters

Pay
Market-competitive salaries 

Survey: Boom in Nuclear Hiring Expected
The Nuclear Energy Institute in Washington D.C., the industry’s trade group, predicts a robust market for those seeking jobs in the nuclear power industry. 

According to Elizabeth McAndrew-Benavides, NEI’s manager of industry infrastructure, member companies predicted their hiring rates over the next five years will be “very strong.”

In 2010, the last year for which figures are available, the industry hired just over 5,000 new workers, and saw 10,000 new hires in 2009. While those particular figures may not be duplicated in 2012, many current workers are retiring – as many as 25,000 are projected to leave by 2016. 

Industry targets military
The same survey also showed that nuclear energy companies are very likely to draw new employees from among the ranks of veterans, both in the Navy nuclear program and in other service branches. Navy nuclear seamen will most likely be sought for radiation protection, maintenance and operations, McAndrew-Benavides said, while Navy nuclear officers should head for operations, engineering and management.

Other former military will be the best fit for maintenance, operations and engineering, too, as well as the nuclear industry’s large security departments.

Nuclear Energy Benefits the Environment

About one-third of U.S. electricity comes from emission-free sources.
The United States generates most of its electricity by burning fossil fuels, a process that produces sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide. Emission-free sources provide only 30 percent of America’s electricity, and 70 percent of that comes from nuclear power plants. 

Nuclear power plants don’t burn anything.
Nuclear power plants don’t burn anything, so they produce no combustion byproducts. Nuclear plants help protect our air quality and have been an important tool in meeting Clean Air Act goals in many states. Coupled with renewable energy options, nuclear energy is critical to meeting the country’s environmental and energy goals. 

The United States needs abundant electricity and clean air.
Given the country’s growing demand for new sources of electricity—as much as 25 percent by 2030, according to the Energy Information Administration’s 2008 forecast—the United States will need all new sources of generation available: renewables, coal, natural gas and nuclear energy. Nuclear energy is the only large-scale, emission-free energy source that can be widely expanded. 

FACT: Nuclear power plants help mitigate climate change because they don’t produce greenhouse gases while generating electricity. 

Source: Global Energy Decisions/EnergyInformation Administration 

Nuclear Energy in the United States

Just the Facts

• Electricity is essential to the everyday lives of Americans and to the nation’s economy.
• Nuclear energy generates 20 percent of U.S. electricity.
• Nuclear power plants produce clean, reliable and affordable electricity. 

Electricity is vital to everyday life—powering everything from computers to air conditioners, lighting homes, running factories and powering server farms. Electricity generation and distribution are among the greatest achievements of the past century. With affordable power available to all, electricity fuels America’s economy and has transformed the way we live and work.

Nuclear energy produces electricity for one in five homes and businesses across the United States, with 104 reactors in 31 states. The country’s largest source of carbon-free electricity is nuclear energy, accounting for 70 percent of all emission-free electricity generated. America’s reactors operate around the clock, thereby stabilizing the entire country’s electricity distribution system and electricity marketplace.

Source: Nuclear Energy Institute 

Photo Caption:
September 2011: Construction continues at the Sanmen site in China, one of four nuclear power plants being built by the Westinghouse Electric Company in China. It takes about seven years and $4 billion to build a nuclear power plant, a project that provides thousands of jobs. The plant will feature the AP1000 Pressurized Water Reactor.