Nuclear Energy Insight
Fall 2012—The nuclear industry and the Navy face similar challenges in filling their ranks with top talent. The nuclear industry wants young workers to replace older workers preparing for retirement. The U.S. Navy, meanwhile, wants to transition their service personnel into the private sector after their service comes to an end. The Navy would also like to find new recruits with an interest in nuclear energy.
The goals of the two are complementary enough that it seemed a matter of time before they found a way to work together to benefit both of them.
And now, that has happened. This summer, the industry and the U.S. Navy’s Nuclear Propulsion Program signed an agreement of understanding to establish a program to help Navy veterans transition to civilian jobs. The agreement of understanding is the first formal partnership between the Navy and the nuclear energy industry designed to put veterans to work in the growing domestic nuclear energy field.
A fair number of those veterans are younger people–and that’s exactly what the nuclear energy industry needs to sustain itself as the industry revitalizes.
“The nuclear industry expects to hire about 25,000 more workers over the next four years, and this agreement allows us to bring in experienced, highly skilled people who deserve rewarding civilian careers after selfless service to their country,” said Anthony Pietrangelo, NEI’s senior vice president and chief nuclear officer.
An important facet of the program allows the Navy to forward contact information about its nuclear-trained naval veterans to nuclear industry recruiters.
This allows “former sailors more opportunities to use their hard-earned skills after they decide to leave the Navy,” said Steve Trautman, the deputy director of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program.
But the agreement works both ways. “Establishing this agreement with the nuclear energy industry facilitates the Navy’s access to the graduates of the commercial Nuclear Uniform Curriculum Program to provide them opportunities to serve as nuclear-trained sailors,” said Trautman.
The NUCP is a program NEI helped set up at 38 community colleges to provide a uniform course of study for future nuclear reactor operators and technicians.
What’s good for the industry is good for the Navy, and the NUCP gives the Navy access to recruits with a strong head start in nuclear energy technologies and skills. And if they have a yearning for the sea, all the better.
“Access to students participating in the Nuclear Uniform Curriculum Program will provide the nuclear Navy with a larger pool of qualified candidates to fill the ranks in the Nuclear Navy,” said Tom Dougan, a spokesperson for the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program. “As the nuclear Navy is always looking for educated individuals, this is a step in the right direction for the Navy and the nation.”
The agreement has enormous potential. One prominent former Navy serviceman may have put its prospects best.
“This new partnership is a win-win for the industry and for the men and women of the Navy, who have served their country and are ready to apply the skills they’ve honed in the military to build careers in the private sector,” said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) “There are few better ways to support our troops than to hire a veteran.”
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