Nuclear Energy Insight
Spring 2012—The College of Southern Maryland was in a bind. The school was ready to prepare aspiring technicians for work in the nuclear industry and beyond, but its nuclear engineering technology program lacked two crucial elements: students and a space to teach them.
To open the department’s doors in the fall of 2010, the college used state and county dollars to secure a temporary facility. Its industry partner, Constellation Energy Nuclear Group (CENG), contributed $30,000 worth of necessary interior improvements and put $75,000 toward scholarships to bring in local students. The inaugural class of 13 was set to graduate this May, and CENG has extended job offers to nine of them.
Government support “has enabled us to make the program more robust and sustainable,” said James Rzepkowski, CENG’s director of work force planning. Without federal funding, “I doubt we would be hiring individuals this May,” he added.
The College of Southern Maryland’s success story is just one example of a larger commitment to nuclear work force development from educational institutions, the industry and government.
But that commitment is fading at the federal level. The Energy Department has cut its entire $14 million budget for university programs in its 2013 budget. Ironically, a November 2011 report from the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education found that one-fifth of all 2010 graduates of nuclear energy degree programs went on to work for the government.
The withdrawal of federal funding follows a record year for nuclear energy industry support for education. In 2011, the industry contributed more than $15 million to support nuclear engineering and technician programs at universities and community colleges.
At the heart of the industry’s partnership with educational institutions is the Nuclear Uniform Curriculum Program, a standardized certificate program for educating operators and technicians for jobs at nuclear energy facilities.
The breadth of the NUCP’s partnerships—which address everything from curriculum development to job placement—shows that the industry’s support doesn’t stop with signing checks.
“It’s a true partnership,” said Rzepkowski of CENG’s work with the College of Southern Maryland. CENG is also embarking on a new partnership between the company’s New York plants and Onondaga Community College. “We’re in this with our community college partners all the way through.”
In addition to cash grants that allow the college to leverage federal grants and scholarships, the industry has provided crucial equipment and expertise.
At Lakeland Community College, which partners with Ohio-based FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co., Hiram Reppert, chair of the nuclear energy technology program, encouraged the company to donate otherwise unneeded plant equipment for classroom use.
“They can’t give me a crane, but they’ve given me some pumps, some valves,” Reppert said. “It helps out their bottom line. It helps out our program. It’s a win-win.”
Most courses in Lakeland’s nuclear program are taught by industry veterans from FirstEnergy’s nearby Perry nuclear energy facility.
Partnerships between nuclear companies and educational institutions also move students out of the classroom and into the field. Halfway through their two-year program, Lakeland students spend the summer shadowing workers at the Perry plant and Exelon’s Beaver Valley nuclear energy facility in Pennsylvania.
The internship program is “a tremendous learning experience” and a key element in training the future nuclear energy work force, Reppert said.
With internships under their belts and diplomas in hand, the majority of the graduates of Southern Maryland’s nuclear technician program will start careers in the nuclear energy industry.
By contributing to the development of a pipeline for a qualified nuclear work force, Rzepkowski said, “everybody’s benefiting from the training and education.”
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Read more articles in Nuclear Energy Insight and Insight Web Extra.