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15 August 2008 -- Savannah River Site and other nuclear facilities are looking to train the next generation to step in as baby boomers retire.
Aiken Technical College will begin offering a radiological control program as a means to fill the work force void in the nuclear field.
"We could hire every graduate for the next 10 years," said Jim Stafford, the radiological control department director for Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, the primary contractor at SRS.
The two-year program trains workers to assess radiation levels in nuclear facilities.
"They have to have good people skills because they'll be out in nuclear power plants working side-by-side with operators and engineers pulling air samples," Mr. Stafford said. "They'll have respirators or plastic suits to protect themselves. There's some theory involved, but anyone that can handle algebra, physics and chemistry can do this."
Employees can make between $18 and $20 an hour starting out and up to $36 an hour after a few years in the field.
"We recertify workers every two years; it's a very formal program with a lot of training," Mr. Stafford said. "It's a critical skill set we have to get in place to continue our mission and push forward with the nuclear renaissance."
The shortage of workers comes as several nuclear-power facilities are in up-start mode.
The work force declined in the early 1990s when the mission at SRS and other sites changed from nuclear-weapons production to environmental cleanup. Now as the nation looks to nuclear power to fill the need for alternative fuel sources, workers are needed again, Mr. Stafford said.
About 70 percent of Mr. Reeves' co-workers will retire in the next five years. He has even thought about encouraging his son to pursue the field because workers are needed immediately.
The program has about 35 students enrolled for the fall.
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