JR RP Tech jobs

[bf1024]

So, I have completed 22 credit hours at Indian River State College in Ft Pierce Fl in their Electrical Power Technology Program, Radiation Protection Specialization (affiliated with FPL). After completion of 46 more credit hours I will own a shiny new A.S. degree in Radiation Protection/Electrical Power Technology. A rep from Bartlett came into a Power Plant class and informed us that our 2 years at the College will count as 2 years as a Jr. RP Tech and that we would need 1 actual year in the field after that as a Jr. (which would take at least 2 years on the job to acquire) , before we could become a senior RP Tech. Apparently, the only way to obtain this time is to chase outages across the country. I'm OK with that, but what's the REAL story here? Are we getting a snow job? After reading several posts on this site and noticing that virtually not one company posts available positions for Jr RP Techs. I transferred into this program when it was offered to me after completing 42 credit hours at the same college in the Building Construction Technology program.(No credits were transferable to the Power Plant Degree program). Any advise or ideas here. Do college grads get hired with zero experience in a nuke plant (I do have 7 years exp. as a welder/fabricator, and 7 years exp. teaching welding/blueprint courses at a Tech School in Buffalo, if that will help). Any resp0onses are appreciated.

[sscone]

Chasing outages is the only way I know to get your time in. Now is the time to call either Bartlett or Atlantic to get a slot for the spring. They maybe staffed. I wish you luck. P.S. Don't be lazy.

[Rennhack]

You may be able to get a long term gig at Zion.

[UncaBuffalo]

I had always heard that you only got to count one year of school towards ANSI?
http://www.nukeworker.com/forum/index.php/topic,4395.0.html

As far as whether you will be able to go from school to senior in one year...  Outages are getting shorter and junior jobs are notoriously hard to come by...I think most outage juniors consider themselves extremely lucky to work 6 months per year. 

Also, outage RP work is very cyclical and we seem to be hitting one of those points where supply of technicians is exceeding demand...

All-in-all, I don't think it's the best time to be trying to break into the RP tech world.  Have you researched maintenance jobs at nuke plants?  Qualified welders are always in demand on the outage circuit.

Good luck! 

[tigger]

I know at TVA the Jr's they hired from school were only given 1 year for their degrees. They had to put in the time to become 18.1 seniors. Not all plants accept 18.1 sr's though.
TVA has an agreement with Chatt State and the interns get to do a good part of time here. Does FPL have anything of the sort in place?
SSCONE is right with his PS. If you are looking for a permanant job once you make senior, don't be lazy, also, don't act like you know everything. We had one intern come through like that and he was the only one not to be offered a job.
Don't look at outage chasing as a bad thing. It will make you a more well rounded tech, especially if you are able to get a variety of experiences under your belt.
Best of luck!

[Incline]

While an RP position is rewarding in it own peculiar way, one may want to look in another direction for more consistent employment. If you have your AAS degree or navy nuke time in then why not try valves. They use valves in just about all industries so one could work more than a couple of outages a year. I know Atlantic used to have a valve school and Crane has one for sure. Give them a call and find out more on the details. The Valve techs I know have their outages lined up a year in advance, plus you could work during the summer at some chemical/paper plant when not doing outages.
Just a thought.

[bba3858]

Well i have first hand experience in this. i recieved a AS degree in nuke eng. tech. and bartlett/ DZ or any ANSI standards are up to one year, so i dont know who told you two years but this is wrong and goes against ANSI Standards. You will get 2000 hrs. and still need 2000 in the field to make 18.1 senior. as far as the work goes, it is hard to get in the first time, however if you make yourself known as a good worker the word gets around quick, and once you have an outage, plants will generally hire you over other greater than one year juniors because of the degree. when it comes to getting time in you will be fortunate to get your 2000 hrs in 2.5 years,  there are freak coincidences that juniors get 2000 hrs in one year, for instance i was able to get into Monticello for their epu last spring and they still have me on staff and i will senior my first year in plant, so if this is your route, choose the epu's coming up like GG in mississippi. when it comes to counting time i will tell you that DZ Atlantic is much more concerned with senioring you. they offer a flat 50 hrs per week so you can work 40 weeks of the year and be seniored to 18.1. if i were you i would call Tricia From Bartlett when u graduate and call Megan from DZ, and remember until you get ur time in your loyalty should lbe with your time and paycheck, not the company, so dont feel bad swapping because you can get more time with one company than the other at that moment in time. i know a lot of juniors who do it and i think its a mutual respect by the two companies as they know that "time" in juniors cases is most important.