Nuclear Worker Wages

[Halcyon Daze]

Not entirely true either...For the last year I billed for diem @ $15 per hour for 1st 40 hours worked per week

Per diem is, by deffinition, "by the day." Therefore, if it was not paid, "by the day" it is not per diem.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/per%20diem

[SloGlo]

Not entirely true either...For the last year I billed for diem @ $15 per hour for 1st 40 hours worked per week

billing 'n pay are often different subjects 'n i gots no idea iffen this is your situation or knot. iffen i got paid what i billed, life would be very good. 

[MR BIG]

..this 30$/hr, is not in the same commercial power industry I returned to in 2005...nowhere have I heard of an RP renta tech making that,,,but I havent been everywhere..but in the last 3 years I have worked 8 plants and their pay is no where near 30/hr......are we comparing apples and oranges here or what?....that was the main reason I havent worked in the RP business since the 90's....low wages..even lower per diem...no rental cars, no travel...and always a bunch of %^$#&* whining and crying about what the other guy makes.....it is alot easier to make money in this business than as an RP, and with the new construction, it will be a longer term deal,,,,,all the other crafts I work with, and they are union, make alot more than RP's do,,,so my opinion...leave it behind...take some courses, while you are off,,,and be billable with more than one hard hat,,,because the grass is sweeter on this side of the fence...red

What trade are you working in now? And what does it pay?

[shovelheadred]

..I am working in the Safety Oversight field right now, for Beercourt...I took a break from RP, went with Master-Lee and then Areva and got my Manipulator Crane Quals...and also got a certification in Primavera scheduling,,,had a back injury in 2003, cut that refueling job short, couldn't make that scheduling gig work,,,,so I took the OHST, and am pursuing my BS in Health and Safety..like I said, take a few courses, some initiative, a few dollars and get out of that RP trailer...I did.....red

[MR BIG]

..I am working in the Safety Oversight field right now, for Beercourt...I took a break from RP, went with Master-Lee and then Areva and got my Manipulator Crane Quals...and also got a certification in Primavera scheduling,,,had a back injury in 2003, cut that refueling job short, couldn't make that scheduling gig work,,,,so I took the OHST, and am pursuing my BS in Health and Safety..like I said, take a few courses, some initiative, a few dollars and get out of that RP trailer...I did.....red

How do you break into the Safety & Health side. Most job offers require experience in that field. I've been a rad tech for 30 yrs. I need a change also because of not being able to scurry up & down those containment ladders. If you know what I mean?
Any direction would be much appreciated.

[radbitch]

How do you break into the Safety & Health side. Most job offers require experience in that field. I've been a rad tech for 30 yrs. I need a change also because of not being able to scurry up & down those containment ladders. If you know what I mean?
Any direction would be much appreciated.

I've been a rad tech for the last ~22 yrs and I to wanted out of RP. Although I do still have my quals (just in case). I just by luck got a oversight job on an SGR project in 2001 and then from there was offered many jobs (other than RP). In the past 4 yrs I've done RB coordinator, Move-in coordinator, and a couple RP jobs. I'm currently on a SGR project for the next 2 years working 40's in the sunshine state. The coordinator jobs pay more than double the pay of RP, and there's no cap on mob/demob pay. My advice is to put in for different jobs even if your not qualified. Ya gotta start some where and just maybe their's a company out there willing to hire you. I know several Safety professionals that were RP's. There's one on our project. Safety is BIG now. At Calvert D&Z hired a bunch of Safety people for the refuel outage. You could try them. I think Bartlett also hires them too. I'll ask around and see if I can get some names of companies.

[Already Gone]

I'm sorry to inform you that the Safety & Health side requires scurrying up & down ladders, and scaffolds, and sewer catch basins, and vent stacks, and cracking towers, and excavations, and ditches, and big pipes, and small voids, and.................

In other words - it is WORK.  It is the best work I have ever had.  It pays twice as much as I made as an RP.  I work in refineries, fossil plants, nukes, ... anywhere.  I feel much more fulfilled after a day's work than I ever did as an RP.

[radbitch]

Thanks alot !!! Appreciate anything you could suggest.

Your welcome MR BIG! I did hear that the ShawGroup has over 20 postings for Safety. I didn't go to their website to verify though. Did you do a search on nukeworker? Or Roadtechs? Throw your resume out there, you never know what you might get! Marssim and Beercourt are Correct. You may have a desk job for awhile, but when it comes down to being in the field "it is WORK"!

[105KW]

we price the bids we do at the current $30/hr  (approximately) rate, and guess what so do all the other contractors ... sooo if joe blow is getting $28 an hour and Joe know is getting $32 an hour guess what the rate is  about $30 an hour.   its called enticement pay ... so average things out and it turns out $30 an hour is about the going rate for techs.. at CY it averages out about that wheather the techs knew it or not.. some were getting $35 an hour and some were getting $25 an hour..  hanford rate is $30, INEL is $30, if you are getting less somebody got more..

(we have about 200 techs working right now)

Just came across this and thought I would update the Hanford pay. The current rate at Hanford in the farms is 35.72 /hr. This assumes you are working a 4 X 10 day shift.  Lead pays a little more and if working a 8 x 9's shift the pay is a little less.   Anyone else got an update on the current DOE wages ?

[zman]

Looking to jump start an old question. I am considering going house as an R.P. in the midwest. Any knowledge out there on a starting wage. I am a 7+ year ANSI 3.1 and have'nt gotten to the offer phase yet, but am curious what I may be able to expect.

[Cycoticpenguin]

Looking to jump start an old question. I am considering going house as an R.P. in the midwest. Any knowledge out there on a starting wage. I am a 7+ year ANSI 3.1 and have'nt gotten to the offer phase yet, but am curious what I may be able to expect.

I was offered an RP tech I job at a region II plant. Starting pay was around 27 an hour IIRC.  Junior techs make substantially less of course...

[UncaBuffalo]

Looking to jump start an old question. I am considering going house as an R.P. in the midwest. Any knowledge out there on a starting wage. I am a 7+ year ANSI 3.1 and have'nt gotten to the offer phase yet, but am curious what I may be able to expect.

I don't know about the Midwest, but out West, the range would be mid 30's to low 40's per hour...

Good luck! 

[Cycoticpenguin]

I don't know about the Midwest, but out West, the range would be mid 30's to low 40's per hour...

Good luck! 

woah sounds like I need to change jobs!! haha

[AS55555]

LES in NM pays about $35/hr plus annual bonus and good benefits. No respirators and last year the highest dose on site was 34 mrem. One vacancy.

[jams723]

LES in NM pays about $35/hr plus annual bonus and good benefits. No respirators and last year the highest dose on site was 34 mrem. One vacancy.

But.... Look where you have to live.

[AS55555]

Jams
It is hard to argue with your statement about location. Actually many of the men including myself like the area. The women are disappoint with shopping and other finer elements of living. Hobbs has about 35K people and even has a casino and race track. It is 26 miles from Hobbs to the plant and 20 miles is divided four land highway with a 65 MPH limit. Again- not the prime location but techs get paid OT and normally work 5 ten hour shifts on day shift. Great company if you are one of the ones to like the area. In the spirit of honesty, other than Hobbs not a lot of other decent size towns around.

[Content1]

Have the companies stopped posting the wages on nukewoker?  Have they done so because they are trending lower?  I have watched this for years and noticed in the last months it is always blank, kind of like they don't care or don't need to show it.  Is this my imagination or is there a rational explanation for this trend?