Getting Back in.

[rudedude]

Hi

I am thinking about getting back into the nuclear industry.

I have 5 years of Senior Decon., 6 months Jr. HP time.

I have a very strong electronic/computer background.

what is the job market for Jr. HP or even Senior Decon these days?

what is the average current pay and per diem?

I appreciate any input..

[vikingfan]

      Rude,

I think the average pay for most Sr. Decon spots is about 14-16 an Hour and about 90$ a day diem. remeber that dependent upon the utility. Duke power usually pays about 12 I think,  while some of the more northern utilities are around 15 I believe. you might want to contact some of the staffing companies, not gonna name names but if you need anything else feel free to PM me here. hope this helps you out.

James

[rudedude]

Thanks for the info.

How difficult would it be to become a Sr. HP.
Given enough time and training of course..

Would simply taking the NRRPT exam qualify me for a SR. HP.

[vikingfan]

some utilities and or staffing companies might give you some time credit towards senior status but just passing the test doesnot make you a qualified senior hp tech (greater than 36 credited hp time).

[vikingfan]

you might also think about taking the NEU exam which is what alot of sites use for hp testing.

[rudedude]

Thanks for the info. Vikingfan..

[Roll Tide]

Some of the older plants use the 18.1 standard for Sr. Techs; TVA uses the ANSI 3.1 standard. 18.1 is 24 months.

Without a degree, I think you can get credit for Decon time (I think that is 1 year max) and 6 months Jr. time. Of course, you have to make sure the contractor / utitlity takes credit for all that time so you could be an 18.1 Sr. sometime next year. Perhaps a SGRP job in the Fall would give you 4 additional months creditable experience. WBN might meet that need.

[rudedude]

I have a bach. degree in engineering.

Would this count toward any HP time..

[Already Gone]

Thanks for the info.

How difficult would it be to become a Sr. HP.
Given enough time and training of course..

Would simply taking the NRRPT exam qualify me for a SR. HP.

You are not qualified to take the NRRPT.  In order to sit for the NRRPT exam, you must have a minimum of five years experience as a Radiation Protection Technician.  Decon time does not count, but your junior time does.  You may be able to count a percentage of your decon time if part of your duties was to perform surveys or other radiation protection functions.  Your BS degree can count for a maximum of two years toward this requirement.  However, a degree in Engineering may not be good for the whole two years unless it is in Radiological Engineering, Health Physics, or Radiation Protection.  The board will determine what amount of credit may be awarded for your degree based on its relevance to Radiation Protection.  The remaining three years of experience must be documented and verified.  You may not claim both work experience and training as a substitute for experience for the same time period.  You must also be recomended to sit for the exam by a RRPT of CHP.

So, taking the NRRPT can never be used to qualifiy someone as a Senior HP, since one must have already been a Senior HP for at least two years in order to take the NRRPT.  (The math might suggest that one year is the minimum, but it is really two.  Since you can't count time twice, training used to qualify one as a Sr HP - thereby eliminating the junior time - still leaves 3 years as a Senior Tech.  If the training happens after the junior time is over, you would already have been a Sr HP when it was half over.  So, two years of junior time, two or more years of training, and one year working as a Sr. HP would qualify you.  However, you would have qualified as a SR HP after the first year of training - making you two years into your status as a Sr HP before you could take the test.)
Clear enough?  I didn't think so.  Anyway, in your case, you probably have about 3.5 years to go as a tech. before you can take the test - but that's just a guess.

For the full details, go to: http://nrrpt.org

[rudedude]

Thanks Beercourt..

So in my situation with my 6 months Jr. HP. time along with my BS.

I would have to put in about 2 years (documented) as Jr. HP..
would any of this time count as 18.1 ?

Then I would go take the NRRPT exam.

In order to become Sr. HP 3.1.

Am I correct ??

[Already Gone]

No.  If I were you, I'd start asking for Sr. HP status (at least 18.1) now.  You may not get it right away, but I've learned that nou never get anything in this business the first hundred times you ask for it anyway.  A BS degree and 6 mos of junior time ought to make you pretty close.  It all depends on how particular utilities interpret the ANSI standard and how much junior time they are going to credit you.  Honestly, if I were making the decision (which I am not) I'd take you as an 18.1 as long as the 6 mos. of junior time was fairly recent (at least one outage within the past year).  I would probably count about a quarter of your decon time as junior time too.  You were probably qualified to do surveys for a lot of that time (and I'm just a generous guy) so, 25% might fly.
It's not the same thing as NRRPT.  While ANSI specifies a number of hours or weeks of experience, and allows for a degree to cover part of that time, they don't necessarily require the degree to be directly related to Rad. Protection.  The NRRPT however, requires that all experience and training be directly related to RP in order to count toward the five years.  In your case, they are going to count individual courses to determine what training applies.  Stuff like physics, chemistry, environmental science, mathematics ... etc. counts.  Courses in Humanities, Social Sciences, non-science electives, and technical courses not applicable to Radiation protection will not count.  So, you'll be better off submitting a transcript.
If I had to bet the farm on it, I'd say that they are probably going to credit you one year for your college work.
Regardless, you will have been a 3.1 for quite some time before being eligible for the NRRPT.  Anyone who has met the NRRPT criteria, will have already been a 3.1 for at least a year or two.
Your best course of action is to check with the NRRPT.  I'm not even sure that they count junior time as direct experience.  They might only count it as training time, since Junior HP's are not actually qualified technicians.  You'd have to ask them.  But, that's not your first priority.   In fact, it's way too early to spend the energy on that anyway.  Chances are that you will find a good job as an engineer long before you take the NRRPT anyway, so why waste all that time and money?

But, if a job as a SR. HP is what you want, then you need to do the following:
1.) Get your resume up to date
2.) Post it here in the jobs section of NukeWorker.com
3.) Send it to Bartlett, Atlantic, TriVis, MarCom, and any other company you can find who is looking for HP's
4.) Accept the fact that you may need a little more junior time, but don't let them keep you a junior for too long.
5.) Study for the Nuclear Fundamentals Exam (formerly known as the Northeast Utilities Exam).  You're going to have to pass that to get a SR. HP job, no matter what.  See the Study Tab at the top of the page to find helpful study materials.

Good luck.

[rudedude]

Thanks Beercourt..

You have been very helpful..

[Roll Tide]

I have a bach. degree in engineering.

Would this count toward any HP time..

BC has already adequately answered the obvious question (yes for 18.1 Sr). The question in my mind is why not take an engineering or OPS job instead. The industry is beginning to hire in these positions as people retire. Of course, if you enjoy the HP job, then take that route. BC has laid out the route for that quite well, I think.

[snowman]

You took da time and da moolah to get an enganeers dugree and you wanna be some huck-a-buck rental tech? I just don't git it, Bo! Besides, you gonna be competin' against all kinda folk who've been #*!@ canned at them there government sites, like Fernalt, and Handfort, and that pee you site out west near that Coors brewery, Rocky something or other. I do like my Coors beer, though.

Is thangs out there that darn bad?

[rudedude]

Things are going pretty good for me..

Just looking into paying off student loans as fast as I can..
And I do miss the adrenalin, don't get that here behind my computer..

Besides, I am not looking into making a career out of road work.
maybe a outage a year will do.

[Roll Tide]

That sounds reasonable, rude. I have seen many happy (well, maybe happy isn't the right word, but successful and not crying any more than the rest of us) HP techs working only a couple of plants with something else for their full-time job. Portable lumbermill services, charter fishing tours, charter dive tours, and rickshaw runner pop into my head as "primary" employment for some of the best techs I have seen.

[rudedude]

Charter Dive

Hmmm.. Now there's an idea 

I figure a outage or 2 a year, along with working in my profession from anywhere will be a nice way to take bank some money.

Maybe start a charter dive service, although the rickshaw runner sounds good too.

[SloGlo]

rudedude....dude!  stay away!  yinz gots out of the nukes wit yer intellect intact!  don't go back!  abort!  abort! 

[rudedude]

Thanks for the warning SloGlo

LOL

Its nice to know things havent changed in nukes...

Its pretty much the same everywhere...
sometimes (much) worse.

Very scary...

[gravy58]

BC was telling you the right way, if you really want to get in to road teching? You can be a deconner for years, but they will only count 6 months of it. They will count all your Jr. time as long as it involves job coverage and surveys. What amount of your degree they take is up to each utility. My opinion is if you have the smarts for an engineering degree look for another field to work in other than HP.