Welding Career?

[Kingtoy02]

Hello,
I have an extensive welding resume in high pressure, x ray pipe welding. I'm researching possible welding jobs within a nuclear power plant. I've seen openings for a welding engineer, but I do not have a degree in mech engineering. Is a welding career possible without a 4 year degree? If so, what qualifications do they look for?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Nathan Walters

[Preciousblue1965]

Well not sure what the qualifications are for a welding engineer or what degree you need to have, but I can tell you that if you are doing nuclear welding you are going to need to understand and be able to use Section IX of ASME Code along with other sections of the Code. 

[Kingtoy02]

Sweet, recieved training on how to use them awhile ago, I'll refresh, and be sure to keep that in mind. thanks.

[UncaBuffalo]

Hello,
I have an extensive welding resume in high pressure, x ray pipe welding. I'm researching possible welding jobs within a nuclear power plant. I've seen openings for a welding engineer, but I do not have a degree in mech engineering. Is a welding career possible without a 4 year degree? If so, what qualifications do they look for?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Nathan Walters

There are a ton of welder jobs in the industry now...I have even heard rumors that one site had to bring in an entire crew from Asia (Korea?  Vietnam?) and provide them escorts just to get enough qualified people.

Most of the trade jobs in the Northeast are union...contact the Pipefitters' local for the plants you are interested in...

http://www.nukeworker.com/forum/index.php/topic,13465.0.html

[Kingtoy02]

Thanks for the info. I'll look into the whole union thing. I assume I simply apply to a union? It would be nice to simply get a position at a plant as a maintenence welder, cuz I'm assuming when im no longer needed, they give me the boot if I'm union. Dunno how this whole thing works. All I know is what I experienced trying to get that position for a coal power plant near my home town. 30 people applied, it was down to 3 people, and I didnt' get it. Anyway, the position was to maintain the plant, something I can do in an area, settle down and plant my roots ya know.
Also, bein a nuke plant, do you know if it would be primarely tig, or stick? Def rather be doin tig, but if the price is right id stick all day long. ha ha.
thanks again

[UncaBuffalo]

Thanks for the info. I'll look into the whole union thing. I assume I simply apply to a union? It would be nice to simply get a position at a plant as a maintenence welder, cuz I'm assuming when im no longer needed, they give me the boot if I'm union. Dunno how this whole thing works. All I know is what I experienced trying to get that position for a coal power plant near my home town. 30 people applied, it was down to 3 people, and I didnt' get it. Anyway, the position was to maintain the plant, something I can do in an area, settle down and plant my roots ya know.
Also, bein a nuke plant, do you know if it would be primarely tig, or stick? Def rather be doin tig, but if the price is right id stick all day long. ha ha.
thanks again

If you'd rather work straight for a plant...permanently...you can apply for maintanence positions directly with the utility.  Look at the company website for the plant(s) you are interested in.  I know Entergy did a lot of hiring last fall, but they have a hiring freeze on now.  The down-side of working directly for a utility is that welding will be a very small portion of your job.  Most of the welding happens during the outages, and contractors do most of it.

I think nearly all the welding will be tig.  Before you get to touch anything, you will have to weld 'coupons' to get your certs...nuke plants are extremely rigid on their requirements and I've seen sites send half the workers back to the hall because they couldn't pass their coupons...

[Preciousblue1965]

Like I said I am not too familiar with Section III and XI of ASME but I do know Section IX pretty well.  As far as your coupon, if you can weld NPS 2 sch Extra Heavy wall in the 6G position(45 degree angle, fixed in place with no rolling) then that should qualify you for anything you could ever need to do. 

[UncaBuffalo]

I noticed Diablo Canyon is hiring right now.

Their job spec says "Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) & Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW)".

The coupons you have to pass there are:
1.GTAW & SMAW on 6" schedule 160 in 6G with open butt root using ER70S2 & E7018 filler, no backing gas purge.
2.SMAW on 2" schedule 80 (6G, E7018, no backing gas)
3.GTAW on 2" schedule 80 (6G, ER309, no backing gas)

[Kingtoy02]

Thanks for all the information. I will look into the details of those quals and make sure I'm proficient before I apply. Did a 6013/7018 5G not too long ago, but I mainly tig for work. I can definately use allot of this information to help me gear my resume more specificaly towards this career path.

Thanks again.
Nathan

[Preciousblue1965]

KingToy, I am an ASME Authorized Inspector, which means I know all about Section IX and what is required to be certified to ASME standards.  If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me. 

[Kingtoy02]

About those quals, a couple seem to require tig carbon steel roots with no purge, and 7018 cover. Is that correct?

[UncaBuffalo]

About those quals, a couple seem to require tig carbon steel roots with no purge, and 7018 cover. Is that correct?

I PM'd you with further info...

[Kingtoy02]

Great, thanks.
I'm going to see if these quals are something I can persue now with the help of my old vocational welding instructor. If I had the quals already, I'd be a shoe in. ha ha.

[Kingtoy02]

I haven't gotten a response from the forum on that link yet. Are any of you ,or do you know any contracted traveling pipe welders in the "nuke" industery? I'm considering the possibility of persuing that type of work, and wanted some details of the job, and the lifestyle. Also does anyone know if those quals listed previously would be recognized by an employer if they were obtained before applying?

[pilsner7]

I was a structural welder in IW union, you want the PF union hall near the plant ya wanna work. If you want to travel you'll be first on the job, if you could pass their test (for every individual plant). Leave a plant for more than 6 mo. and you'll have to test again. Plants are always hurting for welders. If you like a certain plant, keep going back and try to get in the click, work local between outages. Better read up on background checks,rad training,traveling. Good luck getting hired directly by the utility.

[Preciousblue1965]

Pilsner is correct.  Any quals that you have prior to hiring will not count.  You will have to test anytime you switch to a new employer.  You will also have to maintain continuity by welding in every process(SMAW, FCAW, GTAW, etc) at least once every six months while under the supervision of your employer(i.e. welding in your garage won't count for this).  Remember that you quals can also be called into question by not only your employer but also the independent inspector if he has reason to believe that you can no longer make quality welds. 

However if you want to "practice" and get your practice tested to see if it will pass, there is nothing wrong with that other than you have to pay to have it tested. 

[Adam Grundleger]

Of course, if you qualify at a union hall or other bulk qualifying event where there are several employers witnessing, you could jump employers and keep your quals.  If you maintain continuity (in all the processes you are qual'd in) between those employers that initially witnessed your qual, then you're good.

DZ Atlantic will look at your resume (I asked).  PM me if you want the email address for the supervisor at Wolf Creek.  Be hot on GTAW and SMAW, both as stand alone methods and GTAW root with SMAW fill.  Expect to qualify in 6G position, butt weld with no backing or purge.  Standard testing is by bend test and/or radiograph.  If you come to the Creek, their weld test shop and weld fab shop are nice.  Small but clean.

[Kingtoy02]

Cool. Thanks for the help. I will atleast practice up on the quals so I know what I'm in for when the time comes. I tig weld root passes daily, but not stick. No biggie, thats why I'm quizzing all you fellas.

Thanks again,
Nathan