AAS NET

[melliferal]

Hello...I'm looking to get into the nuclear power field and am signing up for the NET program at Lakeland Community College (description, cirriculum).  The program won't begin until August, of course, so have quite a while to mull things over.  So I'd like to ask some questions if it's okay.

Firstly - based on what you know about how things work and the cirriculum as described, does this seem like a good program?  It's TAC/ABET accredited - is that a good sign or just flashy advertising?  What sort of job would one expect to be able to get with this degree - will this get me in as an NLO, as the cirriculum suggests, or would I be more likely to get in as a floor sweeper? (Not that sweeping floors is bad; you've got to start somewhere and it's in the door anyway.  Or is it?)  I'm pretty hyped about this, but I'm wondering if I should reef my sail a bit.  Starting as an NLO would be grand - to tell from the description of the job that I've picked up lurking around this site.

Oh! - one more thing.  The summer job at Perry that's part of the program.  Am I lucky or unlucky to be working at Perry?  What's good/bad about it?  If it's not the best place in the world, I'm presuming that upon graduation I'll be halfway marketable, but I don't know if that's a realistic presumption.

[melliferal]

I took a look at that thread, but I'm not sure it's very informative for my angle - the facility-specific forums seem to reflect the outage worker's point of view, but I'm under the impression that the experience for outage workers can be different, significantly, from the experience for a plant operator.  While looking through the "Operators" forum, I've seen people refer to various plants as not bad places to work full time, while the facilities' threads have comments from deconners that describe them in less-than-endearing terms.

[HydroDave63]

I took a look at that thread, but I'm not sure it's very informative for my angle - the facility-specific forums seem to reflect the outage worker's point of view, but I'm under the impression that the experience for outage workers can be different, significantly, from the experience for a plant operator.  While looking through the "Operators" forum, I've seen people refer to various plants as not bad places to work full time, while the facilities' threads have comments from deconners that describe them in less-than-endearing terms.

"What is truth?"  

                     -Pontius Pilate

[Nuclear NASCAR]

Good advice Tim.

We had some interns last year at my plant from the local technical college.  I believe they spent a day in our department, just about long enough to get their names right.  Your mileage may vary but it'll basically be a job shadowing, which is really a good way to get introduced to this crazy world. 

[shipoffools]

"What is truth?"  

                     -Pontius Pilate

Hydro just worked a quote from P.P. into the discussion - This has to be worth some +++Karma!

[melliferal]

"What is truth?" 

                     -Pontius Pilate

"Truths are illusions which we have forgotten are illusions — they are metaphors that have become worn out and have been drained of sensuous force, coins which have lost their embossing and are now considered as metal and no longer as coins."

-Friedrich Nietzsche

[melliferal]

It's not likely going to matter for the internship; 12 weeks rotating through 4 different departments; you won't be in any one department long enough to qualify to do much; use it as an opportunity to form your own opinions of the Perry experience, then chart your course based on your personal assessments.

I take it this will have to do.

Meanwhile, does anybody else know how good graduates of this particular program tend to do?  Or is it young yet and not widely-known?

By "this particular program" I'm not necessarily talking about my school - how well, in your experience, do AAS degree-holders in nuclear engineering technology tend to do?  Where do they usually end up?

[melliferal]

Well I've applied and was accepted, though I won't be able to register for any classes until August of course.  In the meantime, I can take some math and science classes at my current community college that will transfer.

Today's announcement about government funding of additional reactors makes me cautiously optimistic about the future of nuclear energy...if this indeed "gets me in", I think I'm getting in at a pretty good time.  There's an awful lot of people whose knowledge and opinions of nuclear power have been in some kind of suspended animation since the 70's, and a lot of them don't understand how safe this stuff actually is, compared to other sources of energy.  I think the tide is beginning to turn, though.

[Bradtv]

A local community college was approached a few years back by two neighboring plants about setting up an energy production program.  Due to the high average age of the workers, replacements are needed in the years to come.  From the site you linked, your program looks above and beyond the one here (given the info of my local program).

As mentioned in other threads, work hard to keep your grades up and do your best to stand out during the internship phase.  I am wondering why these colleges were approached however, when they seem to be filled up with Bachelors+ candidates.  If one wishes to argue the economy, Michigan's economy had been on the downturn long before the national crisis.

I'm sure after the program you will be eligible to apply to other plants, not just Perry.  My local program is designed to cover any power production facility.

[melliferal]

I am wondering why these colleges were approached however, when they seem to be filled up with Bachelors+ candidates.  If one wishes to argue the economy, Michigan's economy had been on the downturn long before the national crisis.

Perhaps there's a bit of PR reasoning in there - community outreach and all that.  If the power plant can be seen as offering to train and recruit locally, rather than relying on skilled techs from out-of-state, people will appreciate it more as a player in economic recovery.