Civilian Nuclear Questions

[FreeTheBirds]

Hey all,

I'm a civilian DOE contractor working at one of the navy prototype training facilities, training naval personnel on how to operate their reactors. I've been qualified EOOW for a while now, and hopefully will be qualifying our version of engineer in the relatively near future. I'm contemplating a future move into the civilian nuclear field, and have several questions.

First, from what I gather, positions like ROs and AOs are actually in the plants/control rooms, operating valves and switches and the like (the equivalent of the ETs and MMs of the Navy world), whereas the SRO is in more of the supervisory role. Is this correct? Ideally, I would like to go in as an SRO, since my training has always been in the supervisory role, vice the actually putting-hands-on-things role.

Second, beyond the obvious differences in the size, number, and complexity of the systems, what differences are there in how the plants are operated? I gather that the navy paradigm doesn't work so well when you're dealing an a structure that is not so strictly hierarchical. It also seems, from what I've heard from people who have made the shift from one to the other, that while things like start-ups and shutdowns are more complex, transient situations performed on a daily basis tend to be slower and not so extreme (that probably doesn't include problem scenarios, which things can move just as quickly, I would imagine.

Really, I'm just trying to get some information on making that jump. Any helpful tips you could give me would help, and I'm sure I'll have more questions as the time goes on.

[JustinHEMI05]

I was an EOOW/ETA at the New York PTypes, and in my short 4 years in the commercial world, I have ran into no less than 6 former KAPL employees who turned commercial. They were all SRO candidates, and to my knowledge, all have successfully completed the training. In fact, I am currently in class with one that was a shift sup when I was there.

So targeting SRO is the right direction for you. But don't think that you won't be turning valves and flipping switches. As an instant SRO, you have to complete certain portions of the NLO quals and all of the RO quals, to the point where you will stand as RO during your NRC exam.

Differences between commercial and Navy? Well there are entire 18 month courses to cover that. But in short, besides being much bigger and more complex...

... there are volumes and volumes of regulations governing everything you do... that you need to know.
... the plants are much less forgiving to incompetence than a Navy plant.
... Normal plant maneuvering is done slowly (ie .5 DPM), but when a casualty happens, if you aren't ahead of it... it can run out of your control very quickly.
... speaking of maneuvering the plant, they are done usually at night on the weekends (maximize MWs) during peak times. We don't move the plant around unless it is necessary for testing or maintenance, so they are usually preplanned and you will have a lot of help.
... We do NOT run drills on the operating unit. That is what the simulator is for. You get to do that every 5 or 6 weeks depending on your shift schedule.
... Good news is that a thermal neutron is the same and interacts with U235 the same. And if you are talking PWR, power still follows steam demand.

As far as the training, some people compare it to "power school on crack," or "drinking from a fire hose," which I guess is accurate over all, but I find that each side (commercial vs navy) requires deeper knowledge in different things. For example, in Navy reactor theory, you had to have a deeper understanding of neutrons than you do in commercial general fundamentals. On the other hand, in the Navy, you just needed to know what happened when pressure in the reactor got to a certain point where in a commercial plant, you need to not only understand that, you also have to know how that pressure detector works and all of its failure modes and their effects. Add to that all the legal consequences of said parameter change.

Then there is the simulator part of the training. This is where those that can operate are separated from those that cannot, obviously. Some people simply aren't cut out for it, and when you have 40 alarms of different colors and importance blaring at you, the ability to zero in on the one that is screwing you, quickly, is vitally important. Some people simply can't do that. Some people lock up. However, they can usually pass a license exam... they will get weeded out in requal and sent to a desk.

Anyway, this is a bit subjective because like you said, everywhere is a little different. What I have said is based only on my 4 years of experience and obtaining my license at a BWR and persuing my license at a PWR.

I hope it helps a bit, but in summary... yes, SRO is what you should be looking for.

Justin