no a decon tech is not considered responsible nuclear experience, responsible being the key. responsible usually implies some sort of supervisory experience in operating or maintaining a nuclear facility. chemistry can count, engineering can count. on the other hand if i did have a decon tech with a tech degree that qualified i would hire him over a nuke fresh out of the navy. he's already proven he can negotiate the ins and outs of commercial power. btw i like deconners, we had great success at my old facility when we opened up our nlo bids to deconners provided of course they met all other requirements. we had to modify the classes a bit because many had not had any sort of schooling in 10 to 20 years but they qualified quickly, had excellent attitudes, were masters of midnight appropriation, were already familiar with big league radcon practices and procedures. my last shift had three ex radcon techs and one ex rp tech and they all did excellent work and were superior trainers. i'd take them again in a heartbeat.