..... Is employment in such a specialized field really sustainable with all recent plant shutdowns and natural gas prices as low as they are. I have 3 little girls and the idea of moving them, busting my butt to qualify, and then starting over again in a couple years isn't all that appealing to me, hence getting out of navy. I'm really looking for long term stability.....
employment never was stable for many, very stable for some,...
many of the atoms for peace plants were pilots, yet, they built, loaded fuel, operated, shut down and then sent their staffs packing, not much stability there even when nuke power was the new jewel in the crown,...
here's a short breakdown for your "stability" aspirations,...
3 commercial nukes were licensed in the 1950's, 19 licensed in the 1960's, 59 licensed in the 1970's, 47 licensed in the 1980's, and 5 licensed in the 1990's, none since,...
none of the commercial nukes were shuttered in the 1950's, 7 were shuttered in the 1960's, 7 were shuttered in the 1970's, 6 were shuttered in the 1980's, 9 were shuttered in the 1990's, none were shuttered in the 2000's, 4 have been shuttered in the 2010's so far,...
of the 33 shuttered plants: seven were in California, two in Connecticut, one in Colorado, one in Florida, three in Illinois, one in Maine, one in Massachusetts, two in Michigan, one in Minnesota, one in Nebraska, two in New York, one in Ohio, one in Oregon, four in Pennsylvania, one in South Carolina, one in South Dakota, one in Washington and two in Wisconsin,...
so, essentially there have been 133 commercial reactors of which 75% are still on the grid,...
the currently operating plants have an average age of 33 years and a median age of 35 years,...
the plants which have already been shuttered had an average age of 17 years and a median age of 16 years,...
and those 33 plants were scattered all over the fruited plain,..
it's not really the number of nukes operating or the vagaries of their business or competition models,...
it's really the unfortunate circumstance that they are not building new ones at a rate to keep up with the retirements and the current operating units are old, regardless of how well they have been managed to still be productive, these old units need to have qualified replacements coming on line to keep the nuke industry viable beyond their inevitable retirements,....
a little like the salty dogs which populate these forums,....
so if you're gonna play in this arena to make your living then salty old plants and salty old operators are going to be a part of your existence,...
as are the never ending supply of young ex-NNPP hopefuls plus whatever the tech schools and universities churn out,...
and the really hungry hopefuls from Burger King and McDonald's,...
you can try to get the youngest belle of the ball to be your dance partner but be mindful she's already used up 48% of her initial license life expectancy and has to get that coveted extension in fewer years than you need to retire out,...
that big move you desire to never have to make after you plant your CIVLANT homestead is no more attainable as that last statement I illustrated for you,...
and that's the best stability scenario you've got,...
and yet still in 2013 America, you're better off than a whole lot of your fellow citizens,...
so take that all in, balance out the calculus for you and yours and make the best choice you can, I sense you're looking for guarantees that do not exist now and quite frankly have never existed,...
Well, good luck and thank you for your service,....