5 year ban

[GPD3002]

     Hello all. Any help or info I will greatly appreciate. Ok, I'm in my mid forties and just graduated with an A.S. in Nuclear energy technology. I was just released from my first outage for testing positive for marijuana on my FFD. I haven't smoked in over 2 months so it came as quite the surprise. I even took a "home marijuana test" the evening before and passed. As they were letting me go, they told me I had also failed a drug screen from them in 1992. Since this is considered a "second offense" I was informed it carried with it a 5 year minimum ban of any unescorted access. I have requested to see the details from the test and to appeal this ruling. I have no arrests whatsoever. MY QUESTIONS are:
     1. Is my future in the nuclear industry essentially over?(I was considering taking an online course to get my bachelors in nuke engineering)
     2. Where else could I look for decent $$pay$$ if in fact my efforts in nuke are futile?
     3. Is their an agency or anyone I could contact to discuss my situation?(25 years between 1st and 2nd offense!)
I am going to appeal the recent positive test result( is there any hope in that?!?!)  so I'm hoping anyone can give me informed guidance. I have been 100% honest about my situation and don't need a lecture.....just help and info. Thanks guys.
     
               Paul

[TVA]

Wait so you smoked an illegal substance and expect help?

[Marlin]

Wait so you smoked an illegal substance and expect help?

It is not illegal everywhere. This is something I have been pondering for a while. The issue with drugs or alcohol is impairment, I have not seen anything in programs that really deal with the new paradigm, will none detectable still be OK or will a new standard be written? I guess none detectable is the employers decision until there is a law suit. Much like the one that triggered the ban on restricting pregnant women as Rad Workers.

    1. Is my future in the nuclear industry essentially over?(I was considering taking an online course to get my bachelors in nuke engineering)
 

Not over but don't count on working in it in the near future

     2. Where else could I look for decent $$pay$$ if in fact my efforts in nuke are futile?

Oil and Gas? Not really a question easy to answer too broad

     3. Is their an agency or anyone I could contact to discuss my situation?(25 years between 1st and 2nd offense!)

The one that banned you and a lawyer

[TVA]

Uh Federally it is illegal everywhere and so far as FFD it is 100% illegal.

[TVA]

Btw gas industry is a non starter. Oil depends on the position. We tried hiring a guy and he couldnt pass the background screening. When the oil industry found out they banned him too.

[SloGlo]

yea, aye think yew pretty much blu (oar inhaled) it . higher a lawyer, a good labor lawyer from a recreational usage state.

[Marlin]

Uh Federally it is illegal everywhere and so far as FFD it is 100% illegal.

Can you smoke it free from the potential for prosecution in Colorado? Yes. I have dealt with this as a manager and had to let someone go I did not want to because of the facility rules on impairment not on legality (medical marijuana), legality never came up. Are we headed for legal recreational use nationally? Maybe. It has been deregulated to the point that it is just a ticket for recreational users even in states where it is illegal. This is not a clear issue as you can smoke it overseas in nations where it is legal. If you think that there are not contractors who indulge when off work stopping at a point to allow them to pass the entrance testing you are "smoking it" as well (metaphorically of course).

[TVA]

Try doing it at a nuclear site.

[Marlin]

Try doing it at a nuclear site.

You pass or you don't, the same outcome for nuclear power plants, DOE, or any number of other companies that have human reliability programs.

[TVA]

Point being part of FFD is being trustworthy. What do you think his answer was about being a worthless druggie two months earlier?

[GPD3002]

TVA I understand what you're saying. I'm looking for opinions/answers to the 3 questions I posted. I'm in contact with NRC now about the 25 year time frame between offenses and I'll give an update when I can. I am honest and trustworthy whether the nuclear industry agrees or not. Definitely not a "worthless druggie". I appreciate your input.

[GLW]

TVA I understand what you're saying. I'm looking for opinions/answers to the 3 questions I posted. I'm in contact with NRC now about the 25 year time frame between offenses and I'll give an update when I can. I am honest and trustworthy whether the nuclear industry agrees or not. Definitely not a "worthless druggie". I appreciate your input.

your self image vis a vis honest and trustworthy is your self image,...

none of which changes the situation where the nuclear industry is not going to give you a nuclear industry paycheck,...

their field of play, their rules,...

so,...

1) you're not special, a surprising number of folks get marched off site or get the door barred for entry for FFD issues every supplemental season, and most of those are just stupidity issues, like yours,...

2) Silicon Valley, Research Triangle, various medical and academia positions,...

3) you can contact the NRC, you can appeal with a good expensive lawyer, there are urban legends of folks who have beat this wrap, but I do not personally know anybody who beat being banned at the facility which banned them since 1989,...

[Ksheed]

I personally know of one person who successfully appealed a ban for a positive FFD test. Doesn't mean it's easy by any means, but it's technically possible.