Anyone ever work for Hydro plant?

[emruss]

I know this is a nuke site, but I know that there are people here that have worked in other places as well....so I'm hoping.  I'm interested in some jobs through the Bureau of Reclamation and the Army Corps of Eng.  (specifically the Ice Harbor Lock and Dam in Tri City, WA.).  Can anyone tell me what the work schedules are like, if the work/job progression is similar to a nuke plant (except for the obvious) for an operator, and about the area if anyone is familiar with it? 

I'd appreciate any info you can offer!

Thanks!

[shayne]

For area information, try looking at topics in the Region IV (Western) - Local Flavor and Lodging for Hanford or Columbia Generating Station.

[M1Ark]

I know this is a nuke site, but I know that there are people here that have worked in other places as well....so I'm hoping.  I'm interested in some jobs through the Bureau of Reclamation and the Army Corps of Eng.  (specifically the Ice Harbor Lock and Dam in Tri City, WA.).  Can anyone tell me what the work schedules are like, if the work/job progression is similar to a nuke plant (except for the obvious) for an operator, and about the area if anyone is familiar with it?  

I'd appreciate any info you can offer!

Thanks!

I have 5 ex-navy nuke buds that work for the Army Corp of Engineers at the Bonneville Dam which is not too far from Tri-Cities.  They work a 4 crew rotation (4 on 3 off and then 3 on followed by 4 off rotation) and they work 12 hour shifts.  They are unionized and each shift is comprised of 1 Powerhouse supervisor and 3 field operators.  They also have dayshift folks that handle work control type stuff.  (Powerhouse Supervisor = Control Room Supervisor/Shift Manager)  All overtime is double time and Powerhouse supervisor is paid (2006 numbers) $43/hr and field operators are paid $36/hr.  When applying at the Bureau of Reclamation website and you are asked how you meet the qualifications for the job. You must use all of the words in each descriptor but paraphrased because they use computer software to filter the sheer volume of applications they receive.  Even then you will probably need some friends on the inside since they will literally have to sort through several thousand resumes to hire a handful of people.  It is impossible for them to read the resumes of all qualified candidates.  The field operator qual program is a grueling eight days of OJT until fully qualified.  An individual with any commercial nuke experience in Operations could be a Powerhouse Supervisor inside of two years.  The place is immaculate.  There is very little in the way of machinery.  Just switchgears, load centers and MCCs.  They also perform 500kV  switchyard switching operations along with clearances for all of their equipment.  One of the field operators on each crew will operate the locks to allow ships to go both up and down the dam.  The other two field operators will monitor and operate the fish elevators after their rounds to allow fish to go up and down the dam. This particular dam has 18 turbines at 60 Mwe a piece.  They also have 18 spillways that each have its own dedicated emergency diesel generator that will auto start on a loss of offsite power and fully open each spillway.  Loss of offsite power is their worst accident. The Powerhouse Supervisor has a form of Tech Spec in that he monitors fish kills and a 1% fish kill will enter him into an action statement.  The fish kills are impacted largely by the rate of change that he opens his radial intake louvers into each turbine.  A quote from my buds,"There is only so much fishing a person can stand and there is only so many sunrises and sunsets worth watching."  Besides... why fish when you can grab all the huge salmon you want by hand from the fish elevators.  By the way they all come to work with huge coolers and they all have large deep freezers at home.

I am not sure if this is the information you are looking for. Hope it helps.

Broadzilla you know all of these guys.  They were all A1W Crew D MM Staff Pick Ups.

[Fermi2]

I know the guys well. All good people and good nukes. I'm not certain if I have the mentality to go Hydro. In about 16 or so months when my golden hand cuffs are off I'm thinking of going out to be an instructor. I like teaching a lot.

Mike

[UncaBuffalo]

I know this is a nuke site, but I know that there are people here that have worked in other places as well....so I'm hoping.  I'm interested in some jobs through the Bureau of Reclamation and the Army Corps of Eng.  (specifically the Ice Harbor Lock and Dam in Tri City, WA.).  Can anyone tell me what the work schedules are like, if the work/job progression is similar to a nuke plant (except for the obvious) for an operator, and about the area if anyone is familiar with it?  

I'd appreciate any info you can offer!

Thanks!

If you aren't familiar with the area, take a few days and visit before you take a job.  People picture Oregon & Washington as lush & green, but the east side of those states is all desert...just miles of sagebrush...

I grew up around there, so I love like it, but...





Modified to clarify that I like the area around Ice Harbor Dam.


Still not a big fan of Tri-Cities themselves.   

[HydroDave63]

Another difference is O&M philosophy, and terminology. Learning new terms like 'scroll case', 'speeder', 'penstock', 'tainter gate' and more...some old old castings in the plant being LH thread with swazis on the valve body (in one of the older plants in WA), and some plants having a "run it until it breaks" maintenance strategy