San Onofre (SONGS)

[HydroDave63]

Anyone know if the Maintenance Supervisors/Coordinators at SONGS have bonus targets as a percentage of their salary? Also, what is the relo package like for these personnel-if applicable.  Thanx

Speaking of wanting to be a maintenance coordinator, you might want to read through the NRC site on recent findings:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/SANO3/sano3_pim.html#BI1st

and a White finding in

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/SANO2/sano2_pim.html#MS4th

[DSO]

Speaking of wanting to be a maintenance coordinator, you might want to read through the NRC site on recent findings:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/SANO3/sano3_pim.html#BI1st

and a White finding in

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/SANO2/sano2_pim.html#MS4th

Whats a "white" finding??  Obviously it isnt good--Are you at SONGS??

[Nuclear NASCAR]

Whats a "white" finding??  Obviously it isnt good--Are you at SONGS??

Shamelessly copied from here: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/oversight/rop-description.html

A "green" coding indicates performance within an expected performance level in which the related cornerstone objectives are met; "white" indicates performance outside an expected range of nominal utility performance but related cornerstone objectives are still being met; "yellow" indicates related cornerstone objectives are being met, but with a minimal reduction in safety margin; and "red" indicates a significant reduction in safety margin in the area measured by that performance indicator. The performance indicators will be reported to the NRC on a quarterly basis by each utility. Following compilation and review by the NRC staff, the performance indicators will be posted on the NRC's web site.

[DSO]

Shamelessly copied from here: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/oversight/rop-description.html

A "green" coding indicates performance within an expected performance level in which the related cornerstone objectives are met; "white" indicates performance outside an expected range of nominal utility performance but related cornerstone objectives are still being met; "yellow" indicates related cornerstone objectives are being met, but with a minimal reduction in safety margin; and "red" indicates a significant reduction in safety margin in the area measured by that performance indicator. The performance indicators will be reported to the NRC on a quarterly basis by each utility. Following compilation and review by the NRC staff, the performance indicators will be posted on the NRC's web site.

Ahh OK NASCAR--A "WHITE " is kind of like a "C-" grade in school--thanx

[jimdog99]

ok.....who left the elephant trunk in the S/G before startup?!!?

I know who but will never tell...

[HydroDave63]

I know who but will never tell...

Heck, I'll even buy ya a pop if you know who ordered the wrong flex gaskets for the manway 

[HydroDave63]

Anyone goin to this?


NRC Still Concerned About San Onofre Nuclear Plant's Operations; Meeting Set
April 29, 2009 

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will hold two meetings in Dana Point on May 7, to discuss the agency's 2008 assessment of safety performance for the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). The plant, operated by the Southern California Edison Co., is south of San Clemente.
The NRC staff will hold an informal open house between 4 and 6 p.m. during which they will be available to answer questions from the public on the safety performance of San Onofre, as well as the NRC's role in ensuring safe plant operation

http://thecapistranodispatch.com/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=973&cntnt01dateformat=%25B%20%25d%2C%20%25Y&cntnt01returnid=15

[Benefit187]

Hi, I was just wondering if anyone possibly knows any contact information for the hiring managers of operations at Southern California Edison. I applied for the Operator Apprentice position and I really want the job.

Also any advice for a newbie would be greatly appreciated. I've almost graduated with a Physics B.S. with no previous nuke experience. I've been pouring over all the advice in these forums for a while and it's been incredibly informative - you guys are great!

Thanks in advance

[desertdog]

Anyone goin to this?


NRC Still Concerned About San Onofre Nuclear Plant's Operations; Meeting Set
April 29, 2009 

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will hold two meetings in Dana Point on May 7, to discuss the agency's 2008 assessment of safety performance for the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). The plant, operated by the Southern California Edison Co., is south of San Clemente.
The NRC staff will hold an informal open house between 4 and 6 p.m. during which they will be available to answer questions from the public on the safety performance of San Onofre, as well as the NRC's role in ensuring safe plant operation

http://thecapistranodispatch.com/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=973&cntnt01dateformat=%25B%20%25d%2C%20%25Y&cntnt01returnid=15

I'm thinking about. Got some spair time here waiting for my next job and thinking about working the SGRs so I'd supposed it would be a good use of time.

[HydroDave63]

Hi, I was just wondering if anyone possibly knows any contact information for the hiring managers of operations at Southern California Edison.

I'm quite sure, knowing them, that they would prefer you went through HR.

[jdpierce]

Hello all,

I would first like to thank the memebers and this website for giving me the help I needed to get through the interview at San Onofre confidently. 

I am wondering if anyone might have any insight whether they have filled the positions of aux operator or if they are still choosing.  I am excited for the opportunity to work at San Onofre and to help change its unfortunate reputation but classes start the beginning of June and have not been able to contact HR.

I appreciate any help, as I know you are all aware, waiting is the worst.

Thank you.

jdpierce

[Longtime Nuke]

Have you heard that the San Onofre SGR starts 9/27, goes 92+ days, and is paying $27/140?  Word is a 5x12 schedule in RP, lots of experienced SGR RPs been pumping out clean plans.  Even going to cut up and ship SGs after the outage meaning extended employment for many.  Bringing in well-known, respected road leads and supvs.

[Already Gone]

Nice try.
$27/hr at SONGS, where you work 5x12 ( 5x11.5 after they deduct the half hour for lunch every day) comes out to $1788.75 per week.

A tech making $20.33 at any other outage will gross the same.

Long term work?  Are you really promising people the opportunity to stay at SONGS for even longer than the 92 day outage?  Are you suggesting that this work is somehow reserved for those who sign on for the outage, and that all the long-term techs leftover from the Unit 1 decommisioning aren't going to do it?  Are you intimating that the $140 per diem is going to stay at that rate during all those 40 hour weeks after the outage?

Or, is it more likely that the pay rate, and per diem, will return to the normal meager rate after the outage is over?
Is it also not more likely that this outage will have the customary HUGE layoff as soon as the S/G's are cut out?
What well-known, respected lead RP techs and supervisors are going to be there that will make it worth committing for 13 weeks of underemployment while there is more money to be made in fewer weeks elsewhere?

By the way, the GSA per diem rate for SONGS (which is just inside San Diego County) is $201.  That $140 still look as tasty?

Nothing has changed.  SONGS has not been, and is till not, a place where techs go to make money during outage season.  It was always a nice little "vacation" outage that just beat out unemployment during the off-season.  Considering that you hardly had to do any work, and there were no other outages happening, and SoCal weather is better than much of the country in January, the lack of monetary gain was never a hindrance to going there.
Hell, I'd go back there any January for $1 more than unemployment and just enough diem to cover my costs.  But give up a whole outage season on speculation that I'll get to stay longer than the people who have been there for decades?  Sorry, not a gamble worth taking.

[HydroDave63]

Have you heard that the San Onofre SGR starts 9/27, goes 92+ days, and is paying $27/140?  Word is a 5x12 schedule in RP, lots of experienced SGR RPs been pumping out clean plans.  Even going to cut up and ship SGs after the outage meaning extended employment for many.  Bringing in well-known, respected road leads and supvs.

That's a rhetorical question, right? 

[Longtime Nuke]

I am new here.  Not used to all that negativity, Beercourt.  Take it easy, friend.

San Onofre tells me there is no unpaid lunch.  And under the new NRC Work Rule 5x12 will be much more the norm in the future.  Check out the rule and how it applies to outages greater than 60 days.  RP "covered worker" hours are limited by law.

And the Unit 1 Decommisioning is done.  There are no long-termers left there.  Several gone to Humbolt Bay and back to Laguna Verde.

I like working SGRs.  There won't be many left.  This should be a good one.

[HydroDave63]

  And under the new NRC Work Rule 5x12 will be much more the norm in the future.  Check out the rule and how it applies to outages greater than 60 days.  RP "covered worker" hours are limited by law.

Perhaps YOU should check out he rule...

http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operator-licensing/op-licensing-files/fatigue-rule-update.pdf

SGR outage RPs don't have ERO duties, so the Rule doesn't apply to them.

p.s. If you think BeerCourt presenting facts (based on experience) is somehow negative (which it ain't)... you may have a hard time adjusting to SONGS or NukeWorker. Then again, you might be refreshed by the cool ocean breezes and view of the plant, while waiting 45 mins at the ICE vehicle checkpoint!   

[Fermi2]

Normally I'm not into the Quatlooing but I'm betting ALL my quatloos on BeerCourt!

Mike

[HydroDave63]

And just who, pray tell, would take the other side of the bet? Maybe Longtime will have some quatloos saved up after the SGR at Humboldt 

[Already Gone]

I'm not being negative so much as being skeptical.
Your "question" comes off as being very salesmanlike.  You are selling something.  I, in response to your sales pitch, am introducing a little caveat emptor into the discussion.

You might think 5-12's is the coming norm, but you haven't considered that a HUUUUUGE number of contract RP's are going to get sucked into DOE projects that are being funded by all that new stimulus money.  It is impractical to believe that the depleted number of techs will be able to cover the outage schedule on reduced hours.

You are also neglecting that only ONE RP tech per site is required to have ERO duties.  Since this ONE tech can change every week, day or shift, there is no need to limit the hours of the rest. This is, was, and will be no more than an excuse to limit overtime costs, but when it starts to affect outage lengths, it will be whisked away.  Yeah, I know SONGS does not care a whit about outage length, but the other sites do, and they will be offering maximum overtime to get their outages over quickly.  You think you can compete with that by offering somebody 40 hours a week on a project that will spillover into the next outage season?  No way.

Yes, there are long-termers at SONGS.  They use them to augment the house staff.

The cutting up of the old S/G's will either be done very quickly with a bunch of people or it will be done very slowly with very few people.  My guess is the latter with no overtime, non-outage per diem rates, and non-outage pay rates.  I'll bet those slots have already been promised to all those "super-techs" who are there "pumping out clean plans".  If they turn them down, what does that say?

No SGR ever finishes with the same number of RP's that are there at the beginning.  At least half will commit their entire outage season to this one job only to be laid off as quickly as they would at any normal outage - but with nothing lined up and no notice, leaving them to scramble to another outage where the local hotels and campgrounds were all taken by those folks who knew in advance where they would be going.
Nice that they won't be deducting the half hour for lunch, but that still makes the weekly gross pay $1890 - still far less than you could be making elsewhere at a lower pay rate.  You also make no mention of the campground on the Mesa.  Will this be available to the techs, or will they get kicked out again to make room for all the Bechtel employees?  Any local hotels offering outage deals?  If so, let's hear about them.

Look, I don't have any problem with the idea of people going to SONGS for an SGR.  Just don't bait the hook with a bunch of promises that will not be kept.  Only a few of the people who are going will be there beyond the first half of the project.  Those people are already going there without any coaxing from you.  The rest - the ones you are trying to recruit - will get laid-off and have to secure work elsewhere.  So, instead of promising them the things that you are not going to give them, why don't you be upfront and tell them the truth.

It goes something like this:
Hey, SONGS is having an SGR outage this fall.  Many of the techs will be there for the entire outage season, but we need many more to support the S/G removal.  This will be a short-term assignment, but there will be many follow-up outages in need of your help - especially considering that quite a few of your colleagues will be tied up for the remainder of the SONGS SGR.  Why don't you call today and secure your spot, and we can discuss where you will go from there.  Thanks, Your Friendly Bartlett Recruiter.

You see how that works?  You are not making any promises you can't keep.  You are not asking anyone to gamble.  Nobody will get disappointed by such an offer.  Who knows, some folks who take you up on it just might not even want to go there if they think they are going to have to stay for the whole thing, but will go for a short while.

The RP techs are not stupid.  They know the truth from a lie, and you can tell if you read this site at any length that a lie is about the worst offense you can commit in this business.  Lots of people will go to SONGS for the short-term and leave early quite happily for another outage.  But they will MF you until the end of time if you promise them long-term when you don't mean it.  By implying long-term work you are promising it to EVERYONE who responds.  Unless you intend to keep everyone to the bitter end, you are being dishonest when you dangle this carrot.  You are, in fact, making the biggest mistake you can make.  Just be honest.  Ask for what you need, and give some real consideration in return.  You will be a superstar.

[HydroDave63]

Awesome!

[LOKI RAD]

Tell the "Truth", deal with it and move on.

I agree!

[Longtime Nuke]

I hope you turn out be right, but I think you will find the Work Rule impact much broader than described.  For RP, minimum ERO staff are "covered workers" and must adhere to work hour limitations.  Minimum ERO staff used to be as low as 1 tech per reactor, but that has changed at most plants.  Plants (many) that have gone to 90 minute recall staff, for instance, have far larger ERO minimums.  Paol Verde, for instance, has ERO min RP of 9.

Consider the impact.  In order to have 9 RP techs on site at all times that are work-hour limited in a long outage, you may need to put 20 techs per shift on limited hours.  With days off and potential call-ins, that is needed to ensure 9 elegible show up.  Some plants will have to put everybody on limited hours to avaoid disparate treatment complaints.  PV is considering drastic outage staffing and scheduling changes to comply....as are many other plants.  Have you seen Jerry Hiat's presentation on this subject? 

My San Onofre contact tells me Camp Mesa has been expanded for the SGR to almost 400 sites and will be open all outage workers...including RPs, especially those with SGR experience.

best,

J

[MeterSwangin]

I know of two other plants treating this thing that way.  All RPs will work fewer outage hours to keep everybody away from the reg. limits and not create union complaints.  Therefore need more RPs...talking to USA plants about more loanees.

[RDTroja]

I know of two other plants treating this thing that way.  All RPs will work fewer outage hours to keep everybody away from the reg. limits and not create union complaints.  Therefore need more RPs...talking to USA plants about more loanees.

I think this is going to be the big kicker for any effect the rule has on contract HPs... if the union techs can't work the hours, neither can the contractors. And if one union tech can't work the hours, neither can the others. It will cause some problems for awhile, but then I think things will get ironed out. It will be interesting to watch the dance as each utility watches what the others are doing to see what they are trying to get away with.

The bottom line is... well, the bottom line. Once it starts to affect outage duration, the utilities will find a way to get around the limits.

[DSO]

Anyone have the scoop on the open Nuclear Electrician job at San Onofre--ie --starting pay for 20 yr Nuke EM?? Ending pay==scheduled hrs, Overtime? Iknow its local 246

Thanx