What are the prerequisites for obtaining a RCT certification? Is a college degree required or only the exam?
Time is the biggest prerequisite. You can start off in the business as a deconner and if you have the desire to improve, work your up to be a tech.
Quote from: seanphillip30 on May 04, 2014, 01:46
What are the prerequisites for obtaining a RCT certification? Is a college degree required or only the exam?
Three or four years ago, they were hiring off the street...all you had to do was pass the exam.
Now...a glut of qualified people, so they are being pretty choosy. That being said, I heard all the laid-off people at Hanford are back (if they wanted to be) and they are hiring new (but experienced elsewhere) faces? And I've seen a pick-up in job postings at INL, too.
Quote from: seanphillip30 on May 04, 2014, 01:46
What are the prerequisites for obtaining a RCT certification? Is a college degree required or only the exam?
There is no certification, you are an RCT if you meet the requirements of your employer who defines it based on regulations and other standards. There is a registration (National Registry of Radiation Protection Technologists) but it is not for entry level technicians.
Quote from: seanphillip30 on May 04, 2014, 01:46
What are the prerequisites for obtaining a RCT certification? Is a college degree required or only the exam?
As you understand it, what does the acronym RCT represent as the posters above are assuming what it means and assumption is,....
well it's something,... :P ;) :) 8)
There are degrees you can get that give you a leg up. I think all the way up to masters. Plenty of people get the associates. They can be called different things. Radiation Health physics is one thing I have heard, radiation protection technologist is another. There are also ways to get it from the military, but they are pretty tough and can be a crapshoot. It is based on a combo of schooling and experience. You can find a school that does it online and call the person that heads up the program for more info.
There is a pretty cool banner at the top of the webpage that has such degrees....
You are trying to get into an industry that is slowly dying; pay has been stagnant for years, and with the closing of plants and the rise of natural-gas plant competition, it will only get worse. They tend to not hire enough techs anymore to save money, and my typical 12 hour day consists of only one 15 minute lunch break. As a tech you are working with craft also under the gun to produce and you have to watch them like hawks or they will skirt rad con rules, get contaminated and you get the blame. There is a saying nowadays, a Rad tech never makes the same mistake twice because they fire you on the first one. The stress level and accidents are high with the pressures for production. I have seen many good techs fired for minor offenses.
Quote from: Content1 on May 06, 2014, 02:44
You are trying to get into an industry that is slowly dying....
When you figure in decommissioning time there is a pretty significant half-life. It should be enough to retire on. ;)
Quote from: ksheed12 on May 07, 2014, 11:08
When you figure in decommissioning time there is a pretty significant half-life. It should be enough to retire on. ;)
Decommisioning is being postponed - right now I don't believe any of the current crop of shut down nuke plants are being decommisioned in the near future. They are being setup for Safestor - plant systems drained and abandoned, a caretaker employee population, fuel moved to a pad, and let the decommisioning fund grow with investments.
Quote from: HouseDad on May 07, 2014, 12:05
Decommisioning is being postponed - right now I don't believe any of the current crop of shut down nuke plants are being decommisioned in the near future. They are being setup for Safestor - plant systems drained and abandoned, a caretaker employee population, fuel moved to a pad, and let the decommisioning fund grow with investments.
...and decay of radioactive material lessening the cost of demolition, transportation and disposition.
Be willing to travel for a while. It took me 4 years with some traveling to get a permanent spot. Hopefully it lasts. (knock on wood)