working security at a plant

[boombee]

what is a typical day like working as a armed nuclear security officer? are officers issued weapons to take home and clean etc. anyone work 12 hr shifts and works at night? how is that? thanks for the help.

[HydroDave63]

what is a typical day like working as a armed nuclear security officer? are officers issued weapons to take home and clean etc. anyone work 12 hr shifts and works at night? how is that? thanks for the help.

Not Safe For Work

[IPREGEN]

Your question makes me want to call homeland security.

[HydroDave63]

what is a typical day like working as a armed nuclear security officer? are officers issued weapons to take home and clean etc. anyone work 12 hr shifts and works at night? how is that? thanks for the help.

Is there ANY security job that has you taking issue weapons home.....

[boombee]

what i meant by a typical day/night was is it boring, do you get burnt out quickly. wasnt looking for inside secrets.

[Higgs]

what is a typical day like working as a armed nuclear security officer? are officers issued weapons to take home and clean etc. anyone work 12 hr shifts and works at night? how is that? thanks for the help.

Although I am not a security guard, I can speak to what my company does. Hopefully we have some actual guards that can give better data around here, but I am not aware of any.

1) No, you don't get to take your gun home. You are issued your weapons as necessary when you take the shift. You then turn them in at the end.
2) I have worked 12 hour shift work and at night, and yes it can be boring, but you'd be surprised the kooks that come out at night around remote plants. IE at my last plant, we had a guy in our substation that thought poaching deer at 2am with a high powered rifle whilst in said substation was a good idea.
3) Typically, you will stand posts in towers..., at my place, you are in there no more than 2 hours. You move around the site throughout the shift. You can also be a "tour" guard..., meaning you rove a particular space every hour or so, IE through the conrol room, checking security doors, etc. You can also be "at the ready." I can't get too specific about that, because it is safeguards info that I am not privy to, but basically there is a cadre of guards in a room just waiting to jump into action. Seems pretty boring. You will also do miscellaneous tasks such as stand guard at a gate that ops needs to open for whatever reason, for example, or the sally port checking in trucks and what not. You may also have to provide escorts for people that don't have unescorted access.
4) As far as pay, you are typically paid a particular rate while in training, then when you "weapon up" you get a bump in pay.

I hope that helps.

Justin

[boombee]

thanks justin! im considering switching careers from law enforcement to power plant security. it will be a huge pay increase for me and trying to find out what i'll actually be doing and if i could actually make a long term career out of it.

[Higgs]

thanks justin! im considering switching careers from law enforcement to power plant security. it will be a huge pay increase for me and trying to find out what i'll actually be doing and if i could actually make a long term career out of it.

I am not sure what the pay is, but the last time I spoke to a security office he said they started in the mid 20s with their final bump being toward the top 20s. I am sure it varies wildly depending on site and company.

As for long term, I can't speak to that. I am not sure what the upward mobility of an officer is, but I do know a few ex-officers that transitioned to other jobs at the plant.

Justin

[Graphic]

thanks justin! im considering switching careers from law enforcement to power plant security. it will be a huge pay increase for me and trying to find out what i'll actually be doing and if i could actually make a long term career out of it.

Although I don't really work in that end of security, I do know a few guards and the process somewhat. Higgs gave a pretty good rundown. I hope you realize that it will probably be 100x more boring than a typical LEO around town. (That would be my opinion just from what I see ) That being said your risk is probably 100x less than it would be out with the crazies everyday.

For the most part the guards I know say it is pretty boring. 12 hour shifts and as Higgs stated they do move around. It is a pretty easy job but you still never know and always have to be on guard. I'm sure it is easy to get complacent though.

With the current security mods going on at many sites there is an increase in the amount of security officers required as well. There have even been a few guards I've seen at sites go union so that could be a plus or negative according to how you look at it as well.


For the most part it will be interesting but you won't get much action on a everyday basis. You will probably check more alarms or people trying to enter areas they aren't authorized more than anything . One day you might be checking in trucks like Higgs said for a few hours then may switch to the tower. I've seen some guards stay in one spot all day so I guess it could just be according to the site and their way of doing things.

As far as making a career out of it -- I don't see why not. They prefer ex military and LEO before most so that always helps.

[Sun Dog]

Consistency matters.

it will probably be 100x more boring

it is pretty boring

For the most part it will be interesting

[Graphic]

Consistency matters.

Nice , but I really mean for the most part it will be interesting as in seeing the inside of the plant the process etc. Still wouldn't compare it to a local LEO position anyday!

[iiiisx349]

back in the day i used to work security at 2 well known plants,d c cook and pvngs. i was armed at cook and unarmed at pvngs.no you dont take the guns home,altho one time someone did take a gun and tried selling it at a mall in niles mich.how he got it out is a mystery.that was back in the 70-80's.it may be different now