If you're in SE Idaho, have you been hitting hard on getting on site at INL?....my particular site just took on a few juniors (they just "tested" in with the DOE Core I believe). I'm not sure about hiring out here as everyone in management is real dodgey about the funding, BUT you should contact Jody Nix at Bartlett here and Marcom and see if they can get you on site here. I'm "restarting" a nuclear career after getting out of the Navy Nuclear world in 2004, working everything including golf courses until last year. I agree with everyone's assessment about the "practical" vs. "academic" experience. The nuclear world is RIFE with smart people and, most importantly, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY!...experience is the most important asset you'll have (as I hit my head on the keyboard lamenting what I did from 2004-20010!). Our rad engineer is brilliant (an ex-navy nuc elt) and he didn't HP, but just learned the rad eng material on his own. As for degrees, I'm finishing my nuc eng tech degree with Excelsior this fall and that should open up even more opportunities for me. You might want to look into it. Colorado State has both an undergraduate and masters program in radiation protection and is well regarded. Last but not least, get on the road this fall and do some outages.... You can PM me here if you need help with contacts at INL (I don't know a bunch of people but I can ask around/forward resumes etc.)...