Palo Verde

[Rennhack]

While we are talking about Palo Verde.... 

Is anyone from the Phoenix area planning to attend the Waste Management Conference?  We will once again have a booth (#920).  Come by and visit us.


Picture of our booth from last year.

Here is a link to register, if money is tight, you might consider registering as a 'student' ($35).
http://www.wmsym.org/html/registration_center.cfm

Here is a link to all of the pictures we took last year:
http://www.nukeworker.com/pictures/thumbnails-525.html

We'll be in booth 920, WAY in the back:

[Winston_O_Boogie]

Gotta tell you after 25 years in the civilian business (not a Navy Nuke, but an Engineering Officer), and numerous plants (as A-E, OEM, Utilitiy direct and contractor), I have never seen a more confusing and convoluted mess of engineering paperwork and paperwork traps than I have seen at Palo Verde.  I thought Exelon and FPL were harder than they had to be, but APS seems to have them beat, hands down.

Maybe the in-house team has it figured out, and I am sure there is a method to the madness, but it is painful to say the least.

At least the people are friendly and the money is pretty good.  It makes it tolerable.

Just sayin'......

[jpaints]

hey new here trying to find out who to contact fro the outage at palos verde for crafts......

aps has no info that i can find? help??

[roadhp]

Atlantic Group had the contract for valve services and several others.  Bechtel had the main contract, but that might change since the last SGRP is over.

[jpaints]

I thought there was one coming up? in march or april?

[roadhp]

No, Unit 3 was the last unit to get new S/G's.  Unit 2 outage this spring should last 5-6 weeks or so.

[ELTisELITE]

So im in the navy, in ELT(chem and radcon school) school at the moment, and the time to decide whether to extend my contract an extra two years or not is comin up.  so i either have 4 or 6 years left.  oh, and 90k bonus for that extra two years.  Im trying to decide whether reenlisting would be worth it? Or should i do six and out.  Im from wickenburg AZ and would love to move back and work at palo verde, im just trying to figure out if it would be worth it?  Also what kind of job opportunities would be available and the pay.  i know its a ways off but im trying to figure this all out here.  any advice or educated opinions would be greatly appreciated.

[Fermi2]

I bet a truly Elite ELT could use the search function and find the answer to many of these questions. Then again, I've yet to meet an Elite ELT.

Mike

[RAD-GHOST]

OUCH!

[HydroDave63]

So im in the navy, in ELT(chem and radcon school) school at the moment, and the time to decide whether to extend my contract an extra two years or not is comin up.  so i either have 4 or 6 years left.  oh, and 90k bonus for that extra two years.  Im trying to decide whether reenlisting would be worth it? Or should i do six and out.  Im from wickenburg AZ and would love to move back and work at palo verde, im just trying to figure out if it would be worth it?  Also what kind of job opportunities would be available and the pay.  i know its a ways off but im trying to figure this all out here.  any advice or educated opinions would be greatly appreciated.

90k is a lot of money...I'd stay in

[Brett LaVigne]

I am bumping these Palo Verde threads up. I am going this fall and would like to hear about how the last outage went from some that were there.

Did you work 6/12's?
What was good about the outage?
What was bad?
How was the staffing #'s and quality?
Did the outage go as planned or did it go over?
Would you go back?

I am looking forward to going, I sure liked working there 10 years ago.

Thanks for any responses.

Brett

[Brett LaVigne]

Bueller...Bueller...?

[Imaginos]

I am bumping these Palo Verde threads up. I am going this fall and would like to hear about how the last outage went from some that were there.

Did you work 6/12's? Yep
What was good about the outage? I'm thinking...
What was bad? What could be bad about gainful employment..?
How was the staffing #'s and quality? Somewhere between "Yikes!" and "Holy crap!" 
Did the outage go as planned or did it go over? It went as planned, just took longer than desired.
Would you go back? Yep

I am looking forward to going, I sure liked working there 10 years ago.

Thanks for any responses.

Brett

[Brett LaVigne]

Thanks for the response. Your right, gainfull employment is a good thing.

[Imaginos]

Evidently everyone (else) in a position to answer is way too busy digging their continued employ or is too mesmerized in anticipation of the arrival of U1R14 to give an opinion. One may draw one's own conclusions... 

[RRhoads]

Are the contractors working 6-12's too???
Seems like the last time i was there, we were only working 5-12's.
The House peeops are top notch! IMHO tho, i cant stand the area...guess its bcuz i grew up there!

[Imaginos]

Are the contractors working 6-12's too???

Yep.

Seems like the last time i was there, we were only working 5-12's.

Right you are. Five 12s was the norm for at least 15 years. It's a new day...

The House peops are top notch!

And it's an attitude like that, Mister, (well, yer work ethic doesn't hurt either...) that will keep your name out of the *Annoying Contractors* thread! 

[stownsend]

Does anyone have a day trip to recommend while in Scottsdale mid October? I've been tubing down the Salt River and my wife would like to see Sedona.I can't remember the route I took from Phoenix to Flagstaff that took me through the mountains and valleys southwest of Flagstaff.I think Grand Canyon is to far for a day trip,but I may be wrong.
Thank You

[Laundry Man]

Steve,
The Canyon is a long trip for the day.  Nice trip is the 101 Loop to to 17 North.  Take 279 to Cottonwood, neat town.  89 to Sedona.  Good eats ($$$) at the L'Auberge.  Nice day trip and some very pretty country.
LM

[GoLonghorns]

Just my two cents for a current update for Palo Verde.  I recently (6 months ago) got out of the navy as a ET1 surface nuke.  I just started work at Palo Verde about a month ago and am now going through the NLO class.  For the first time ever, Palo Verde is combining the NLO-LOIT class for the General Fundamentals class and exam.  My assumption is to expedite the movement toward licensing classes.  Anyhow, the current NLO class just started a couple of weeks ago with another expected later in the year.  So far, I thoroughly enjoy the company and the area.  I am originally from Texas and expected to find employment at Comanche Peak, since I grew up in Fort Worth.  However fate landed me in the desert.  There is lots to do here and the environment is what I enjoy, albeit a little warmer than most would desire.  The company emphasizes safety, more so than the navy ever pretended to.  I am just totally blown away by the operations of the site.  I have nothing but great things to say about Palo Verde thus far.

[azkidd]

Talk is Talk and they have big pockets.  Better watch your back out there.  I know many out there, most near retirement, just waiting for the day and covering their own ass.  Glad you still have that watercolor picture they placed in front of your face!!

[GoLonghorns]

I appreciate the warning.  From what I have seen and heard here, things have changed a lot  since the NRC/INPO 4 ratings and they have done some house cleaning.  There are a lot of fresh out of the navy guys like myself out here and it seems like a changing of the guard for some of the older guys.  I know there are politics on the site, but no more or less than I would expect or what I have heard from friends working at other plants, and way less than I experienced in the navy.  Maybe it's evolving to working in the civilian world, but I took a pretty hefty cut in pay to get out of the navy and start at the bottom rung of a civilian plant and still everyday is great.  I love my job, so far, and maybe all of this is jaded by my time in the navy.  But if I can always compare my civilian employment to my navy time, I am pretty sure I will continually be amazed at how good life can be.

[lb09]

Hello, I am getting ready to get out in Sep. I would like to work at Palo Verde (in AZ) Is there anyone out there who has any contacts there or preferably who works there that can tell me about working there. I am a MM qualified EWS and I have some Nuc Repair expierence also. Any info would be greatly appreciated Thanks.

[JustinHEMI05]

Make sure you like 300F days and black widows. 

Justin

[withroaj]

Make sure you like 300F days and black widows. 

Justin

Aww, come on.  What about Phoenix's New Years/Fiesta Bowl block parties?