[NukeNet] Marketplace on nuclear worker shortage

[Diane Farsetta]

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2007/04/26/PM200704265.html

A missing generation of nuclear energy workers

Hundreds of new nuclear plants have been proposed worldwide,  
including two dozen in the U.S., as a means to dealing with global  
warming. There's one little problem — who will staff them? Sarah  
Gardner reports.

TEXT OF STORY

KAI RYSSDAL: Twenty-one years ago today — in the middle of the night,  
actually — reactor number 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear plant exploded.  
Even two decades later, there are still substantial fears about  
nuclear power. But in many corners of the world, they're giving way  
to even bigger fears about global warming and future energy  
shortages. Hundreds of new nuclear plants have been proposed  
worldwide, including two dozen here in the U.S. But Sarah Gardner  
reports from the Marketplace Sustainability Desk, there is one little  
problem.


SARAH GARDNER: For a college student, there's nothing like walking  
into a career fair knowing the employers are desperate for young talent.

     RECRUITERS: We're in a great location, expanding industry . . .  
If you like traveling, we can offer that traveling option . . . We  
are the largest nuclear utility in the United States.

Those are the voices of eager recruiters in the U.S. nuclear  
industry. They're at the University of Oregon, chatting up the fresh- 
faced engineering majors here for a national conference.

     PAUL BURNESON: And your major is nuclear?

     ENGINEERING STUDENT: Nuclear, mechanical. Dual major.

     BURNESON: So tell me a little bit again about . . .

Westinghouse, AREVA, Exelon, the national labs, even the Nuclear  
Regulatory Commission — they're all here, competing for a meager  
supply of young engineers.

     BURNESON: We're at kind of a perfect storm from a staffing  
standpoint.

Paul Burneson is a recruiter for AREVA, a global company that designs  
and builds nuclear reactors.

     BURNESON: We're at a time in the industry where you have the  
baby boomers retiring. So you've got those people leaving at the  
backend at a time when the industry is facing a resurgence.

In just three years, 27 percent of the nuclear workforce in the U.S.  
will be eligible for retirement. It's not clear if the U.S. can  
replace them, let alone staff new plants on the drawing boards.  
That's because we sort of skipped a generation when it comes to  
nuclear power.

     CAROL BERRIGAN: In 1980, you had about 65 university nuclear  
engineering programs operating. Today, it's only about 29.

Carol Berrigan at the Nuclear Energy Institute says Three Mile Island  
and Chernobyl fueled the anti-nuclear sentiments that stalled  
industry growth.

But now, with rising energy prices and concern over fossil fuels,  
nuclear is trying to stage a comeback. Trouble is, the pipeline has  
been empty for a while.

Peter Lyons is a commissioner at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

     PETER LYONS: The number of students has started to recover in  
this country, but it is not back to the levels of, say, the 80s.

Right now, the nuclear industry's furiously trying to fill the worker  
gap — and it's willing to pay.

     CREIGHTON ADSIT: I'm expecting $50, $60,000 a year.

Creighton Adsit is a junior at Rensselaer Polytechnic, and he's  
expecting that kind of cash right out of college. Other students,  
like Tony Elliot, with offers in hand, know he's right.

     TONY ELLIOT: Surprise to my dad is I'd be making more money when  
I start out than he's making right now.

     CENK GULER: Oh yeah. There's a big competition going on as you  
can see.

Cenk Guler is here recruiting for Westinghouse. His company is  
offering signing bonuses, moving allowances . . .

     GULER: Now, actually, students are selecting the companies. We  
are not selecting students. They have to like us.

And it can be hard to keep students like Caleb Robison happy.

     CALEB ROBISON: I'm really big into reactor design. Theoretical  
design. But I don't like to do the modeling, like things.

     RECRUITER: You want to be a researcher?

     ROBISON: Right, but a hands-on researcher. I don't want to sit  
behind a desk.

Robison is a junior at Idaho State.

     ROBISON: I'd like to get into a program somewhere where I could  
make a difference in the world with hands-on experience and making  
things better.

Twenty years ago, not many college students would have connected  
nuclear power to a better world.

In Corvallis, Ore., I'm Sarah Gardner for Marketplace.