Public Power - January/February 2009 - (Page 21) Achieving Excellence in Nuclear Operations Training training of a nuclear power operator requires a major investment in time and money on the part of a nuclear utility, as well as years of commitment and dedication to the specific plant on the part of the training candidate. It is not a job-hopping career. The first level Nuclear Regulatory Commission reactor operating license can easily take more than five years to achieve, and is not portable. According to NRC guidelines, even senior reactor operators would have to start their training over if they moved to a new plant because of the unique systems design of U.S. plants. This reality fosters longevity and stability in the work force and extraordinary care in staffing and retirement planning. It also engenders a culture of close teamwork; those who go through the training are simply too valuable to lose. The entire training process is carefully orchestrated and overseen by the NRC, but some plants do it better than others. Omaha Public Power District’s Fort Calhoun Station is considered among the best, if not the very best in the nation, based upon a variety of industry metrics. In terms of throughput, more than 90 percent of the Fort Calhoun candidates make it through the 14- to 15-month training program successfully, in contrast to the industry average of 60 percent. Since 1985, 100 percent of OPPD’s candidates taking the final NRC licensing exam have passed, an extraordinary feat for one of the smallwww.APPAnet.org BY BRENT BARKER The est nuclear facilities in the nation (499 MW). “I am extremely proud of the nuclear operator training program we have at Fort Calhoun,” said W. Gary Gates, OPPD’s president and CEO. “The training is highly integrated with operations and, for many years running, every operating license we have sought we have achieved. We credit that to choosing the right people, ensuring we monitor their progress, help in a refurbishment of this magnitude, but OPPD management decided to keep the operations training program going to make sure their candidates did not lose their momentum. The close involvement of the operations staff in the training process begins with the initial selection of candidates. “I don’t make the selection of the students; the operations department does,” said David Weaver, manager of nuclear training. More than 90 percent of the Fort Calhoun candidates make it through the 14- to 15month training program successfully, in contrast to the industry average of 60 percent. and making sure the test process is rigorous and thorough so that we end up with solid performers in the control room. We make the best operators that we can.” Management’s strong commitment to training success was exemplified in 2006 when Fort Calhoun undertook one of the largest refurbishment outages of any power plant in the world. They cut a hole in the containment, replaced both steam generators, the pressurizer, reactor vessel head, and the turbines. Normally, all technical personnel would be called upon to Each candidate is ranked by several people in operations, and must establish credibility with the operations staff. “Selection is one of the things I think we have done well. It’s very nice to walk into the training class of 9 to 12 people here at Fort Calhoun and think that every one of them has an excellent chance of passing the NRC exam.” Weaver’s colleague, Randy Cade, operations training and simulator manager, said most of the candidates have already been working at Fort Calhoun for 2 to 3 years, January-February 2009 21 http://www.APPAnet.org
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Public Power - January/February 2009 Public Power - December 2008 Contents Perspective 10 Questions Heat or Eat? Achieving Excellence in Nuclear Operations Training Grand Ambitions for Wind Power Visions of Green Carbon Trading Across The Pond Reliability Green Energy Customer Service DEED Hometown Connections Parting Shot Public Power - January/February 2009 Public Power - January/February 2009 - Public Power - December 2008 (Page Cover1) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Public Power - December 2008 (Page Cover2) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Public Power - December 2008 (Page 1) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Public Power - December 2008 (Page 2) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Contents (Page 3) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Contents (Page 4) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Contents (Page 5) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Contents (Page 6) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Contents (Page 7) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Perspective (Page 8) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Perspective (Page 9) Public Power - January/February 2009 - 10 Questions (Page 10) Public Power - January/February 2009 - 10 Questions (Page 11) Public Power - January/February 2009 - 10 Questions (Page 12) Public Power - January/February 2009 - 10 Questions (Page 13) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Heat or Eat? (Page 14) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Heat or Eat? (Page 15) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Heat or Eat? (Page 16) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Heat or Eat? (Page 17) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Heat or Eat? (Page 18) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Heat or Eat? (Page 19) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Achieving Excellence in Nuclear Operations Training (Page 20) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Achieving Excellence in Nuclear Operations Training (Page 21) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Achieving Excellence in Nuclear Operations Training (Page 22) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Achieving Excellence in Nuclear Operations Training (Page 23) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Achieving Excellence in Nuclear Operations Training (Page 24) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Achieving Excellence in Nuclear Operations Training (Page 25) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Grand Ambitions for Wind Power (Page 26) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Grand Ambitions for Wind Power (Page 27) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Grand Ambitions for Wind Power (Page 28) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Grand Ambitions for Wind Power (Page 29) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Grand Ambitions for Wind Power (Page 30) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Grand Ambitions for Wind Power (Page 31) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Visions of Green (Page 32) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Visions of Green (Page 33) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Visions of Green (Page 34) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Visions of Green (Page 35) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Carbon Trading Across The Pond (Page 36) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Carbon Trading Across The Pond (Page 37) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Carbon Trading Across The Pond (Page 38) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Carbon Trading Across The Pond (Page 39) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Reliability (Page 40) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Reliability (Page 41) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Reliability (Page 42) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Green Energy (Page 43) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Customer Service (Page 44) Public Power - January/February 2009 - DEED (Page 45) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Hometown Connections (Page 46) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Hometown Connections (Page 47) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Parting Shot (Page 48) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Parting Shot (Page Cover3) Public Power - January/February 2009 - Parting Shot (Page Cover4)
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