Public Power - January/February 2009 - (Page 22)

■ Achieving Excellence in Nuclear Operations Training often as equipment operators, before they are selected to go into a licensing class. Operations staff has gotten to know them, and potential candidates have acquired an overview of the plant, its procedures and its culture. “During this time, their performance is closely monitored, and they are graded on a variety of factors by the people they will be working with in the control room,” said Cade. In fact, three shift managers rate every potential candidate on a list of criteria that includes attitude toward safety, professionalism, performance, leadership, teamwork, plant knowledge and test scores. What makes a good candidate? “They are mechanically inclined, typically have a very good background in algebraic math, an ability to manipulate equations and to think critically,” Weaver said. The solid, stable, hardworking culture of the Midwest is a strong factor in their own recruitment and retention, Cade said. The U.S. Navy has historically been the training ground for nuclear plant operators. The Navy screening and winnowing process is rigorous, requiring successful candidates to go through two years of nuclear power school before they are even 22 January-February 2009 assigned to a ship. Those who survive the training and go through four years or more of active service in the nuclear Navy, become the most sought after candidates. “The Navy guys are the elite,” said Cade, but the Navy has cut back nuclear operations substantially, and fewer veterans are now available for transition into the electricity industry. Fort Calhoun looks for degreed engineers and works hard to give them the hands-on industrial experience, analogous to that in the Navy, before they go into the operations training program. Fort Calhoun’s operator training program is similar to others around the country, as prescribed by the NRC. Candidates start in the classroom, spending the first two months building a solid base of math and science skills, including the generic fundamentals of reactor theory and thermodynamics. Over the next four months, they build up their knowledge of the power plant systematically, beginning with individual components, such as pumps, valves and motors, then moving progressively to component assemblies, and finally to the larger operating systems and their settings. After acquiring the building blocks— how the various systems work and interact—students begin to learn the complex procedures required to control these systems. The next four months are spent on the simulator, before finally progressing to an additional four months of on-the-jobtraining in the control room itself. The two hands-on training stages tie together naturally since the simulator is identical down to the last detail with the control room; so much so that if a single panel or instrument is changed in the control room, it must be changed in the simulator. Operational training on the simulator is conducted in three logical phases. The first phase involves learning the procedures for normal operations, such as heatup, startup, shutdown and cooldown. The second phase involves learning the procedures for “abnormal operations,” stemming from component or control system malfunctions. And the third phase deals with the operating procedures used under “emergency conditions,” where major malfunctions could potentially result in a severe accident or transient. The simulator is where all of the prior classroom and hands-on knowledge becomes integrated. According to Pat Public Power

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

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