Public Power - January/February 2009 - (Page 23)

Cronin, operations manager, “Students go through simulated plant situations, including extremes “that hopefully will never happen. We want them to be able—even before the NRC exam—to respond and act just like a qualified operations crew.” the training building at Fort Calhoun, so that his presence is felt daily, he comes to know every student personally and can provide oversight. In fact, the best trainers in Weaver’s experience come from the operations staff. The Navy has cut back nuclear operations substantially, and fewer veterans are now available for transition into the electricity industry. From the student’s point of view, the training program at Fort Calhoun is grueling; it demands commitment and near-total immersion, not unlike first-year law or medical school. “The pace is pretty rapid,” said Cade, “and the ability to read and remember is tremendously beneficial. We may teach four systems per day, involving a written description of 30 to 120 pages for each system. Over a week, this easily amounts to 500 pages of technical material that students have to remember and be able to quickly refer back to. And all this reading comes after 8 hours of class work. As a result, we like to bring the whole family in here to brief them at the start, so that the wives and husbands hear from someone other than their spouses that this is a big undertaking. But we start with confidence. We expect all of the candidates we select to get through.” Students are helped by the strong mentoring culture at Fort Calhoun. This is reinforced by the extraordinary integration of training with its main customer, the 70person operations department. “It’s a very strong relationship,” said Tim Nellenbach, plant manager. “At critical points in the training program, operations personnel take a keen interest in every student. They watch them, learn their strengths and weaknesses, and help them over hurdles. In fact, if there is a problem with a student, operations assume ownership of the problem, not the training department.” To help solidify the relationship, an operations leader maintains an office in www.APPAnet.org “When the shift leaders come over to become trainers, they have instant credibility. They know the ins and outs of how the plant operates, and can share real problems and real experiences. Sometimes these people have learned things the hard way and are willing to share these experiences with the students. The students love that.” Careful selection of candidates and ownership by the operations department are two of the three legs underpinning Fort Calhoun’s success. The third leg is the rigorous preparation for the NRC exams. In fact, the exam process at Fort Calhoun begins after the second week of training, and continues every two weeks until the final exam. “We are relentless in examining these people,” said Weaver, “using progress exams and comprehensive exams to keep their skills sharp.” From the beginning, students are taking exams that are as complex and demanding as the final NRC exams. The benefits are threefold: first, to drive home the need for constant review and continuous integration of knowledge; second, to help ease students’ anxiety surrounding NRC examinations; and third, to reveal to the training and operations staff any deficiencies in a student’s knowledge. Remedial training and reexamination are required for all exam scores below 80 percent, as well as for any unsatisfactory evaluations. As part REST ASSURED. Your project is getting done and done right. Sure, all projects have risks, but at POWER, we identify and manage those risks with a proven, project-driven approach —so you can sleep again. www.powereng.com OVERHEAD & UNDERGROUND TRANSMISSION SUBSTATIONS | CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT ROUTING & SITING | ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS STUDIES | TESTING & COMMISSIONING GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS | UTILITY AUTOMATION | GAS TURBINE PLANT DESIGN COAL & SOLID FUEL PLANTS | RENEWABLE POWER | TELECOMMUNICATION SYSTEMS January-February 2009 23 http://www.powereng.com 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

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