[Approx. Read Time: 2.5 minutes]
“Powering the Network” was the goal of the 2010 WIN Conference and it couldn’t have been better achieved with 381 Women in Nuclear joining hands to share the energy industry knowledge and promote mutual growth.
Describing my experience at the meeting this year in one word, I would say that it was “Empowering”!
WiN Seattle 2010
The conference kicked off with a welcome address by Carol Berrigan, Senior Director, Industry Infrastructure, and Dale Atkinson Vice President, Operational Support, Energy Northwest, followed by an awesome line of speeches which kept the audience motivated throughout the conference by their highly spirited discussions on a myriad of topics. Balancing the Energy, Issues in Isotope Production and Use, Challenges in the Front End of the Fuel Cycle, and New Plant Construction are just a few to mention!
Specific attention was given to Professional Development in the form of work shops on Solving Problems-Leveraging Organizations, Soft Skills and Hard Lessons for Women Leaders. The conference also offered a unique mentorship program to aid first time attendees in navigating the conference and the U.S. Women in Nuclear experience. Forty industry professionals who have attended at least one previous U.S. WIN conference volunteered for the program and made themselves available to mentor students. They also helped the students to network and build contacts, shared their knowledge and experience and supported them throughout the conference.
AREVA Attendees
The best was saved for last! The attendees’ experience reached its pinnacle on the last day when they toured Columbia Generating Station and U.S. Nuclear Submarine and Trident Training Facility (TTF).
The tour provided by the United States Navy was an exclusive tour of the one of America’s Ohio Class Ballistic Missile Submarines and Trident Training Facility. The attendees spent the morning touring the TTF where submarine crews use simulators to train for real world events, ranging from casualty responses to wartime scenarios. It was a once in a lifetime tour of one of the most high-tech and sophisticated submarines in the world.
The batch that chose to tour Columbia Generating Station had a unique experience of visiting the only commercially operated nuclear power plant in the Northwest. The boiling water reactor has an on-site dry cask storage installation, which allows for storage of spent fuel rods in specially designed and manufactured casks. To date, 27 casks have been loaded and stored in the new installation, making room in the spent fuel pool for receipt of new fuel. (Not to mention the pleasure of going on a magical journey riding through the gorges with spectacular views of snow covered mountains and idyllic lakes unique to the state of Washington)
I asked a few of my co-attendees to share the most important skill that they learned, or learned to improve, at the WiN Conference and here is what they had to say:
Rebecca Jetton:
“The WiN national conference is a great opportunity to expand my knowledge of parts of the nuclear field that are outside of my day to day job. I enjoy learning about different aspects of nuclear power from experts in the field.
The conference is also a great chance to network and exchange ideas with other women in the nuclear field and to develop my personal leadership skills.”
Wanda Brookscrocker:
“The thing that most inspires me at the conferences is the networking that occurs, realizing that this is how things get done and definitely how nuclear is regaining popularity in the U.S. - people connecting with others in the industry and standing together in support of nuclear energy. The opportunity to mentor, too, is very valuable. As a mentor for the second time, I realized that I benefited as much from the experience as the students I mentored. On-going contacts were made with several people in the educational sector. These contacts help the students to realize the value of becoming involved in the industry.”
Becky Rollins:
“One of the most important things I learned at the WIN conference was you are responsible for where you want to be in your career. You have to ask for what you want, have a good support structure, push the envelope, understand your gaps and work to close them, and set challenging goals for yourself.”
Danita Lampkin:
“The WiN conference taught me how to reform myths and help improve the image of nuclear engineering. Through this conference I was able to gain some insight on public perception of the nuclear industry in the media.”
Lakshmi,
Great article. It sounds like you and other nuclear professionals had an amazing time. These conferences are a great way to get up-to-speed on what other professionals are working on in the industry while making tons of new friends that share the same interests as yourself. Thank you for documenting your experiences to the NA-YGN community and the World wide web!
CD
Nice job LP! Thanks for writing this article. I totally agree that the conference was extremely empowering! One of the main goals of conferences is networking and it has been really great getting to know you better the last few times we attended together.
Becky
Nice blog Lakshmi. It is important for people to recognize that so many young women, and also men, are involved in the “rebirth” of an industry that is typically thought of as a profession dominated by “experienced” males.
What a great post LP! 381 Women In Nuclear … now that is power - and I think it is awesome to have that many WIN members showing their support and promoting the nuclear industry. I am so glad that you were able to attend this trip; it seems that it was a great way for you to learn more about our industry, meet professionals in our field, and then give back by writing this great article. Thank you for sharing your experience with us!
Lakhsmi,
Interesting to know that in United states you have nuclear conference with 381 women.You know that the president of the french public nuclear company is a woman “Anne Lauvergeon” .She is president since a long time.She is very strong because the governement wanted to replace her but it is difficult to find a leader as her…
She is a good example for woman career in top management…In France it is difficult to arrive at this level for a woman
Rewarding for me to share with you experience through this blog…..
Lakshmi,
thank you for sharing your experiences as an active member of quite a significant conference. It is nice to see a network of 381 women inspired by the out-of-box lessons they learn outside of their day to day scheme and remind us the value of nuclear industry as well as the interconnection within. Enjoyed reading this.
PL, Weaving magic with words - is what I felt after I read this write-up on the WIN conference. You have a lot of passion and willingness to learn.
To absord a week long conference and put it into words says a lot
about your retention power and concentration.
Good compilation..good insight into all that is being done in the direction of nuclear energy and power.
Looking forward to reading a lot more from you !!
What an intersting style in writing, amazing to read!
It seems as if the reader would have joined the conference by himself and I’m sorry, I did not! (beside the fact that I’m not a woman)
Please, write more of those fine articles and let us join the interesting moments of life!
Posting quotes from attendees topped off the article perfectly! Powerfully written post. Great job.