Clean Energy Insight - Moving Energy Forward

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If you are an NA-YGN member or a member of the nuclear energy industry, why did you choose a career in nuclear energy? 

Below, various NA-YGN members offered their reasons for joining the industry during this year’s annual NA-YGN Conference that was held in San Francisco, CA.

You can also view the videos from NA-YGN’s Youtube homepage:
http://www.youtube.com/user/NAYGN

Enjoy.

Was it a culture of accountability and responsibility?

Or was it to provide a service to the community? (i.e. - keep the lights on)

Special thanks to NA-YGN member Christine Csizmadia for the videos that were used in this post.

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If you are an NA-YGN member or a member of the nuclear industry, why did you choose a career in nuclear energy?  Comment below and let us know.

Below, various NA-YGN members offered their reasons for joining the industry during this year’s annual NA-YGN Conference that was held in San Francisco, CA. 

You can also view the videos from NA-YGN’s Youtube homepage:
http://www.youtube.com/user/NAYGN

Enjoy.

Did you want to make a difference?

Were you looking for stability?

Or were you fascinated by energy production?

Special thanks to NA-YGN member Christine Csizmadia for the videos used in this post.

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Nuclear energy’s advantage in job creation continues to be its most attractive asset.  The new generation of nuclear professionals that is now entering the revitalized nuclear industry is the direct beneficiary of this fact, and organizations like the North American Young Generation in Nuclear (NA-YGN) showcase its success.

According to the Department of Energy, nuclear power creates 500 jobs per 1,000 MW of electricity generating capacity versus 220 jobs for coal power, 90 for wind energy, and 60 for natural gas generation.

Nuclear Energy Institute’s Marvin Fertel discusses in this in-depth op-ed that nuclear energy is the clean energy job engine that our country desperately needs.  In this op-ed, Fertel details the coming energy challenges that our country faces and offers nuclear energy’s proven benefits as part of the solution.

No clean energy industry has invested more in American workers than the nuclear energy industry.  From AREVA Inc and Northrop Grumman’s $360 million heavy components manufacturing facility in Newport News, VA, to Westinghouse’s Chattanooga, TN training facilities, nuclear power continues to offer promising opportunities for Americans to get to work.

Fertel does a great job with this op-ed detailing nuclear energy’s advantage in job creation.  Did I mention that it’s clean energy, too?

Nuclear Plants Boost Economy, Protect the Environment

A balanced portfolio is needed to meet 20 percent increase in electricity use by 2030

The energy industry is preparing to meet electricity needs in fast-growing population areas today and help spur economic expansion as America pulls out of the recession.  Even with conservation and efficiency efforts, a balanced portfolio of electricity production options is needed to meet an expected 20 percent increase in electricity use by 2030, including vital contributions from nuclear energy.

New electricity production sources will vary by region, and there will be a premium on sources that do not emit greenhouse gases. Altogether, the electric utility industry must invest some $2 trillion in electricity infrastructure by 2030—the largest expansion ever of the U.S. power grid.  This infrastructure development also is essential to meet the expected market penetration of plug-in hybrid vehicles, which will enhance our energy security by reducing our dependence on imported oil.

Energy could be one of the most significant economic drivers for the next two decades. The benefits of such an expansion are staggering when one considers the labor force and supply chain needed for construction and operation of power plants, transmission grids and environmental compliance technology on fossil-fueled power plants.

Most significant low-carbon electricity source

Broad independent studies looking at future energy and climate scenarios clearly point to nuclear energy as an important component of our energy portfolio. Nuclear energy is by far the most significant low-carbon electricity source in America today, with 104 reactors producing one-fifth of all electricity production and 70 percent of all carbon-free electricity. They’re also economic drivers in the communities in which they operate.  A typical nuclear power plant produces $430 million of economic impact to the surrounding communities each year, and the construction of a series of new advanced reactor designs will extend the industry’s economic impact.

The industry is seeking federal permits for the construction of 22 reactors—a small part of the potential $400 billion global market in nuclear energy equipment and services over the next 15 years. 

For the first three new reactor projects in the United States, more than $2 billion in equipment and services already has been procured from manufacturers in 17 states. Another $2.5 billion in export orders for equipment is creating jobs in 25 states as American companies begin to reinvest in the nuclear energy supply chain.

Though today’s economy is slowing the pace of expansion of the electricity sector, our long-term fundamentals have not changed.  We are putting into service nuclear energy assets that will deliver low-carbon electricity safely for 60 to 80 years.

Nuclear industry employs more than 57,000 people

The industry employs more than 57,000 people at the 104 nuclear power plants operating in 31 states, but the nuclear energy work force is multiplied significantly by jobs in areas such as uranium fuel development, the industry supply chain, and skilled craft jobs at new reactors such as the Vogtle project in Georgia and the V.C. Summer project in South Carolina.

These new facilities in Georgia and South Carolina are among the four to eight advanced reactors that the industry expects will be producing electricity by 2016-18. Construction activities already have begun at those facilities and project-labor agreements are in place for three projects.

In preparation for this growth, the nuclear industry over the past three years has created more than 15,000 careers and invested more than $4 billion in new facility development. Plans call for the investment of another $8 billion to facilitate the supply of materials needed for large-scale construction beginning in 2011-2012.

New manufacturing jobs in nuclear energy sector

In the manufacturing sector, there is tangible evidence of expansion in the nuclear energy sector:

-    Alstom recently opened a $300 million turbine manufacturing facility in Tennessee to supply turbines for use in North American power plants.

-    Shaw Modular Solutions built a 410,000-square-foot nuclear modernization facility in Louisiana to assemble structural, piping, equipment and other modules for new nuclear plants that will employ 700 to 1,400 assembly line and skilled technical workers at full capacity.

-    AREVA and Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding broke ground last summer on a $360 million manufacturing and engineering facility in Newport News, Va., that will manufacture heavy components such as reactor vessels, steam generators and pressurizers.

All told, these and other companies have already hired more than 9,000 employees.

Economic activity associated with nuclear power plants is considerable. In fact, new nuclear power projects create twice the number of jobs of a comparably sized coal power plant, five times more jobs than wind power projects, and nearly nine times the number of jobs of a natural gas-fueled power plant.  Nuclear power plants also act as an economic multiplier, as each plant employs an average of approximately 500 employees from the local community and generates an additional 500 jobs in the local area.

For example, the expansion of the Vogtle nuclear plant near Augusta, Ga., is a $14 billion investment that will create up to 3,500 jobs during construction and 800 permanent jobs. In addition, more than 1,000 Georgia companies provided $908 million in materials, goods and services to the nuclear energy industry in 2008, the last year for which figures were available.

Strong support from organized labor

Organized labor has been a strong supporter of new nuclear plants, recognizing the significant economic potential for its skilled work force and the environmental benefits of keeping existing reactors operating and building new nuclear plants.

Mark Ayers, president of the AFL-CIO Building & Construction Trades Department, has proposed establishing multi-craft training centers near or at nuclear plant sites as well as developing specialized training partnerships with industry vendors and suppliers to certify all workers and developing programs to train local workers for careers in the nuclear industry.

Edwin Hill, president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), recently called nuclear power “essential” to our electricity production portfolio, adding that there is no way to meet the nation’s energy needs without it. The IBEW has developed a code of excellence for its members and has developed training programs to prepare workers for a new generation of reactors.

Our country faces an extraordinary challenge to expand our electricity system over the next two decades. Some have argued that building new nuclear plants at the pace required is impossible.  However, our industry built more than 100 reactors in the 1970s and ‘80s; France built 38 reactors in a decade.

Advanced reactor designs are higher capital cost projects, but the actual cost of electricity from these facilities will be competitive in the marketplace. Today’s reactors have among the lowest electricity production costs in the sector. Based on estimates for new reactor development, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects that electricity production costs will be competitive, and in fact, cheaper than most alternatives in 2016.

Affordable electricity for 60 years or more

With low uranium fuel costs and capacity factors (a measure of reliability) that average 90 percent across our industry, nuclear plants compensate for the up-front construction costs by affordably producing electricity for 60 years or more.

Financing new nuclear plants is one of the industry’s biggest challenges, but it is being met with support from state and federal energy policy. Federal loan guarantees can help project sponsors access lower-cost financing for nuclear and other clean-energy power projects, which ultimately lowers the cost of a new nuclear power plant and delivers lower-cost electricity to the consumer.

Loan guarantees are a mechanism that extends the federal government’s credit rating to companies that allows them to finance projects that are in the national interest. The loan guarantee program is a disciplined process that operates under strict controls and sets a high bar for companies seeking credit support. The industry will pay fees associated with these loan guarantees, so there is no liability on taxpayers when the projects come on line.

State governments also offer incentives to encourage construction of nuclear power plants. For example, Georgia enacted a law that enables Georgia Power, now building new reactors at Vogtle, to recover construction costs as it builds the plants. By doing so, the company expects to save $1.5 billion on the final cost of the reactors—savings that will be reflected in consumer rates for electricity from the facility.

Meeting America’s greenhouse gas reduction targets

Analyses of climate change policy by independent organizations conclude that reducing carbon dioxide emissions will require a portfolio of technologies, that nuclear energy must be part of the portfolio, and that a major expansion of nuclear energy over the next 50 years is essential.

A 2009 National Academy of Sciences study showed that 77 nuclear power plants must be built by 2035 and operating with the high efficiency of current reactors to effectively meet America’s greenhouse gas reduction targets.

Wind and solar energy will play an important role in our low-carbon energy portfolio, but they account for less than 2 percent of total U.S. electricity supply today. The prospect for renewable energy development differs widely by region, and until there is storage capacity for the electricity produced at these facilities, they operate only 30 percent of the time. Therefore, fossil fuel sources, primarily natural gas, are required as a back-up source of power to the grid where renewables are used.

The coming decades will witness the most significant challenges the nation has ever faced in meeting the twin imperatives of meeting rising electricity demand and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. No single technology can accomplish these tasks alone and they certainly cannot be accomplished overnight. Low-carbon sources like nuclear energy, hydro, solar and wind all must contribute.

Supporting the development of new efficient and environmentally friendly technology such as nuclear energy will create hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs while improving our environment for generations to come.

Marvin S. Fertel is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Nuclear Energy Institute. He has 35 years of experience consulting for electric utilities on issues related to designing, siting, licensing and managing both fossil and nuclear plants.

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“It’s the economy, stupid”, with double digit unemployment, what our economy really needs is jobs.  Nuclear energy provides thousands of Americans with stable high paying jobs.  The article below explains how new graduates from a two year program in Miami are getting great jobs before they even graduate.

Miami Dade College’s Clean Energy Institute graduates get more than a diploma; they also get a job.

BY REBECCA HUVAL

It looked like a typical graduation ceremony. But instead of anxiously wondering about finding jobs in the uncertain economy, 22 graduates of the Clean Energy Institute walked across the auditorium stage Wednesday at the Miami Dade College Wolfson campus with letters of employment in hand and white hard hats on their heads.

Thanks to the Clean Energy Institute, a joint program between Miami Dade College and Florida Power & Light, the grads will work as technicians at the Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant in Homestead with starting salaries of $45,000 or more after two years of college-level study and earning a $7,661 associate of science degree.

Otrebogir Urquiaga was among them. After studying engineering for five years in Cuba, Urquiaga, 39, of Hialeah, restarted his education when he moved to Miami 16 years ago. He took online courses in math and physics before applying to the Clean Energy Institute.

“Graduating from this course, you have a job,” said Urquiaga, whose two sons, 2 and 4, shouted, “Papi” as he crossed the stage. “And that’s great.”

Started in 2006, the institute is designed to educate workers to replace the aging power plant workforce. Over the next five years, 38 percent of U.S. nuclear power plant workers will become eligible for retirement, said Mitch Singer, spokesman for the Nuclear Energy Institute in Washington, D.C.

Under the program, FPL agreed to hire at least 20 Clean Energy Institute graduates annually and promote six internal employees through the program yearly for 10 years, starting with the 2008 grads.

‘A PIPELINE’

“It’s a robust pipeline for highly skilled workers,” said James Auld, college coordinator of the nuclear division at FPL. “We take local individuals, educate them locally and then we hire them locally and they stay long-term with the company.”

The program will expand within five years to include non-licensed operators, or workers who man the controls, in addition to the mechanical, electrical and instrumentation and control skills already taught in the program.

Starting this year, the Clean Energy Institute will give graduates certificates so their work transfers to nuclear power plants beyond South Florida.

Nationwide, more power plant jobs will be created in the next decade. The Obama administration guaranteed $8.33 billion in loans for two new nuclear reactors in Georgia that would create an estimated 800 jobs.

Activists raise questions about potential dangers associated with nuclear power plants, including radiation following an accident.

But the plants don’t emit greenhouse gases, and they account for 70 percent of the U.S.’s non-emitting energy sources, Singer said.

GLAD TO HAVE JOBS

Those concerns weren’t mentioned by Wednesday’s graduates, who were said they were relieved to have jobs as plant technicians.

Urquiaga reaffirmed his career choice after he completed a required five-week internship at the Turkey Point power plant. Despite the intense heat and risks of working in a power plant, he said the internship confirmed “this is where I want to be the rest of my life.” To be admitted, students must pass an aptitude test with a 30 percent pass rate that includes math and spatial reasoning. They can request practice tests from the school. About 120 apply and 40 are admitted yearly, said Richard White, director of the school of computer and engineering technologies.

Of those who graduate, FPL chooses employees based on FBI background checks, grades in classes — such as college algebra and electronics — and how well they perform during hands-on internships at the plant.

HARD WORK PAYS OFF

Elmehdi Elaadil, 21, of Kendall, doubted whether he would get the job because he was fresh out of high school.

But Wednesday, he cradled his hard hat under his arm and celebrated his new job as a mechanical maintenance technician.

“I thought I would never make it,” said Elaadil, who moved to Miami from Casablanca, Morocco, 10 years ago. “But we all studied together at the library almost every day.”

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A long slow recovery of the economy with job growth tentatively scheduled on the back end has caused our government to spend nearly a trillion dollars on “stimulus.”   Job creation is supposed to be at the heart of this spending and the results are mixed at best.

As much as 50 billion dollars in federal loan guarantees were almost  included in the stimulus package this Spring which could have allowed for the construction of 7 to 10 new nuclear power plants all in different states across the country.   Unfortunately, the loan guarantee amount was reduced by Rep. Waxman (Dem, CA) at the last minute to 18 billion dollars, which would allow the construction of only 3 new plants.

A quick refresher of what a loan guarantee is: essentially, the government co-signs on a construction loan but pays no cash in the process. The reason this is done is to lower the risk of the loan, which lowers the interest rate.   The lowering of the interest rate makes the large investment more manageable for the utility and incentivizes them to start construction sooner.   In this instance it would be economic stimulus without spending. This cash free type of stimulus is a beautiful thing in this poor economy.

So, if EPRI (Electric Power Research Institute) and others say we need more nuclear plants to meet the nation’s energy needs and maintain clean air standards, and the economy is desperate for job creation, then loan guarantees are a no brainer.   The current three loan guarantees are not enough and we need more to add job creation into this economic recovery. Our congress needs a sense of urgency in the right direction on this issue, and currently the urgency is all going to other issues besides job creation.

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The ABC affiliate in San Diego is reporting that a replacement project at one nuclear power plant will temporarily employ 1,000 people and could generate business of more than $300 million.  If this is just a temporary project, think what a new plant could do in terms of jobs, external business, and tax revenue!  The news report also states that the $670 million project will save utility users as much as $1 billion in replacement energy!

Nuclear Project To Create SoCal-Area Jobs

SAN ONOFRE, Calif. — A massive construction project to replace integral parts of Southern California’s only nuclear generators will begin this month, Southern California Edison announced Monday.

The main phase of a $670 million project will create more than 1,000 temporary jobs and generate roughly $300 million in spending benefiting Southern California businesses, the utility announced. The two nuclear generators perched on the side of the Pacific Ocean, at the San Diego-Orange county line, will each get two new steam generators inside the containment domes in the project. Each new generator is 65 feet tall, 22 feet in diameter and weighs 640 tons.

The generators absorb heat from the nuclear piles, and transfer it to water, flashing it into steam. That steam is then routed through special pipes to turn massive turbines and generate about 20 percent of the region’s electricity on a normal day.

The four original steam generators are approaching the end of their service life, Edison said. The California Public Utilities Commission in 2005 approved a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis that concluded replacing steam generators would save utility customers as much as $1 billion during the next two decades, when compared to the likely cost of obtaining from other sources the 2,200 megawatts of power the plant generates. Edison has had to take special steps to plan to slice into the containment domes, which are built with concrete that encases cables that were stretched tight to keep the structure intact. Cutting those cables, without jeopardizing the domes, required engineers to practice on a similar dome at a decommissioned power plant near Sacramento. The largest pieces of the new generators arrived via barge at Oceanside last winter, and were creeped up the beaches of Camp Pendleton over a ponderous, months-long effort. SCE plans to replace the two steam generators in the northern unit this fall and those in the southern unit during the fall of 2010. Each generator will be off line about 100 days for the changeovers. The utility said San Onofre is one of the last plants in the U.S. nuclear power fleet to replace its steam generators. The process has been successfully carried out by 49 of the 58 U.S. plants of similar design without a serious safety incident, Edison said. The construction project will be reviewed and monitored by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Edison said.

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Apparently, Westinghouse read my last post on skilled labor job opportunities in the Nuclear field.  Coincidentally or not, they just announced a need for 100 new skilled labor positions at their new $21Million Chattanooga facility.  Read here:

Fission for new jobs

By Mike Pare

Westinghouse Electric could add another 100 employees at its new $21 million Chattanooga facility depending on business, an official for the company’s nuclear services division said Thursday.

Westinghouse unveiled its boiling water reactor training center and welding institute at Centre South Riverport. The 65,000-square-foot facility is aimed at training employees and customers on the safe maintenance and refueling of the reactors in nuclear power plants.

Nick Liparulo, Westinghouse’s senior vice president of nuclear services, said the company is up to about 130 people in the city and could add another 100 workers within a year or so if business opportunities come through.

When Westinghouse first announced its Chattanooga expansion in March 2008, it had about 75 workers.

Mr. Liparulo said the company, a division of Toshiba Group, already has orders for 10 new nuclear power units. Six are in the United States and four in China, he said.

Mr. Liparulo cited the city’s available work force as a reason why Chattanooga was picked by the company for the expansion.

Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey called the facility “a big win.”

Mr. Ramsey said potential workers need to be trainable.

“If you’re not educated, you’re going to miss the boat,” he said.

According to Westinghouse, its service technicians can earn $60,000 a year or more.

David Howell, Westinghouse’s vice president of field services, said company officials believe nuclear power is necessary for the energy strategy for the United States and world.

“Safe, clean, reliable nuclear power is essential for the future and we are going to be a part of it,” he said.

The welding institute has the capacity to certify 288 students a year to work in nuclear and non-nuclear plants.

The company has had a facility off Riverfront Parkway near the Alstom plant. It bought the former Metals USA building at the riverport and undertook a large-scale upgrade and addition.

The building is equipped with a full-scale, 85-foot-deep reactor and pool mockup serviced by a refueling bridge and overhead cranes. Westinghouse officials noted that digging such a deep hole into the ground next to the Tennessee River “was not an easy task.”

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Dan Yurman at Idaho Samizdat recently posted this insight into upcoming job opportunities in the nuclear industry on CoolHandNuke.com (nuclear job recruiting website).  As Dan states on his Idaho Samizdat post, this article is targeted at new college grads looking for jobs. This has been one of the driest seasons for new college grad hiring rates recent history. It is important that the industry gets out there and makes the job opportunities in the industry known to this demographic.

I, for one, as a young civil engineering student had no idea of the opportunities that the nuclear field had to offer to civil engineers.  Everyone I went to school with had grandiose plans of designing bridges, roads, and skyscrapers.  I just wanted to design something big.  When I stumbled upon a nuclear engineering company at a university career fair, I found that the nuclear industry was a fit for me.

Another demographic that is hardly acknowledged is skilled laborers.  When was the last time you heard of programs targeted at high school students encouraging them to go to vocational school and become skilled laborers?  Less than 15% of my high school graduating class in Southwest Virginia attended a four year university.  It is really frustrating for me to hink of the missed opportunities for some of those kids.  It’s not their fault that the politically correct message to send to high school students is that they must attend college.  The nuclear industry poses a great opportunity for thousands of skilled laborers to become trained and employed.

Let’s hope that the message gets out.

Targeting nuclear job growth opportunities

And how to avoid a few potholes in the road to employment

By Dan Yurman, Idaho Samizdat

The nuclear energy industry has two major growth sectors which should be commanding the attention of job seekers with backgrounds in mechanical, electrical, chemical, and nuclear engineering. The sectors that are ramping up are design and construction of new plants and license renewals for current operating plants.

New college graduates should pay particular attention to plants with Early Site Permits (ESP). The reason is that they grant the utility building the reactor limited authority to begin some work at the plant site while the full license is still in review.

A good example is the Vogtle site being expanded by the Southern Company (NYSE:SO). The NRC is expected to issues an ESP by the end of August. It clears a number of safety and environmental issues and with it the NRC gives the utility a green light to start site preparation work. Also, it is a boost in confidence for investors and ratepayers and it bolsters public support for the entire project.

It is a clear signal to the utility and the engineering procurement contractors (EPC) building the plant to start hiring engineers and skilled crafts. Assuming the plant gets a license in 2011, it could generate 3,000 construction jobs and several hundred permanent plant jobs for the twin Westinghouse AP1000 reactors. They are scheduled to enter revenue service in 2016-2017 and have operational lifetimes of at least 60-years.

Currently, the nuclear industry has 17 applications pending with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for new reactor combined construction and operating licenses. Of these more than half, including, reactors in Maryland, North & South Carolina, Florida, and Texas, are most likely to be under construction by 2012. A new reactor project will involve 3,000-5,000 construction workers and a permanent workforce of 400-700 people once in operation.

The reactors in the southeastern U.S., all Westinghouse AP1000s, will be built by the The Shaw Group which has a 20% equity stake in Westinghouse. To support this massive scale of construction, the two firms are building a $300 million nuclear reactor manufacturing facility in Louisiana.

The two firms announced in 2008 that the companies will build the first module fabrication and assembly facility focused on constructing components for new and modified nuclear reactors in the United States. The facility will be located at the Port of Lake Charles, LA.

In addition to constructing components for new and modified nuclear reactors, the new Lake Charles facility will have the capability to manufacture modules for chemical sites and petrochemical plants round the world. It will create at least 1,400 jobs in Lake Charles over the next five years. Starting salaries for undergraduates with engineering degrees range are about $50-60,000/year.  If you have a taste for working overseas, Westinghouse is building four new reactors in China.

Last month Areva and Northrup Grumman announced plans and broke ground in July to build a similar facility in Newport News, VA, at a similar scope and scale and with similar job opportunities.  Similarly, Areva is building new reactors in Finland, France, India, and China.   Areva will also build reactors in the U.S. in Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio. The firm says it will hire 15,000 new workers in the next few years.

Additionally, the engineering procurement contractors such as Bechtel, URS, and similar firms found in the top 20th percentile of the Engineering News Record 500 are also hiring to work in the nuclear industry.

Work on reactor relicensing is just as intense

As of summer 2009 more about half of the nation’s 104 nuclear reactors have gone through relicensing by the NRC for another 20 years. Currently, 12 more are pending and are likely to make it all the way through the NRC process. The relicensing process is just as demanding as a new license. The NRC holds the utility’s feet to the fire since it will be issuing a permit good for 20 years.

A related work area is the “uprate” path for some reactors which boosts its power output by changes to the reactor, turbines, and balance of plant. All of these functions require highly skilled engineering talent.

Most of the relicensing activities have been trouble free, but two bear watching to see how things develop at these sites. They are Indian Point in New York and Vermont Yankee both of which are beset by anti-nuclear elected officials and citizens groups who support them.

While both plants have good odds to be relicensed, the hostile political environments in both states toward nuclear power makes these plants unattractive for recent graduates entering the industry. These two sites are the exception as the majority of renewals go according to plan.

Common areas for job opportunities

All three areas share common areas where new jobs can be found. Here are a few of them.

• New plant design & construction
• Operating plant services
• Safety analyses
• Nuclear procurement and construction quality assurance
• Pipe & pump fabrication and systems
• Electrical, instrumentation, and plant control systems

In summary a candidate with a recent engineering degree has many opportunities for long and beneficial employment in the nuclear industry.

( By Lisa Peterson )

Nuclear power is on the brink of a renaissance. New nuclear power plants are planned to be built; which means the nuclear industry has the potential to provide thousands of people with jobs, in fields such as construction and engineering, to name a few. This will create major positive impacts on the economy.

The nuclear industry is, therefore, in need of new talent. Charlotte, NC has been named the supposed “hub” for this nuclear renaissance in the United States, drawing scores of people to the area to work in the nuclear industry. Companies like Shaw, Westinghouse, Areva, URS/Washington, and Toshiba all have offices in Charlotte.  Utilities who employ many nuclear power plants in their fleets such as Duke Energy, Progress Energy, and The Southern Company are nearby as well.  Listen to this radio program that aired on Wednesday, May 6, (WFAE 90.7 FM) that discusses the positive impact that nuclear power can have on the overall national economy, the environment and the influx of jobs it can bring to the Charlotte area.

http://www.wfae.org/wfae/18_93_0.cfm?do=detail&id=10002