Re[2]: Stirring the pot

[BRZGV@ccmail.ceco.com]

     I believe Michigan took some heat a couple of years back when they 
     were looking at expanding their program when many graduates were 
     already having a hard time finding a job in a saturated market.  Some 
     thought it to be ethically incorrect to expand the program at the 
     expense of possibly misleading potential students.
     
     I must say that I don't know much more than this and don't want to 
     unfairly characterize the situation, but I'm sure others are more 
     familiar with the situation.
     
     Sincerely,
     Glen Vickers


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: Stirring the pot
Author:  radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu at INTERNET
Date:    7/11/96 11:34 AM


>Is Health Physics Dead? I can attest to the fact that there are a number 
>of students graduating (graduated) with HP degrees, who are not able to 
>get jobs. Those who do, are looking at lower starting salaries or tech 
>jobs. Lay offs of fairly senior personnel have begun (right Sandy?). 
>Recent HP jobs that I know of have gotten over 50 applicants, with some 
>reported as many as 400. 
>
>And with federal and commercial downsizing, power deregulation, DOE hiring 
>freeze and budget cuts, power plants getting older, research dollars 
>getting harder to come by, the future doesn't seem much better.  
>
>Is this going to be discussed at the National Meeting? Or moreover, is 
>there anything we can do? What are new students being told? Is this as 
>grim as it looks?
>
     
I can't resist this one.
     
It's obvious that, with the cost-cutting frenzy in the power reactor 
business and the end of the cold war mass production of weapons, the demand 
for HPs is "restructuring." There are, and will be, fewer people employed 
doing radiation safety stuff. But...
     
What kind of boost for nuclear power might come from solving the waste 
disposal problem? If Ward Valley and other low level storage sites open and 
Yucca Mountain begins actually storing spent fuel successfully, could this 
result in a shift toward nuclear as a way to mitigate global warming? With 
insurance companies citing global warming as the basis for raising rates in 
areas subject to hurricanes, this issue is about to become a concern in the 
average American's wallet. Could the storage sites themselves provide some 
employment, and their success result in a resurgence of nuclear power?
     
And what happens to nuclear power if we have another TMI? With the mania to 
reduce expenses on this quarter's balance sheet, is such an event more 
likely now than 10 years ago?
     
Bob Flood
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
(415) 926-3793     bflood@slac.stanford.edu
Unless otherwise noted, all opinions are mine alone.