Re: Radiation Control Technician

["radmax" <radmax@duesouth.net>]

Doug Gossen wrote
>.......It is statements like yours that are
>generalizing the health physics career opportunities that is reducing the
>number of individuals coming in to the profession.  If you do not feel
>there is a need for more HP grads, I invite you to talk to Bartlett Nuclear
>who told me they were short 1800 techs for the scheduled outages this
>spring.  The data does not lie, there is a shortage of HP techs.  As for
>your point about the change in outage lenght, I agree.
>That is my 2 cents worth,
>Doug Gossen
>Lakeshore Technical College
>
Yes Doug, THERE IS a shortage of Techs in commercial power, for THREE, MAYBE
FOUR months of the year, Spring and Fall, then there is NO WORK.  Most of
the techs I know have other jobs to fall back on, many paying under the
table, just to make ends meet.  As has been stated elsewhere, working for 4
to 5 months (3 outages if your lucky) doesn't pay the bills.  Its not so
much that the outages are so short, its that they are always scheduled for
the same times.  This Spring, over 30 outages were scheduled to start within
a 3 week time frame, all of which were less than 6 weeks duration, but long
enough that you couldn't go to another outage.  If the utilities were to
spread out the work load, form alliances with plants in neighboring states
and schedule outages back to back, fewer of us would be trying to get out of
the business or resorting to DOE contracts.
>
Steve Hand wrote
>>  The key to the hiring was the experience level. Over the
>> past few years, a majority of the plants ONLY wanted Sr. Techs,
>> eliminating the Jr. Tech positions. This eliminates ALL entry level
>> techs.
>  It is easy to pick out statements, like the one above, and make a comment
>on it - so for the sake of argument I have done this - however, I would
like
>to know what will happen when the senior techs retire, and there are no
>junior or entry level techs to take their place.  If they are not working
>under a senior tech, nor being trained (and college courses don't count
>because this is not hands on experience) by one, who will do the jobs when
>the personnel are required.  This seems to be a downwared spiraling
>condition - when it bottoms out, what will happen ?  Will these junior and
>entry level techs then be able to command or demand high pay, OT, etc...
>again.
>Thanks,
>Steve Hand
>Radiation Safety
>University of Maryland
>
Jr tech's have NEVER been able to demand HIGH pay.  Traditionally, many of
these jobs were reserved for Senior Techs wives/girlfriends or other
family/friends as incentive to bring the experienced techs to one job or
another.  I was lucky (unlucky, depending on how you want to look at it) to
get in entry level ($5.00/hr $35 per diem, Seniors were making $12-$14 and
$50) at Palo Verde in 1988 with IRM (who incidentally was kicked off the Phx
area Tech schools campus's for recruiting in Jr.s to sort trash, all of whom
were told they would be working as Instrumentation techs within 6 month's).
I took a road job when it looked like layoffs were imminant, and with all
the downtime it took me 6 years to make ANSI 3.1 Senior Technician status.
The outages are MUCH shorter now.
And, as has been mentioned, when Union Laborer's (Com-Ed) are being paid
$21+/hr to sweep the floor w/no responsibilities, and 3.1 Senior Tech's with
6+ years exp. are paid $17.00 and $50.00 diem W/Massive responsibilities,
PLUS potential LIABILITIES down the road (20 years from now---3 pack a day
smoker gets lung cancer and blames it on that little puff of dust he inhaled
from doing something wrong when you weren't looking)    WHO NEEDS IT.
Everyone I know is trying to bail out as fast as possible, even many of the
DOE housetypes here at Savanah River.
Either get the 4 year Rad degree and get a job in something environmental,
or go with another career.  Forget nuclear power, thanks to Jimmy Carter.



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