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RE: Radiation Control Technician
-----Original Message-----
From: radmax [SMTP:radmax@duesouth.net]
Sent: Sunday, May 16, 1999 3:04 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: Re: Radiation Control Technician
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.
Nobody should be discouraged from telling the truth. The
truth is that there is a big problem in the power industry.
One comment stated that it wouldn't be so bad if all of the
outages weren't at the same time. I would think that outages will continue
to stay aligned to ensure that the plants are online during the warmer
months. These are the months where the utilities make their money. If
plants try to shuffle a bit during the winter time, they'll lose fuel
burn-up, is that acceptable to the utility? Probably not. You must also be
careful or the next outage 18 months later will fall during the summer and
that is totally unacceptable.
I think the utility industry needs to work with the contract
tech industry to find some solutions. The needs of the contract RPT and the
utilities seem to be opposite interests, until the utility complains that
they can't get enough people to staff their outage. There are some really
good people being put into difficult situations because the industry is
changing around them and there is absolutely nothing they can do to alter
that course. I guess I am resigned to think that it'll only continue to get
worse until the utilities suffer enough.
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.
What kind of career is a couple of short outages a year? It
all boils down to being able to take care of families and people looking for
stability as they get older. I have great respect for the travelers that
have helped me over the years and hope positive change will come soon.
Sincerely,
glen
glen.vickers@ucm.com
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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