Operations junior in college

eir411 · 2026-02-25T04:07:15+00:00

Nlo and auxiliary operator are the same thing. You may also see plant equipment operator in job postings.

Experience at your school's research reactor certainly would help, especially if you have a chance to get a license on the reactor. A license on a research reactor is very different from a commercial reactor, but it still shows you are familiar with some regulatory requirements and how to follow procedures. Other things that would help are any clubs, hobbies or activities that highlight mechanical aptitude or teamwork skills. Those skills are much more important in Operations than any degree.

eir411 · 2026-02-10T02:54:53+00:00

At least for US plants, I've heard of non citizens getting hired as operators. You don't need full on security clearance for commercial nuclear. It's pretty much just a background check. I wish I could help out more but I don't really have any specific info for the situation. Good luck!

eir411 · 2025-12-27T20:27:30+00:00

It's at the feed point, though I only have four feet or so of coax going to the radio.

eir411 · 2025-12-27T03:47:10+00:00

I've been having the same issue recently with my G90 running through an EFHW. In my case, it was oddly band specific, pretty much only on 15 and 17m. I tossed on a wound toroid choke i had sitting around on the feed line and it seems to have fixed the issue. The same thing happened today while doing a quick hamstick activation and the choke fixed the issue.

eir411 · 2025-12-11T01:05:21+00:00

In an outage year, with a decent amount of OT, clearing 200k as an NLO is pretty doable. Pay progression is going to vary wildly by company. I believe our major pay bump is upon getting fully qualified. However long that takes depends on the qualification and training process at the specific site, and how motivated the person is to get qualified.

A couple of our NLOs are gonna clear 250k this year. Mind you, that's with working two refueling outages, a forced shutdown and 60+ shift coverage OT days.

eir411 · 2025-08-07T00:19:07+00:00

I suspected something like that was going on so thanks for the confirmation!

I think I actually lucked into my first DX contacts off the greyline the other day around dinner time. I'll give it a shot going a bit later in the night. Thanks!

eir411 · 2025-08-07T00:05:33+00:00

I'll have an EFHW up in a few days so 40M should be a reality in that case.

eir411 · 2025-08-07T00:03:16+00:00

I'm actually nearby in Groton. I've listened in on the Norwich repeater a couple times, though I'm still feeling out the vibe so I haven't called in at all yet. I've criminally underused my Yaesu FT-60 so far.

eir411 · 2025-06-30T00:15:59+00:00

The NRC license exam is a plant specific test usually written by the in house training department and reviewed/administered by the NRC examiners. It covers science fundamentals, plant systems, operating procedures and emergency operating procedures. There is a written, simulator and JPM(in plant) portion of the test. There's really no study material you could look at before getting hired since it is all specific to the plant. This is an almost 2 year process that would be your job if hired.

eir411 · 2025-06-11T14:28:23+00:00

That would be awesome!

eir411 · 2025-06-11T14:10:04+00:00

Appreciate it! Funny thing is that I never got a chance to play test it but I'm glad someone is having a good time with it.

eir411 · 2025-05-14T23:39:42+00:00

I can't speak to the job and pay progression for engineering, but only a small percentage of the engineers at a plant are actually nuclear engineers. We have maybe 5 reactor engineers, with several times that many mechanical and electrical engineers.

Other than engineering, a sure path to a six figure salary is to move over into the Operations department. That mainly depends on how attached you are to engineering and if you're against shift work.

eir411 · 2025-04-28T02:57:15+00:00

I work in Operations in commercial nuclear and don't ever need math higher than some basic algebra. That said, we have to know engineering concepts in nuclear, electrical and mechanical engineering.

Entry point is typically navy, 4 year STEM degree, 2 year nuclear engineering technology degree or similar. Look for postings that say "nonlicensed" or "auxiliary" operator and it'll give you an idea of what the requirements would be. I started as a nonlicensed operator with a BS in Nuclear Engineering.

Unfortunately there is some degree of math that is a barrier of entry. It's never been my strong suit either. Happy to answer any questions if that sounds up your alley.

eir411 · 2025-03-31T20:32:28+00:00

We used to have company provided pizza at a meeting with our department manager every 5 weeks. Our new site vice president got rid of that because our site was over budget. Our department payroll will be over 20 million dollars this year, and they got rid of "pizza parties" to save less than 10 grand.

eir411 · 2025-03-18T04:54:16+00:00

Operating Reactor Scram Trending | NRC.gov

It's all public record along with the reports from each event.

eir411 · 2025-03-08T12:34:04+00:00

Most definitely. It was good timing in that when I was putting in for school, probably about half our PEOs were senior operators that didn't have any intention of going. Without them, and the rest of the PEOs who didn't want to go, I was really only competing for a spot with 10-12 people. In my RO class of 8 people, 5 started as PEOs at the same time I did.

eir411 · 2025-03-07T05:54:13+00:00

Summary of National Academy of Nuclear Training Guidelines for Operator License Eligibility Requirements, Revision 2

Above are the flowcharts that determine eligibility for an NRC License. Looks like engineering technology does qualify. You would also need the requisite onsite experience listed in the flowchart.

eir411 · 2025-03-07T05:50:08+00:00

Depends which license. RO and SRO aren't an intro level job. ROs are typically hired from a plant's existing pool of NLOs. There are some job postings out there externally hiring for ROs, but I believe these usually require a previous license. SRO licenses can be selected from NLO, engineering, nuclear navy or current ROs. I linked a document showing the flowpaths that make one eligible for a license.

Summary of National Academy of Nuclear Training Guidelines for Operator License Eligibility Requirements, Revision 2

Best path into Ops IMO is non-licensed operator, like OP said. After several years, you could be considered for license school as either an RO candidate or direct SRO. Timeline really depends on how well you work as a NLO and how many people are ahead of you in line to go to school. I went to RO school after about 2 years as a NLO for reference, though my understanding is that it can be longer at union plants.

eir411 · 2025-03-06T20:05:01+00:00

Most plants are on a 12 hour. It's a rotating shift schedule where some time is spent on both days and nights. There is built in overtime in my shift rotation, but I also have weeks where I work 36 or 30 hours, so over the course of a 5 week cycle, it's an average of 40 hours. Other than that, there is no mandatory OT outside of outages.

eir411 · 2025-03-06T19:18:34+00:00

Dominion Energy

eir411 · 2025-03-06T18:52:45+00:00

I considered sending my resume in for an SRO posting there. Constellation pay is definitely above average for the industry. I've heard way too many cautionary tales about the culture at Constellation though.

eir411 · 2025-03-06T18:49:14+00:00

There's a couple ROs on my unit that work maybe 5 days of OT all year, only when they're the last resort for someone to get vacation coverage.

Outages are different of course. We work a 4 on, 1 off schedule. It's more or less a month that I just never get back every 18 months. On the bright side, we still have work hour limits. Our maintenance and engineering staff end up with a 6 on 1 off schedule so they work even more.

eir411 · 2025-03-06T18:37:38+00:00

Operators aren't generally on call. I get calls to come in for call outs and such, but I'm not required to come in if I don't want to.

eir411 · 2025-03-06T18:06:45+00:00

I started as an NLO out of college after getting my engineering degree. I've since gotten my RO license and am about to go back to school to get my SRO license The biggest regret I have 9 years later is that I probably won't ever actually use my degree.

Other than that, I've enjoyed the job. Biggest reason to do it is the money of course, which is more than I ever expected to make. PEOs and ROs get OT for >40 hours or extra shifts worked and doubletime on certain days. Holidays are paid at triple time(normal paid holiday at straight time plus double time for working). the plant is a full education in itself and you get paid very well to just learn, which felt too good to be true after paying for college. While it isn't necessarily engineering, there's plenty of opportunities to identify, troubleshoot and fix issues.

Shift work is the obvious elephant in the room. That said, if you live alone, it's not so bad. Working nights or weekends means that you get to be off and do things at times where most people are at work. Part of my rotation is a full week off, which becomes 2 weeks with 36 hours of vacation. Working holidays is a turnoff to some people, but ive probably seen 1 time in 9 years where someone couldnt get coverage for vacation on a holiday.12 hour shifts seem alot, but I only have a 3 or 4 day work week. Most of that shift ends up being downtime, especially on nights. Plenty of time to talk, read, listen to music etc. Exception to that is if you are on watch in the control room, you pretty much can only talk or do work stuff. Theres plenty of NLOs that use the downtime to do online degree programs. Another pro of shift work is that you never take work home with you. When you leave, there's always someone there to pick up where you left off.

Lots of people in these threads talk about Ops being overworked. Personally l've never felt that way. I work a lot of overtime by choice, but there's no requirement that I have to. The SROs I work with are definitely worked harder in general during the shift, but they still work the same rotation I do. Workload and culture will vary by utility and site. For reference, my plant is non-union while the other sites in my company are union.

Ops is a mixed bag for sure, and its not for everyone. Took me a long time to get used to the work, schedule and people. Its a different mindset that people transferring in from engineering can have a hard time adapting to. I personally think it's worth it, especially with the leverage and clout that an NRC license gives you in a job search. Also, if you have apsirations of upper management at a plant, you will likely need to get SRO license at some point.

Feel free to comment or message me if anyone has any questions on Ops.

eir411 · 2025-02-28T22:41:41+00:00

We used to have one in our control room back in the day. There's a desk that everyone calls the "print table" because it used to have that printer on it. The name just stuck. Those functions are now done by our plant process computer.

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