Not logged inAmerican Welding Society Forum
Forum AWS Website Help Search Login
Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / How to get started in nuke power industry
- - By Robert48 (**) Date 10-02-2009 02:26
  I do not call myself a pipe welder although I have passed test in the 6g position using gtaw, and smaw. I am however very competent in structural welding and fabrication. I have heard that most of the welding jobs in this field are of the pipe variety. But I have drove past these sites and saw how massive they are. There has to be a huge amount of welding to be done other than pipe. I am in the southeast region and have heard there is alot of this work going on but do not know where to start. I know these are tough times and I have a good job now but am hoping to gain some info for when things get better. I am just tired of doing work that anybody can do. In my 15 years of welding I have tried to make each weld better than the last, and learn everything that I can. It sucks when you put a bead in that looks like stack of dimes and the guy beside you puts in a stack of BBs and it makes no difference. I think I would be happier with a QC standing over me all day on a job than a boss or suposed "qc" who dose not care or know for that matter.

   That being said. I would like to know if most of this work is union, local contractors, single hand etc. Also how hard is it to get clearance to even get in these sites. Is this work as chalenging as I heard it was? What kind of test are required? What is the pay scale? Leads or any other info would help too.

  p.s  I hope a spelling test is not mandatory.
Parent - By unclematt (***) Date 10-02-2009 03:33 Edited 10-02-2009 04:44
Hello Robert48;
I approached welding like you. I always tried to make the next weld better than the last and was frustrated when others showed little pride in their work. I know nothing of the nuclear industry. I suppose a little off topic. Best of luck to you.

Respectfully;
Matt
AWS-CWI
Certified D1.1 Welder
Parent - By chris2698 (****) Date 10-02-2009 03:59
good thread I'd like to hear more about this from others as well. I to work at a place where some just don't care what the hell the lay down and they get away with garbage.

Chris
Parent - - By Superflux (****) Date 10-02-2009 12:29 Edited 10-02-2009 12:43
Robert48,

Like so many "prestigious" jobs...ie those that pay the BIG MONEY (whether it is welding or any other profession)...it's more of being in the right place at the right time, or who you know. I haven't work nuke since 1984 and have been told you have to have recent nuke experience, documentable within the last 12 months. The infamous double edge sword!
Savanna, PA., Surrey, VA. and Diablo Canyon (SanLouis Obispo, CA) are starting or already in progress for their Fall Outages. You can get on RoadTechs website, research the contractors involved and go from there.

My experience in "Hot Nuclear" work is not for the faint of heart. YES! it is true, you spend very little time in the containment area. Most time is spent planning/prepping, staging and changing clothes in to Anti-Contamination Suits. Then the real horror begins. It would take many minutes to screw yourself into some ungodly twisted mess of iron in a 120F environment. Not able to even wipe the sweat from your eyes and then set up a mirror to make a weld 5 inches behind the left ear! Talk about fire in the hole!
That being said, it does give one a dubious sense of self worth and accomplishment knowing few would attempt and even fewer could make the grade.

Yes there are opportunities for structural welders in the nukes, and like everything else in the nuke, the workmanship is made to the highest of standards. And NO, not all the work is under such adverse circumstances. If it is easy, clean and readily accessible, the plant maitenance crew will take care of that.

It is a close knit group and will take some effort or sheer luck to slide in to a nuclear project.
Of course there are "supposedly" about 6 new nukes being built, even now as we speak. They are breaking ground right now in a town near you!

Best of luck to you in your endeavors.

John

ps. No, spelling is not mandatory. I tell the newbies starting out..."All the readin, ritin and rithmaticin a welder needs to know is where to sign the application. You're hired from the shoulder to the holder!"
Parent - - By tnhnt (***) Date 10-02-2009 22:20
92 Day shut down right now going on at San Onofre Nuke out here on the west coast. Working 6 -12's...
Parent - - By Robert48 (**) Date 10-03-2009 03:18
So where would you start to get on a job like this?
Parent - - By tighand430 (***) Date 10-03-2009 04:53
Most of the nuke jobs are union, especially new construction. The nukes I know of that are non-union are in the carolinas, texas, and virginia mainly, with some others here an there on the maintenance jobs. The only way I know to get started into it is to call somebody like DZ-Atlantic (used to be Atlantic Group). They are the non-union side of Day & Zimmerman. Usually, the hire in tests are usually gonna be 2" .625 wall super coupon. It's almost always 70s root & hot then 7018 fill and cap. You will really never see any 5P+ rod out on these types of jobs, the only time I ever used it was when I was working with Stone & Webster helping Entergy maintenance and it was only used for welding up a handrail. Everything structural will be 7018 all the way. It is some interesting work an like someone said earlier, it is hot when the unit is running. Even when it isn't for a shutdown, it can still stay hot for a few days till the air from the equipment hatch cools it off in containment. Here's a list of all the non-union contractors I can think of that do nuclear work:
DZ-Atlantic
Becon
Shaw
Carolina Energy Services
KBR
Flour-Daniels

Out of the above, Shaw and DZ-Atlantic are probably the biggest players. I'd just give them a call and tell them that you're interested in getting into the nuke  welding an go from there. If you do get the chance to go, have all your employers and dates from the last 5 years for the initial background screening. You'll also need to be able to account for the time in between your past employers along with 5 references not related to you. MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE GOOD REFERENCES!!!! I can't stress this enough cause the people calling don't wanna hear about the times you got drunk an piss on the local police station or somethin. And they will call them so make sure you give them some sort of heads up to be expectin a call. After all that, you'll also have to do a 500 question psychological exam. You'll laugh about some of the questions but I'm sure there are folks that give the strange answers to them. They will also run a FBI background check for criminal history so don't lie about anything cause they will find it. You can get by on some things as long as your honest about them.  Just to give you an example about how thorough they are, they knew the address that I had from the time I was born to the time I was 13. Don't know how they knew, but they did. After all that, you'll be given all the entrance tests like rad worker and site specific. All in all, it'll usually take you a week or better doing hire-in paperwork before you get to go into the plant. Best of luck to ya and hope ya find one that'll give you a chance.
Parent - By Robert48 (**) Date 10-07-2009 01:36
Thanks, I got some positive info from a couple of those.
Parent - - By mightymoe (**) Date 10-03-2009 22:57
I worked for DZ Atlantic for nine months. two outages and some inage inbetween. Good money, good work, too much politics and drama. All the job scared fools trying to knock off their competition in order to stay another week or month.
I'm welding at a fab shop now and still doing nuke work. I go to work, get to my booth, and weld. No drama.
As was already mentioned, at a nuke plant you won't weld the majority of the time. Alot of time is spent staging equipment, doing paper work, waiting on other trades. So if one wants to improve as a welder and gain experience I'd reccomend a hard money job.
Over all it was a great experience that opened more doors for me but I don't miss it.
Parent - - By bmaas1 (***) Date 10-04-2009 15:39
How about the inspection side of it?  Getting into it.

Brian
Parent - By NWPAwelder (**) Date 10-05-2009 11:49
www.roadtechs.com always seems to have a lot of this kind of stuff on their website. check it out. it is free and you dont even need to join anything to search for a job.
Parent - By CWI555 (*****) Date 10-09-2009 14:05
Inspectors must meet the following:
NQA-1, NQA-2, NRC reg guide 1.48. Then read 10cfr50.55a. this will detail the requirements for Nuclear QC inspectors. If you add NDE examinations then 2001 SNT-TC-1A.
If your into in service, a lot more requirements open up.
Parent - - By Robert48 (**) Date 10-07-2009 01:38
What kind of pay could be expected for work like this?
Parent - - By Pipeslayer (**) Date 10-07-2009 20:02
Inspectors would make between $32-42 with per diem around $65-$125. Thats not all cases but a good range. Some could be even better or some could be worse. It's a contractor thing.
Parent - - By jffluxcore (**) Date 10-07-2009 21:39
If inspector make that what do, welders make
Parent - By Pipeslayer (**) Date 10-08-2009 12:32
Welders usually make $5-7 less give or take on area and or location. It will vary.
Parent - By tighand430 (***) Date 10-07-2009 22:48
Usually non-union welders in the nukes will make around 22-27 an hr with prolly 75 or so a day per diem.
Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / How to get started in nuke power industry

Powered by mwForum 2.29.2 © 1999-2013 Markus Wichitill