Two new MicroCareerBursts™ were released this week to encourage a better understanding of nuclear technician and nuclear construction career fields.  MicroCareerBursts™ are interactive lessons that provide on-line job shadowing for students, parents and educators through the South Carolina Personal Pathways to Success™ program.  The SRSCRO NWI� and Microburst Learning collaborated to produce the new nuclear lessons.  Nuclear industry experts provided advice for the content of each e-lesson. These highly interactive educational tools provide insight into each career field using music, video interviews and interactive games to convey information such as wages, skill requirements and daily tasks related to the career.

Forty-eight MicroCareerBursts™ have been developed by Microburst Learning for use by the SC Department of Education.  The new lessons are the first to provide information about careers specific to the nuclear industry and they are the first to be offered outside of South Carolina.  Georgia students, parents and educators will soon be able to access the lessons from the SRSCRO website.  In South Carolina, access is available through the South Carolina Personal Pathways to Success™ web portal (www.scpathways.org).

Look for two more on-line nuclear job shadows soon.  Microburst Learning and the SRSCRO NWI� are currently developing lessons for nuclear medicine and nuclear technology research.

Samples of the nuclear construction and nuclear technician 

MicroCareerBursts™ are available in the form of video trailers.  View these videos by clicking on the images.

As reported in February, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) was expected to rule on the 2008-filed license for SCANA Corp.'s proposal to build two Westinghouse AP1000 reactors at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station site in South Carolina. On Friday, March 30, NRC did approve a license for SCANA Corp to build two reactors at the V. C. Summer nuclear station in South Carolina, the agency's second approval (Plant Vogtle in February) of additional new nuclear units to be built in the United States in two months, after a 30-year construction hiatus.

SCANA and its partner, state-owned electric agency Santee Cooper, plan to build two reactors at the V.C. Summer site near Jenkinsville, SC. The 1,100-megawatt units are expected to begin operating in 2017 and 2018. Similar to the Plant Vogtle decision, the commission voted 4-1 to approve the SCANA license with Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko being the dissenting vote.

The construction of these new nuclear plants not only helps provide an affordable, clean, and secure source of energy but each project will create at least 3,000 long term construction jobs and furthermore, these projects will create as many as 800 career-long jobs for each of the projects. The economic impact on the state and local governments should not be underestimated. The SRSCRO Region is at the center of this commercial nuclear renaissance, not to mention the nuclear construction occurring at the Savannah River Site (SRS).

A year has passed since five colleges joined efforts to begin creating new nuclear education and training programs in the SRSCRO region under a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.   Working in collaboration through the SRSCRO's NWI�, the colleges successfully met program milestones. As a result, seven new programs are emerging that respond to regional and national long-term nuclear workforce needs.

Students are already enrolled in the new environmental remediation and restoration specialized biology degree program at the University of South Carolina Aiken.   The new area of study began last fall and includes research activities that prepare students for careers in environmental science.  

Aiken Technical College is addressing the continuing nuclear industry demand for highly skilled welders through development of an advanced welding program.  Additionally, Aiken Technical College is establishing a nuclear quality systems associate degree program. 

At Augusta State University a new nuclear science laboratory is under development along with new courses to establish nuclear science areas of study within existing chemistry and physics degree programs.  Students are already eager to sign up for the new courses.

The new nuclear career advisement program at Augusta Technical College was established early in the year and is serving as a model for other career fields.  Augusta Technical College is also establishing a chemical technology associate degree program to support training needs for projects at SRS and the surrounding community.

The University of South Carolina Salkehatchie is focused on expanding science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education capabilities through new activities designed to interest students in math and science careers.  Associated STEM projects include a newly established smart classroom to expand offerings in physics and mathematics. 

The five institutions involved in the grant partnership are continuing program development and more programs will open for enrollment this fall.  Additional information is available by contacting the academic institutions.