Education & Training

THE NUCLEAR NEWS INTERVIEW Bob Holland: Introducing young people to the nuclear industry ob Holland, a career nuclear The Shaw Group’s Nuclear Division and the Navy man, joined the Shaw University of Massachusetts at Lowell are BGroup’s nuclear division in 2006 to lead an effort to recruit working together to introduce engineering young people to the commercial side students to careers in nuclear power. of the nuclear power industry. As manager of training and development, years in the Navy, which included an Holland is in charge of the company’s interview with Adm. Hyman Rickover new scholarship/internship program, to gain acceptance into the nuclear which is run in conjunction with the program, he was an engineer, a junior University of Massachusetts at Low- officer, an executive officer on a Tri- ell (UMass Lowell). In 2007, the pro- dent submarine after the Cold War, gram’s first year, seven engineering and a commanding officer of a fast-at- students were awarded with tuition tack submarine during U.S. military scholarships to attend UMass Lowell operations involving Bosnia-Herze- during the school year, and with paid govina. He also served as commodore internships to work at Shaw during the of a submarine squadron, in charge of summer months. The program seeks 10 submarines. to introduce these students to the nu- Holland calls submarining a young clear industry, the hope being that they man’s game because of the length of will eventually choose nuclear as a ca- Holland: “I can’t see why other companies time a vessel stays at sea, sometimes reer. Shaw is now in discussions with wouldn’t want to do it.” for as long as six months. After more other Massachusetts universities to establish similar than 20 years in the Navy, most of them aboard a sub- scholarship programs. In addition, Holland suggests, marine, he landed behind a desk on dry land as the head scholarship programs could be set up by other companies assignment officer for the submarine community, re- in the industry to draw young people as prospective em- sponsible for assigning enlisted personnel and officers ployees. to the Navy’s 110 active submarines. Soon after, he was Holland retired from the nuclear Navy in September put in charge of assignments for almost 400 000 Navy 2006 after a career as a nuclear submariner. During his 30 personnel.

22 NUCLEAR NEWS September 2007 His twilight tour with the Navy, from 2003 until his re- is a pioneer in design, engineering, maintenance, con- tirement, was as professor of naval science, teaching struction, startup and test, and new plant services. Shaw courses at Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute and Westinghouse Electric Company, its AP1000 Con- of Technology, Tufts University, Boston University, sortium partner, were recently selected to build the first Boston College, and Northeastern University. During this four nuclear power plants in China’s nuclear expansion time, he mentored about 220 students per year who were program. enrolled in the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps, In this interview, Holland talks about the Navy’s influ- leading to their commissioning in the Navy or the Marine ence on the commercial side of the business and about Corps. the scholarship/internship program he now leads for When he retired from the Navy, Holland wasn’t ready Shaw. Shaw’s program, by the way, was the subject of a to sit on the shore with a fishing pole in hand, so he presentation that Holland made at the American Nuclear joined Shaw last year, still having the desire to work with Society’s Annual Meeting in Boston in June. The inter- young people and introduce them to nuclear power. Shaw view was conducted by Rick Michal, NN senior editor.

Why is the Navy such a good training ground for nuclear novices? The Navy’s nuclear program is good at bringing undergraduate students up to speed on operating nuclear reactors. A student doesn’t have to be pursuing an engineering degree. As long as the student has a solid background in math and calculus-based physics, the Navy can work with him or her. During the program, the students start with the classroom phase of nuclear power school, which lasts for six months. From there, it’s on to six months of working on a prototype nuclear reactor. The Navy has two submarines moored at Charleston, S.C., that the students train on. The students actually operate the reactor, stand watch on the sec- ondary side, and learn about turbine gener- ators, motor generators, and electrical dis- tribution. By the end of the program, the students know how everything works in a plant. The Navy also has some land-based reactors that are used in training. The bot- tom line is that the Navy trains people the way they’re supposed to be trained. The seven students from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell who are participating in Why isn’t the Navy’s nuclear program as the scholar/intern program sponsored by the Shaw Group’s nuclear division are (from left) popular as it once was? Sovanda Mouy, James Parker, Ashley Dumais, Daria Keo, Nicole Sambursky, Michael It’s still a popular and vital career path. Champagne, and Michael Dunlevy. However, the Navy doesn’t have as many nuclear-powered ships as it once did. The Shaw hired me to establish a training “tribal knowledge holders” will have Navy used to have all kinds of surface ships program, to help “grow our own.” When moved on. So, our challenge was to trans- that were nuclear powered, but only the air- Shaw acquired the assets of Stone & Web- fer knowledge from the older employees to craft carriers are now. And for the subma- ster in 2000, the company gained a lot of the younger ones. A large part of our train- rine force, there used to be about 120 nu- longtime employees. These employees had ing program involves our veteran employ- clear-powered subs, but now there are a lot of corporate tribal knowledge that ees’ conducting training sessions for the maybe 55 fast-attacks and 12 Tridents. So needed to be passed on to the younger gen- young people, so that they can learn from there are fewer personnel trained each year. eration. I was hired, based on my experi- the veterans who built the plants back in The result is that the number of people that ence in personnel management and work- the 1970s. In fact, we call that our mentor- eventually move on from the Navy to the ing with young people, to start developing ing program. commercial side of the business has gone our workforce for the renaissance of the down. The challenge for the nuclear power nuclear power industry. Considering that it Is the mentoring program different from the industry is to figure out how to “grow their takes 10 to 15 years from initial planning scholar/intern program? own,” so to speak. to commercial operation of a new nuclear Yes, the two programs are separate but plant, we’d better be getting these young related. The mentor program really has two How did the training program develop at people in the door right now. If we wait too subsets, informal and formal. Informally, Shaw? long it will be too late, as much of the corporate leaders such as Bill Griffith, our

September 2007 NUCLEAR NEWS 23 vice president for operations, and Dave Are the scholarship winners all nuclear en- sides the other requirements, the senior was Barry, president of Shaw’s nuclear division, gineering majors? selected because we are hoping that he will meet over lunch with our new employees No, on the contrary, only one of the seven come to work for us upon graduation, so it and student interns to discuss their own ca- students in the program is studying nuclear would be a quick return for our work in set- reer paths and experiences. The formal engineering. We are hoping that because of ting up the program. The junior was se- mentoring program, on the other hand, their internship experience, some of the oth- lected because it looks like he is going to ers will opt to pursue opt to take the nuclear engineering electives nuclear engineering as part of his mechanical engineering pro- “The challenge for the technical electives gram. And then, the freshmen—three of as part of their ma- whom are women, by the way—at this nuclear power industry is to jors. point are still investigating which path to take. But that’s okay, because if they be- figure out how to ‘grow their How did the stu- come civil engineers, chemical engineers, dents qualify for the or mechanical engineers, they’re going to own,’ so to speak.” program? be needed for building new power plants. At UMass Low- Our thought was to involve them early in ell, the engineering their university experience. hooks up our veterans with the young peo- dean’s office coordinator, Bette Fortin, ad- ple, who are already employed by Shaw, in vertised it to the engineering classes. At the What are your expectations for hiring these one-on-one long-term career counseling start of the year, the students filled out students once they graduate? and advisory roles. standard scholarship request forms. They We entered into this program realizing Meanwhile, the scholar/intern program provided their resumes and had to show that not all seven or eight students per year is for college students who we want to that their grade point average was at least are going to come work for us. We would bring into the nuclear industry. The par- 3.0. They also had to be engineering majors. like to hire a majority of them, but the real ticipants gain financial support for class- For the first year of the program, there goal is to raise the overall profile of power room education, and also gain invaluable were about 30 applicants. From there it generation careers for the mechanical, elec- funded hands-on experience, working was reduced to 20 prospects. I did a phone trical, civil, and chemical engineers who alongside skilled professionals in the nu- interview with a number of them, but are not familiar enough with our industry clear field. some weeded themselves out because because the industry has not been at col- they weren’t really interested in doing the leges supporting or recruiting them. How did the scholar/intern program de- internship, they just wanted the scholar- velop? ship money. A selection process ultimately What do the interns experience while on the Michael O’Connell, a Shaw employee, picked the top students. Once they are in the job? set it up with Prof. Gilbert Brown, of the program, we look at their grade point aver- We worked with Florida Power & Light, nuclear engineering program at UMass ages every semester. We give them a warn- which runs the Seabrook pressurized water Lowell. The two of them were talking at an ing letter if their grades aren’t up to stan- reactor in New Hampshire, to allow the in- American Nuclear Society local section dards. If they turn their grades around, they terns to spend a day at the plant. Going for- meeting about how important it was to get are kept on scholarship. Those who cannot ward, they’ll be visiting Pilgrim, a boiling a nuclear engineering person on the depart- may have the scholarship suspended, but we water reactor in Massachusetts. We’ve also mental advisory board at the university be- still retain the ability cause of the input the board provides to the to keep them on as curriculum and accreditation effort. interns as an incen- Michael brought a real-world perspective tive while they work “We’ve found that the to the campus meetings to show that the de- on improving their enthusiasm of our senior mand signal was growing for nuclear edu- classroom perfor- cation. One of the challenges discussed by mance. employees has improved the board was how to get more people into For all students in the nuclear pipeline. Shaw decided it would the program, we of- by having the young workers be a good idea to provide scholarships as a fer winter semester way to introduce students to possible ca- break and summer in the office building, reers in the nuclear industry. Shaw offered internships. At the $20 000 to establish the scholar/intern pro- end of each intern- adding a bit of energy gram at UMass Lowell. That’s when I came ship opportunity, on board with the company, so I took on they fill out a feed- to the whole unit.” heading the effort to set up the program. It back form to let us turned out that the state of Massachusetts know what we can would match our funds, and so combined, do to improve the program. At the same started a mentoring program for them to there was $40 000 available for the pro- time, their immediate supervisor on the job work side by side with our employees at gram. As part of the program, we also set provides comments on whether or not to Shaw. Students are currently working on up summer internships at Shaw for the stu- continue to invite the student back to the domestic AP1000 construction prepara- dents. These are paid internships, at very program. So far, we’ve found that every one tions, China AP1000 support efforts, and competitive wages, so the students are mak- of the students is a fired-up individual. It’s various site-specific jobs, such as for the ing decent money for their efforts. We are been a very positive experience for all of us. Millstone nuclear plant. At our offices in very flexible, too. We realize that a lot of Stoughton, Mass., we have a group of 25 them want to go on family vacations or be What is the breakdown by class year of the young employees who are going through with friends during the summer. They told students? training now. We incorporated the interns us when they wanted to work and we were Of the seven, there is one senior, one ju- into that group, so the interns have a peer flexible with them on it. nior, and the other five are freshmen. Be- group. Some of the young employees have

24 NUCLEAR NEWS September 2007 EDUCATION & TRAINING worked elsewhere, so they have a lot of agreements with Northeastern University cost of a few thousand dollars. We would good experience that they can relate to the students who would intern with us for then have that student come down to be young interns. six months and then In addition, we funded every one of the go back to school interns to go to ANS’s national meeting in for six months. We “We entered into this Boston this year. They were able to get just brought in our more involved with the younger folks in the first intern from the program realizing that not industry and see the spectrum of what is go- Massachusetts Mar- ing on in nuclear power, not just what we itime Academy, a all seven or eight students do at Shaw. state school that pro- vides a lot of em- per year are going to come Will your program be funded each year? ployees for the two Yes. We have dedicated ourselves to it, operating plants in work for us.” and we’ll eventually expand it at UMass the area—Seabrook Lowell and enter into new partnerships with and Pilgrim. other schools. We’re working with Gil We’ve also entered into initial talks mentored by our engineers in Stoughton. Brown and his colleague, Prof. John White, with Tufts University, where full tuition In addition, we’ve gotten our first intern to develop nuclear courses that may be for one student is about $35 000 per year. from the Wentworth Institute of Technol- given to our employees or exported to other Instead of paying for all of that, we’re ogy in Massachusetts. We’re trying to de- Massachusetts state colleges. Regarding in- talking about funding a single student’s velop partnerships with all the different ternships, we’ve entered into informal design project, which could be done at a campuses around the area, even if it’s to provide only a one-summer internship program.

Do you see the program funding only eight students at one time, or would a new set of eight get funding each year, so that after four years the program would be funding 32 students? While we currently fund just eight per year at UMass Lowell, we are looking to add some additional billets there. But we are also attempting to spread the wealth among diverse campuses in other areas. Examples include Drexel, out of Philadel- phia, for our office in Cherry Hill, N.J., and the University of North Carolina at Char- lotte and North Carolina State University for our office in Charlotte, N.C. In addition, students and faculty from various univer- sities across the country contact us about internship opportunities. Students who at- tend far-flung campuses but happen to live near our corporate offices when school is not in session are sometimes available for a cooperative work experience while resid- ing at home. We diligently work to try to match up qualified students with worth- while job experiences in these cases as well.

Can other companies adopt this program? Yes, it is easily transportable. We en- courage other companies to get engaged at WESTINGHOUSE WOMEN IN NUCLEAR (WIN) awarded a $1000 scholarship the college level—by participating in fresh- to Melanie Worek, a freshman at Case Western Reserve University, to help her pursue man engineering lectures, for example—to a career in engineering. The scholarship was the first of its kind given out by the Wes- inform students about power and, more tinghouse chapter of WIN. Worek, pictured above in June with Westinghouse Presi- specifically, the nuclear industry, before dent and Chief Executive Officer Steve Tritch, said she intends to study mechanical or they start thinking about majors and possi- chemical engineering. Worek, of Apollo, Pa., was selected for the award based on her ble careers. We’re more than willing to help answers to two essay questions and a review of academic achievements, extracurricu- any company that wants to do something lar activities, and letters of recommendation. Westinghouse WIN is an association of like this. There’s a lot to be gained from it. Westinghouse Electric Company employees that provides a network through which For example, we’ve found that the enthusi- women in nuclear energy and nuclear technologies can further their professional devel- asm of our senior employees has improved opment. The awarding of the scholarship supports the association’s mission to educate by having the young workers in the office the public on the benefits of nuclear and encourage young people to explore careers in building, adding a bit of energy to the whole engineering and science. (Photo: Westinghouse) unit. I can’t see why other companies wouldn’t want to do it.

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