TOPICS
TOPICS
Nuclear agency goes on hiring spree
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is on track to add almost half again as many employees to its staff to keep up with an increasing demand for nuclear power.
The 3,000-person NRC aims to have 4,000 employees by early 2008. To account for attrition, the agency is signing up about 1,300 new employees.
"I've hired 400 of them so far," said James McDermott, chief human capital officer for NRC. "That's unheard of in a small agency like this. That's why our senior managers are so focused on human capital issues."
NRC's upsizing is the outcome of the 2005 energy act, which provides incentives to build nuclear capacity as an alternative to oil. After signing the bill into law in August 2005, President Bush said the country would start building nuclear power plants again by the end of the decade.
"Of all our nation's energy sources, only nuclear power plants can generate massive amounts of electricity without emitting an ounce of air pollution or greenhouse gases," Bush said. "And thanks to the advances in science and technology, nuclear plants are far safer than ever before. Yet America has not ordered a nuclear plant since the 1970s."
NRC is gearing up for the oversight, inspection and regulation of these new plants. McDermott is using an internship program to hire 60 to 80 recent college graduates -- mostly with science and engineering backgrounds -- for a three-year training program.
"We've been able to attract extremely high-caliber new graduates," McDermott said. "Believe it or not, they have a public service gene."
McDermott said agency executives have hit the stump, recruiting candidates on campuses and handing out their business cards to potential applicants. It also helps that NRC pays in the mid-$50,000 range for engineers and scientists coming straight out of universities, thanks to a special salary authority.
NRC is using Web resources such as USAJOBS.gov to get applications. "It's like drinking from the fire hydrant," McDermott said. The agency then sends personal invitations to high-quality applicants for in-person interviews. Managers in some cases can offer jobs on the spot at these meetings.
For midcareer employees, the agency lures prospective candidates with the traditional benefits of a government job.
"The pension plans in the private sector are becoming relics, things of the past," McDermott said. "I am shameless. I tell midcareer people: 'You're still a kid, come to the NRC, you'll get a nice little pension. We will guarantee you high-end health benefits coverage in retirement.' "
The agency expects to maintain its 400-person a year hiring levels for the next two years.
COMMENTS
- "Of all our nation's energy sources, only nuclear power plants can generate massive amounts of electricity without emitting an ounce of air pollution or greenhouse gases," Bush said. "And thanks to the advances in science and technology, nuclear plants are far safer than ever before. Yet America has not ordered a nuclear plant since the 1970s." I absolutely agree that we need to beef-up our nuclear (easier written than said) power base in the United States. We should start construction of at least 10 new nuclear power generation facilities immediately so they are on line about 2012. However, nuclear power is not clean! The nuclear waste is very deadly and today generally is stored next to the power plant nearby. Yucca Mountain is not taking deliveries of waste and that issue must be settled before a single nuclear plant is approved in the United States! Before you build these things you have to resolve the waste issue because nuclear waste is far more deadly than greenhouse gases or air pollution or the use of fossil fuels! In addition to adding more power generation capability, the president also should be working on methods to reduce power consumption. Whatever happened to the Energy Department that was to develop alternative fuels and power sources as well as promote conservation of power? We should get rid of the Energy Department! Energy has not done its job and is taking a significant amount of our taxes to operate for no benefit for the society! Taxpayer Posted September 13, 2006 7:01 AM
- I worked at the NRC for many years. It is one of the best agencies in the federal government and has a human resources program that is exceptional. Its mission of protecting public health and safety from the misuse of nuclear materials is incredibly important. However, the entire agency was consolidated in Rockville and it was crowded when I left. I just don't know how they are managing to fit hundreds more employees in their White Flint facilities. HR Specialist GovExec.com reader Posted September 11, 2006 1:45 PM
- What a breath of pure fresh air. Imagine, a federal agency that genuinely attempts to recruit for and hire only the best and the brightest for its U.S. taxpayer funded positions from the external applicant pool, including hires for mid- and upper-level positions. Defense Department agencies ought to take note that searching for and hiring excellence does not merely mean recruiting positions outside of Defense and then using/abusing ranking/selection criteria that is specific to the Defense Department, and in turn reaching near 100 percent levels of inbreeding where only current or prior Defense staffers are ever hired. The Defense Department, unfortunately, has a track record of outrageous near 100 percent levels of inbreeding hiring practices, in the mid and upper GS levels in the general administrative and financial management series. The taxpayer deserves far better than that. Michael J. Smith Posted September 8, 2006 3:26 PM
