“Reactor 
technical 
staff 
Security 
and 
clerical 
Reactor 
engineer 
Security 
officer 
Shift reactor 
engineers 
Chief of guard 
Guards 
Life) 
Clerks ic) 
Stenographers (2) 
Receptionists (2) 
2—Staffing the Plant 
THE STAFFING PROGRAM for the Ship- 
pingport nuclear power station is more 
difficult than for conventional steam 
stations because of the lack of prece- 
dents and the lack of personnel with 
nuclear training within the company. 
Use of the station as a test facility com- 
plicates the problem. 
To fill out the staff of the station, 126 
people are considered necessary. Of 
these, 37 will be technically trained. 
Several of the factors leading to these 
high numbers are: (a) The station is 
the first of its kind, involving new tech- 
niques. (b) More men are_necessi- 
tated by the extensive test program and 
by the emphasis on health and security. 
(c) A pool of technical manpower must 
be maintained to compensate for the 
normal turnover; this may become 
critical as the number of nuclear power 
stations grows. 
Training 
Except where recent college gradu- 
ates are used and where individuals 
with specialized training, e.g., radio- 
chemists, are required, all personnel 
probably can be obtained from within 
the company. 
In addition to on-the-job training, 
all technical and some nontechnical 
men are given practical training in reac- 
tor-station operation to provide back- 
ground for their own jobs and to instill 
an appreciation of the hazards in- 
volved. Each technical man also re- 
(c)) 
Superintendent 
Operation 
ond 
maintenance 
ond 
Chief 
engineer 
Operation 
Maintenance 
engineer 
Equipment 
foreman 
Maintenance 
repairmen 
Operating 
engineers 
Shift 
. foremen 
Reactor 
operators 
Attendants 
Switchboard 
operators 
Turbine 
operators 
Attendants 
and control 
engineers 
Mechanical 
instrument 
repairman 
House and yard 
labor 
ceives theoretical nuclear training, and 
all personnel receive general training in 
health physics and security. 
Most training is provided at the 
Westinghouse-operated Naval Reactor 
Facility at Arco, Idaho. At the com- 
pletion of this course, about fifty men 
will have trained for an average of four 
months. Some will also be trained at 
the Bettis Plant in Pittsburgh. 
Organization 
The organization consists of five 
functional groups (see chart), each 
headed by a supervisor reporting to 
the superintendent. This type of or- 
ganization was selected because it satis- 
fies the program objectives of operation 
and test development. 
Operation and maintenance group 
is responsible for the entire plant. 
Operating staff is larger than that 
normally found in a single-unit station 
by the addition of the shift reactor 
engineer and two attendants. The 
additional attendant in the turbine 
plant is provided because certain items 
requiring local operation and routine 
attention, such as screenhouse equip- 
ment, are remotely located. Although 
there are fewer items of this nature in 
the reactor plant, two attendants are 
provided since the local operations may 
be more time consuming due to the 
use of a change-room facility, which 
prevents the spread of radioactive 
contamination. 
— = oe oe ow om ae oe oe Gy 
Maintenance 
(ie) 
Nucleor instrument 
)) 
tr) 
Industrial 
hygiene 
Test 
group 
Health 
physicist 
Results 
coordinator 
Reactor control Clerk 
chemist 
Radiochemist 
Chemists 
Efficiency 
engineer 
Test engineers (5) 
Jr. test 
engineers 
App. test 
engineers 
Test 
technicians (5) 
engineers 
Counting-room 
operator 
if)] 
(2) 
(2) 
Maintenance staff is larger than in 
conventional station of the 
high degree of station cleanliness neces- 
sary. More repairmen. are required 
since radioactivity levels could limit 
the amount of time a man can work on 
reactor-plant equipment. Relative in- 
accessibility of equipment and need for 
absolute leaktightness add to man- 
power requirements. Four instrument 
and control engineers are necessitated 
by the complicated reactor-plant in- 
strumentation and control and the 
extensive test program. 
Test group performs all tests and 
assists in evaluating new methods of 
operation and control. Its size is 
dictated by the test program. The 
chemical group is much larger than 
ordinarily due to the many unknowns 
in reactor-plant chemistry. 
Technical staff provides technical 
assistance to the operating, mainte- 
nance, and test groups insofar as the 
reactor plant is concerned and is re- 
sponsible for reactor-plant safety. 
Industrial hygiene group performs 
routine radiation surveys of personnel, 
work areas, and adjacent off-site areas. 
This group is peculiar to a reactor plant. 
Security and clerical group is re- 
sponsible for security of classified docu- 
ments and fissionable material. 
* * * 
because 
This article is based on papers presented 
at the Tenth Annual Mechanical Engineering 
Conference on Nuclear Power Plants, Pitts- 
burgh, Pa., May 1, 1956. 
69 
Radiation control 
