Diversity In Action

The U.S. NRC ramps up hiring to meet
a growing workload

Well-trained and knowledgable security folks, IT pros and engineers are needed to license and regulate the nation’s civilian uses of nuclear materials.

The nuclear industry’s renewed interest in new reactor construction, coupled with an aging technical workforce,
has upped the workload at the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). For several years the agency has been actively recruiting to fill positions in security, IT and engineering, says NRC recruitment coordinator Susan Salter. There’s a particular demand
for engineers with digital instrumentation and control experience.

“We’re also looking for experienced IT professionals with government project management certification, or a commercial certification such as the Project Management Institute’s PMP,” she notes. The agency also brings in students studying in IT fields to fill the pipeline with future employees.

The NRC hires both entry level and experienced engineers from a variety of disciplines: nuclear, chemical, electrical, materials and more. The agency also offers career opportunities for scientists like nuclear and health physicists.

“Military experience can be very helpful, especially if you’ve served in the Navy nuclear field program,” Salter adds. “We’ve had a lot of success in recruiting graduates of the military service academies.”

NRC has a vigorous and successful recruitment program, participating in some eighty events each year at professional gatherings, colleges and universities.

“We’re bringing lots of new people on board,” says
Barbara Williams, senior level assistant for policy and programs in the NRC’s office of small business and
civil rights. “And we want to make sure that employees
stay here while we develop them further.”

The NRC has a number of developmental programs in progress. Most notable is its “knowledge management” (KM) program which integrates approaches for generating, capturing and transferring knowledge.

The agency’s KM system captures critical information and makes it available to the right people at the right time, Williams explains. It includes databases, electronic reading rooms, formal and informal training, interviews, procedures, desk references, communities of practice, websites and portals and more. The knowledge may be related to individual disciplines and fields of study, or to the unique body of knowledge necessary to license and regulate U.S. civilian uses of nuclear materials.

Williams’ office is also working on diversity, using a comprehensive development management plan (CDMP). It’s intended to guide diversity management initiatives and gauge how well the commission is meeting its diversity goals. Six different advisory affinity groups are active, including those for women and African Americans. Employees across the agency are members.

In a 2006 federal human capital survey the NRC was ranked as the best place to work in the Federal government, Salter notes with pride. “We realize that the success of our agency depends on the talent and commitment of our employees, and we strive to create a workplace rich in opportunity where employees are fully engaged in meaningful and challenging work.”

D/C