Nuclear Power School is a technical school operated by the US Navy at Goose Creek, South Carolina to train sailors, officers, KAPL civilians and Bettis civilians for the operation of the ship's nuclear power plant and the maintenance of surface vessels and submarines in the US Navy. The US Navy currently operates 95 total nuclear power plants including 71 submarines (each with one reactor), 10 aircraft carriers (each with two reactors), and 4 training/research prototypes.
Video Nuclear Power School
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Prospective applicants enrolled in the Nuclear Power Program must have a qualification score line on the ASVAB exam, may need to pass NAPT (nuclear talent test), and must undergo NACLC investigation to achieve "Secret" security clearance. In addition, each applicant must pass an interview with the Advanced Program Coordinator in the related recruitment district.
All student officers have college level courses in calculus and calculus based physics. Acceptance for the officer program requires successful completion of interviews at the Naval Reactor in Washington, DC, and final approval through direct interview with the Director, Naval Nuclear Propulsion, a unique four-star admiral position eight years originally held by the founder of the program Admiral Hyman G. Rickover.
Women were allowed into the Navy Navy Field from 1978 to 1980, when the Navy began to allow only more people. With the revocation of the Combat Exclusion Law in the 1994 Defense Authorization Act, and the decision to open combatant ships to women, the Navy once again began accepting women to NNPS to serve on nuclear-powered surface combat boats. NNPS female graduates can serve on shore orders and on Nimitz Class carriers. Female officers can also serve SSBN and SSGN submarines. The first female officers to the submarine began training at NNPTC at the end of August 2010.
Graduates of registered personnel from Nuclear School Field "A" for assessment as Machinist's Mate (MMN), Electrician's Mate (EMN), or Electronics Technician (ETN) and advanced to the rank of Third Class Officers. They then proceed to the Nuclear Power School. A graduate of the Nuclear Power School continues training with twenty-four weeks of instruction in the Nuclear Power Training Unit. This training involves the operation and simulation of maintenance of nuclear reactor plants and steam generators. NPTU graduates are qualified nuclear operators and continue to serve in the fleet unless they are selected as Junior Staff Instructors (JSI). JSI is undergoing training to become an instructor at NPTU where they will directly assist in the qualification of prospective students. The enlisted school has a very high level of academic attrition.
Sailors in nuclear ranking accounts for 3% of registered Navy.
Maps Nuclear Power School
Location history
Training for Fleet operators was originally conducted by civil engineers in Idaho Falls, Idaho (1955-1958) and West Milton, New York (1955-1956). The first formal Nuclear Power School was established in New London, Connecticut in January 1956 with a pilot course offered for six officers and fourteen enlisted men.
The following locations included the Naval Training Center of Bainbridge, Maryland (1956-1976); Naval Shipyard Mare Island, California (1958-1976); Naval Training Center Orlando, Florida (1976-1998) and its current location, Goose Creek, South Carolina. In 1986, Nuclear Field A School was established in Orlando to provide nuclear in-rate training to Seafarers before attending the Nuclear Power School.
In 1993, in response to the closure of BRAC directed at NTC Orlando at the end of Fiscal Year 1999, Nuclear Field Schools and Nuclear Power Schools joined forces to establish Navy Nuclear Power Training Command. A move from Orlando, Florida to Goose Creek, South Carolina began in May 1998 and completed in January 1999. The new command development allows the Nuclear Field School and Nuclear Power School to be located in the same building.
Many improvements were added to the command to improve the seafarers' quality of life and training effectiveness. The Bachelor Enlisted Quarters includes a microwave and refrigerator along with a semiprivate room that joins the public bath. The complex also includes kitchens, recreational buildings, and recreational grounds that are strategically located for the use of seafarers. The NNPTC complex is fully manned with over 3,600 students and 480 staff members. Naval Health Clinic Charleston is located on NNPTC Circle from the NNPTC site and a short walk from the main Rickover Center building.
Curriculum
The following topics are studied in the curriculum for all program participants:
- Math
- Calculus based physics
- Fluid Dynamics
- Applied Hydraulics
- Nuclear physics
- Electrical power theory and generating equipment
- Nuclear reactor technology
- Thermodynamics
- Heat Transfer
- Chemicals
- Materials science and metallurgy
- Health physics
- Reactor principles
- Reactor ethics
Even more intensive than enlisted courses, officer courses involve an extensive post-calculus mathematical examination of the dynamics of the reactor. Officers cover all topics with the same depth, while special enlisted trainings for each student's job rank (with significant cross-training in the remaining "nuke" specialties). The officer's course also assumes students have a bachelor's degree in engineering or science. [1]
The nuclear program is widely recognized as the most demanding academic program in the US military. Schools operate quickly, with rigorous academic standards in all subjects. Students typically spend 45 hours per week in class, and are required to study an additional 10 to 35 hours per week outside of college hours, five days per week. Because the secret material is restricted from leaving the training building, students can not study outside the classroom.
Students who fail the test and are struggling academically are asked to review their performance with the instructor. Students may be provided with home improvement work or other study requirements. Failure to score due to personal negligence, rather than lack of ability, may result in allegations of neglecting duties under the Military Justice Uniform Code. Failed students can be held back to repeat lectures with a group of new classmates, but the students are usually released from the Nuclear Power Program and reassigned or dismissed.
College loans (registered training)
The American Council of Education recommends an average of 60-80 college semester hours of credit, in the undergraduate/lower division degree category, to complete the entire curriculum including the Nuclear School "School" and Navy Nuclear Energy School. The variation in the total amount depends on the particular pipeline completed - MM, EM, or ET. Furthermore, under the degree program of Servicemembers Naval Opportunities for the Navy (SOCNAV), residency requirements in civil institutions are reduced to only 10-25%, allowing students to take as little as 9 â € <â €
The following preferred colleges offer college credits and degree programs for graduates of the US Navy School of Nuclear Power (NUPOC). Thomas Edison State University The School of Applied Science and Technology The Bachelor of Science in Applied Science and Technology (BSAST) is designed for graduates of the US Navy's nuclear power program and the degree awarded after October 2010 is accredited by Accreditation Commission Technology (TAC ) of the Accreditation Body for Engineering and Technology (ABET).,
College equality
The American Council on Education has evaluated the direction of teaching at NNPTC and recommends the following credits awarded for completing the enlisted curriculum:
- 5 hours in general physics
- 3 hours in heat transfer and liquid flow
- 3 hours in nuclear reactor engineering
- 1 hour in atomic and nuclear physics
- 1 hour in radiation protection technology
- 3 hours in general chemistry and material principle
- 4 hours in technical math.
In addition, for Mates Machinist
- 3 hours in applied thermodynamics and heat transfer
- 3 hours in power system
- 2 hours in hydraulic system
For Electronic Technicians and Electrician's Mates
- 3 hours in basic power
- 2 hours in DC circuit
- 2 hours on the AC circuit
- 2 hours in the digital principle
- 2 hours in electric machine
Some universities offer postgraduate credit for completing an officer training course. [2] [3]
Nuclear Power Training Unit
Nuclear Training Units (NPTU), one of which is also located at the former Charleston Naval Arms Station, has two disabled submarines, formerly- Daniel Webster (MTS-626) and ex- Sam Rayburn (MTS-635). These tethered training vessels have displaced missile compartments, but have fully operational S5W reactor power plants. Both of these training vessels are equipped with a diesel-powered Supplemental Water Injection System (SWIS) to provide emergency cooling water in the event of an accident.
USS La Jolla (SSN-701) is placed in a reserved (Reserve, Stand down) status in February 2015 for a conversion to a Training Ship (MTS). Conversion is expected to take 32 months according to Commander Officer. During that time, the submarine will be cut into three parts, and a portion of the hull will be taken. Three new hull parts from General Dynamics Electric Boat will be added to accommodate the new sub mission. The newly created stomach section will be welded in place, and the new space will contain training rooms, office space and the Additional Water Injection System (SWIS) to provide emergency cooling water in the event of an accident. The future of MTS-701 will be permanently moored at the NTPU at Naval Support Activity Charleston in South Carolina.
La Jolla is the first Los Angeles class vessel to undergo conversion into a boats and will be followed by USS San Francisco (SSN-711) about two years later, Far Naval.
Two ground-based ground-based reactor prototypes at Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, Kenneth A. Kesselring Site Operation, at Ballston Spa, New York. This is a prototype of Trident MARF/S7G and S8G. (The S8G core has now been replaced with S6W reactor core). At one time, two additional prototypes operate: D1G and S3G.
NPTU History
Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory in New York has the longest NPTU operational history. However, two other sites also provided operational training during the Cold War.
From the early 1950s to the mid-1990s, the Naval Reactors Facility (NRF) in Idaho trained nearly 40,000 Navy personnel in surface and subsea nuclear power plant operations with three nuclear propulsion protocols - A1W, S1W and S5G.
From 1959 to 1993, more than 14,000 Navy operators were trained at the S1C prototype in Windsor, Connecticut including President Carter.
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia