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Press Release

For Immediate Release
October 20, 2008
Contact: Sean C. Bonyun
(202) 225-3761

Upton Hails New High School Training Program Putting Students on Path for High Paying Nuclear Jobs
News of Van Buren ISD program comes during LMC’s inaugural semester of new degree program to train students to fill job openings at Palisades & Cook
600 nuclear job openings are expected in SW Michigan over the next 5 years 

LAWRENCE, MI – Congressman Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph), top Republican on the Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality, highlighted a new education initiative by the Van Buren ISD to train high school students for a career in nuclear science.  The new program for high school seniors, which will commence in the fall of 2009, will also feature a wide array of alternative energies for students to focus on.  Upton was joined today by Chris Schwarz, Site VP for the Palisades Nuclear Plant, Paul Bergan, Director of Career Technical Education for Berrien RESA, Dean Souden, Executive Director of Career Education at LMC and Scott Starkweather, Director of the Van Buren ISD Technology Center.

“I applaud Scott Starkweather and his colleagues at the Van Buren ISD for their new initiative that will put local students on a path toward high-paying jobs in nuclear energy right here in southwest Michigan” said Upton.  “The Cook and Palisades plants are invaluable members of our community, providing stable electricity and hundreds of high paying jobs, all the while pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into our local economy.  LMC and our local ISDs and RESAs are prime examples of the nuclear energy industry partnering with local academic institutions to fill high-paying jobs at our local plants.” 

According to the Nuclear Energy Institute, about 35 percent of the national nuclear energy workforce will retire within the next five years.  The Van Buren ISD’s training initiative and LMC’s new degree program are especially important as over 600 nuclear job openings are anticipated in southwest Michigan over the next 5 years.  The Palisades Plant currently has 80 job openings.

The Van Buren ISD training program complements Lake Michigan College’s newly created Energy Production Technology program.  LMC’s new curriculum, currently in its inaugural semester, was developed in partnership with the Cook Nuclear Plant in Bridgman and Palisades Power Plant in Covert, to train professionals for careers in nuclear power plant operations.  In June, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) awarded LMC an $82,687 grant to fund 10 scholarships for students enrolled full-time in the program.

In addition to providing stable, emissions-free electricity, the economic benefits of nuclear power are substantial.  Each of today’s 104 reactors generates an estimated $430 million a year in total output for the local community, and nearly $40 million per year in total labor income.

While supplying just 20 percent of our electricity, nuclear power accounts for an extraordinary 70 percent of our nation’s emissions-free electricity.  To maintain the 20 percent ratio of electricity generation, the United States will have to construct 52 new nuclear plants to meet future demand over the next 20 years.

Currently, at least 30 new reactors are under consideration in the United States.  According to the Bechtel Power Corporation (outlined by the CASEnergy Coalition), if the U.S. builds 33 to 41 new nuclear power plants, 610,000 high-paying jobs would be added to the U.S. economy:

• 72,000 to 79,000 plant construction and operations jobs
• 37,000 to 38,000 nuclear manufacturing jobs
• 181,000 to 250,000 indirect nuclear power jobs
• 218,000 to 242,000 jobs in non-nuclear industries

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