nuclear fitter apprenticeship?

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im 22 nothing tying me dwn no wife,no kids, no experience as of now, eager to get some.my dream would b to travel the world and make good money working hard. i love hardwork,i hate people that do just enough to get by, it erk's me. ive seen it time and time again..Anyway..i was at a friends house and he had a friend over that was a instrument fitter and he was about to head out to a nuclear plant.he talked about his previous job awhile.. it didnt hit me till later on that night,and i started my research. it sounds like an adventure=perfect! i was already researching wet(underwater) welding, and thats still something i want to get into eventually..anyway what would b the best way to get an apprenticeship or how to go about getting into this field period? sorry for rambling thanks in advance. ive done framing,landscaping,electrican wrk(pre-wires and such..),mechanic wrk..its all boring..
Reply:shut downs are generally done by 3rd party boiler makers and pipe fitters unions if memory serves me right. Contact your local union house, times are a little slow right now, no fancy way to get up their apprencticeship list unless you have an inside contact.  more than just pipe fitters and boiler makers do travel work. structural and other guys do to.In the meantime  if you have no welding experience you might want to look into your local Community college or trade school. it can give you enough experience to get your foot in the door.   I went that route and once i had enough experience worked the rest of the way through college.I jumped ship and became a welding engineer though, I still travel the world, but I usually keep my head outside the hood.Last edited by Metarinka; 02-16-2010 at 08:11 PM.
Reply:not sure where you live but i am in southern ontario and i was interested in the same thing as you. i was in the auto industry doing some mig welding and was bored out of my skull. i took 2 night courses, one monday and one wednesday and got work to pay for them. i took intro to stick and intro to tig. then i decided i wanted to get my high pressure pipe tickets so i got a loan and took a six month full time high pressure pipe course. finished and got my tickets and contacted the local boiler maker union and i passed their test and they called me for an interview. things are really slow right now so i have my foot in the door but until there are some new projects start up there isnt much i can do. once you are in you are good. you need to get some skills to set you apart from everybody else applying. when i went to write the test there was at least 500 guys applied and wrote the test. i was told that i was taked for an interview over most just because i had my tickets. the 6 months of school flew by. good luck.
Reply:Don't know where you are, but you might look into an apprenticeship in some of the larger shipyards, Northrop Grumman, Portsmouth yard in New Hampshire..Norfolk Naval in Portsmouth Va...Bremerton Washington...they all do nuke work, and that is probably the shortest route to a nuke ticket...you might want to check out the NDT requirements involve in Nuke welding though...it's a ball buster...you might consider submarine welding to...similar requirements without the paranoia..I have been involved in Navy QA and NDT, and outside of aerospace and the space program, i'm not aware of any tighter programs...Do yourself a favor though, stay away from the mom and pop shipyards..in my experience their craftsmanship and process control really suck..almost universally...I pretty much decided that I don't want my name associated with that crap, especially in terms of QA...I won't do inspections where I get second guessed by some chairwarming corporate shill whose more concerned about $$$ than the lives of the mariners and sailors that these ships carry... soapbox mode off...The oilfield can be good...depends where you are...and when...get yourself as much classroom time as you can..if you walk in and already have a few processes under your belt, or already have a trade to offer it can help grease the skids...and a man who wants to work can always work..
Reply:I can't help you with the nuke stuff, but can comment on the wet welding.Don't expect to just go learn to weld. They don't teach underwater welding, they teach you to become a commercial diver. Generally there is very little underwater welding. If they can find a way to put things together some other way they will. Usually most stuff is just bolted together after it's been welded topside. It's generally just not cost effective to weld underwater if there is any other way. It's very hard to get top quality wet welds, but very easy to do it topside.If you want PM me and we can talk about it some more. I've worked with for commercial dive company in the past. Good luck..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Building on what DSW has said I have heard others say the same about underwater welding, but I believe they do a fair amount of underwater air arcing and cutting for salvage work if that interest you. As I understand it this work is very tough on the body and makes you old before your time, the diving that is. I am no stranger to hard work but think of your health and longevity, You don't believe it at 22 but you won't always be young. Good Luck."Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum"Lincoln Idealarc 250 AC/DCMillermatic 251   Syncrowave 300   30A spoolgunLincoln MP210Hypertherm 45(2) LN 25(2) Lincoln Weldanpower 225 CV(4) SA200   1 short hood    SA250    SAM 400
Reply:UA.orgI know what you guys are thinking. Hughes always says that....and I always will. Obama today guaranteed loans for construction of 3 nuclear plants. 1 or more in Georgia which is kind of a low wage state, but it will be union jobs because of the labor bill that was signed when he went into office. He made the announcement with a group of organized labor officials. We need welders in America!UA Local 598
Reply:Wow. Thanks Alot! lots of good info! im in Aiken S.C. i'd rather not do the community college, i'd rather do an apprenticeship. i catch on quick and positive i'd earn my position and im better with hands on. i keep seeing shaw everywhere, but by the looks of the web page u need to know someone..my dad is an engineer at BAE his friend is a welder and is going to show me some stuff this weekend, he has some project hes going to let me help with.. just try and soak up what i can. Thanks again