Washington Business Fall 2016 | Washington Business | Page 43

business backgrounder | education & workforce

Homegrown Nuclear Tech Grads Find Jobs
in Their Own Backyard
Pasco college is helping address the region’s aging workforce
by equipping the next generation of nuclear technicians.
Kristina Lord
A nuclear technician training program, conceived during a brainstorming meeting
at a coffee shop seven years ago, is helping specialized employers address the skills
gap, and equipping students to find good-paying, rewarding jobs close to home.
Seven years ago, a physicist and a college dean met at a Starbucks to sketch out a
plan to train skilled workers for jobs waiting in the Tri-City nuclear industry.
“The next thing we knew we had a program up and running,” said Lloyd Keith,
human performance improvement manager for Washington River Protection
Solutions in Richland.
The coffee shop meeting between Keith and Derek Brandes, then-dean for career
and technical education at Columbia Basin College, (CBC) eventually resulted in a
nuclear technology degree program at the Pasco community college.
Keith and Brandes, now president of Walla Walla Community College, as well as
Energy Northwest and Hanford contractors, recognized the need to train successors
for an aging workforce.

“So many people were
retiring and we knew we’d be
struggling to fill seats.”
— Lloyd Keith, human performance
improvement manager, Washington River
Protection Solutions

at a glance
Since 2009, 99 students have earned
two-year associate of applied science
degrees in three areas: non-licensed
nuclear operator, radiation protection
technician, and instrumentation
and control technician. One-year
certificates also are available.
Many of the nuclear technology
graduates end up with jobs at Energy
Northwest or with contractors working
to clean up the waste left behind from
the past production of plutonium for
the nation’s nuclear weapons program
at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.
Brett Crusselle, 33, of Pasco, landed a full-time job as a nuclear chemical operator for
Washington River Protection Solutions in June after earning his degree from Columbia Basin
College’s nuclear technology program.

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