Naval Nuclear Power School

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Naval Nuclear Power School
Motto: Knowledge, Integrity, Excellence
Established: 1955
Type: Military Technical School
Commanding Officer: CAPT Thomas Bailey, USN
Staff: 500
Students: 2,500
Location: Goose Creek, South Carolina, USA
Campus: Naval base
Website: https://www.netc.navy.mil/nnptc/

Naval Nuclear Power School is a nuclear engineering school operated by the U.S. Navy to train enlisted sailors, officers, and KAPL and Bettis civilians for shipboard nuclear power plant operation and maintenance on surface ships and submarines in today's nuclear navy. Due to its depth and fast pace, it is regarded as one of the most difficult academic programs in the world, along with nuclear engineering programs at such universities as Harvard and MIT.

Contents

[edit] Overview

Enlisted personnel must have already graduated from the class A school pertaining to their rating assignment as a Machinist's Mate (MM), Electrician's Mate (EM), or Electronics Technician (ET) before commencing their training at the Naval Nuclear Power School. Sailors in the Navy Nuclear Program ("Nukes") make up only 3% of the sailors in the navy.

While the rigorous training program differs slightly in terms of content for the officers and enlisted ratings, the following topics are provided to all program attendees:

The principal difference between the enlisted course and the officer course is the more extensive post-Calculus mathematical examination of reactor dynamics studied by the officers.

The nuclear program is widely acknowledged as having the most demanding occupational field academic program in the U.S. military today. The school operates at a very fast pace and stringent academic standards are required for all subjects. Students typically spend 45 hours a week in the classroom, and study anywhere from an additional 10 to 50 hours per week, giving the average student around a 65 hour work week. Students cannot study nor do homework outside of the classroom, as the material is classified. A security badge must be used to access study materials.

Prospective enrollees in the Nuclear Power Program must pass a demanding exam in the sciences and may be disqualified for minor infractions. The pre-entry requirements for integrity and consistency in the personal and professional life for this vital field is a very large concern to the military.

Failed tests and sometimes even wrong answers on tests require an interview with subject department heads to review students as well as the teacher's notes to verify the materials were taught and recorded by the student, and in the student's study logs. They may then be given remedial homework. Failing scores in the school can result in charges of "dereliction of duty" under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, depending on whether or not the student was determined to be lacking effort, or lacking the ability to complete the program.

Many colleges and universities award several years of college credit to graduates of Naval Nuclear Power School for the unclassified portions of the curriculum. Because large parts of the curriculum are classified, the amount of college credit awarded does not accurately reflect the depth of the coursework. The American College of Education recommends an average of 60-80 semester-hours of college credit for completion of the entire Naval Nuclear Power Training Command curriculum, which comprises both Nuclear Field "A" School and Naval Nuclear Power School (the acual amount is based on the specific training pipeline completed - MM, EM, or ET). Sailors with one to two years of college credit may easily find themselves only a few classes away from a bachelors degree upon completion of the training pipeline, though NNPTC in and of itself is not a degree-granting institution. Several universities do offer degrees in Nuclear, Mechanical, Electrical, and Electronics Engineering/Engineering Technology, and a number of them grant the full ACE-recommended credits to NNPTC graduates. Further, under the Navy's SOCNAV college program, the residency requirements at these civilian institutions are reduced to only 10-25%, allowing a student to take as little as 12 units of coursework through the degree-granting institution (typically 4 courses) to complete their bachelors degree. Further, naval nuclear engineers are some of the most sought after professionals many times being seen as more valuable than competitors from ivy-league schools. Nucs have gone on with no other schooling to teach classes such as nuclear physics, reactor design, and related courses at the top universities in America, including Harvard, Yale, MIT, and other top tier universities. Naval Nuclear Experience is many times seen as an equal to a PhD in the related field due to the hands on work experience with running nuclear reactors as opposed to computer simulations.

Graduates of Nuclear Power School go on to Nuclear Prototype Units for six additional months of hands-on experience and training at operating Nuclear propulsion plants. Upon separation, many sailors choose to work at civilian nuclear power plants or teaching nuclear field related classes at the university level. Naval Nuclear Power School is the only Nuclear Power School which provides hands on experience working with Nuclear Reactors.

Women were not allowed into the Naval Nuclear Field until 1980, and currently only serve on aircraft carriers (Enterprise and Nimitz-class) and shore commands.

[edit] History of locations

Originally, the school was located at the Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut. In 1962, the school was then moved to (the now former) Naval Training Center Bainbridge, Maryland and later to (the now former) Naval Training Center Orlando, Florida.

In addition to the school at Bainbridge, there was a second Nuclear Power School at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, in Vallejo, California. That school was started January 1959 and closed in 1977 when the training was consolidated in Orlando.

Today, the Nuclear Power Training Command (NNPTC)] is located on the Naval Weapons Station Charleston in Goose Creek, South Carolina. Construction of the Charleston facility was completed in 1998, with the commands operating in both locations simultaneously for a number of months before the last class graduated from Orlando.

[edit] College Equivalence

The American Council on Education has evaluated the course of instruction at NNPTC and recommended the following credits be given:[1]

  • 5 hours in general physics
  • 3 hours in heat transfer and fluid 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 principles of materials
  • 4 hours in technical mathematics.

Additionally, for Machinist's Mates

  • 3 hours in applied thermodynamics and heat transfer
  • 3 hours in power plant systems
  • 3 hours in basic electricity

For Electronics Technicians or Electrician's Mates

  • 2 hours in hydraulic systems
  • 2 hours in DC circuits
  • 2 hours in AC circuits
  • 2 hours in digital principles
  • 2 hours in electric machines

[edit] References

  1. ^ ACE Military Guide | Course Exhibit