Nuclear Power School

Naval Nuclear Power Training Command Logo

Prospective enlisted enrollees in the Nuclear Power Program must have qualifying line scores on the ASVAB exam, may need to pass the NAPT (nuclear aptitude test), and must undergo a NACLC investigation for attaining a "Secret" security clearance. Additionally, each applicant must pass an interview with the Advanced Programs Coordinator in the associated recruiting district.

All officer students have had college-level courses in calculus and calculus-based physics. Acceptance to the officer program requires successful completion of interviews at Naval Reactors in Washington, D.C., and a final approval via a direct interview with the Director, Naval Nuclear Propulsion, a unique eight-year, four-star admiral position which was originally held by the program's founder, Admiral Hyman G. Rickover.

Women were allowed into the Naval Nuclear Field from 1978 until 1980, when the Navy began only allowing men again. With the repeal 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 into NNPS for duty aboard nuclear-powered surface combatant ships.[2] Female graduates of NNPS may serve at shore commands and on Nimitz-class aircraft carriers. In November 2015, the first female Reactor Officer, Commander Erica L. Hoffmann, took command of Reactor Department onboard USS George H.W. Bush. Female officers may also serve aboard SSBN and SSGN submarines. The first female officers bound for submarines began training at NNPTC in late August 2010.[3]

Enlisted personnel graduate from Nuclear Field "A" School for rating as Machinist's Mate (MMN), Electrician's Mate (EMN), or Electronics Technician (ETN) and are advanced to the rank of a Third Class Petty Officer. They then continue to Nuclear Power School. Graduates of the Nuclear Power School continue training with twenty-four weeks of instruction at a Nuclear Power Training Unit (NPTU). This training involves the operation and simulated maintenance of nuclear reactor plants and steam plants. Graduates of NPTU are qualified nuclear operators and continue on to serve in the fleet, unless they are selected as a Junior Staff Instructor (JSI). JSIs go through training to be instructors at a NPTU where they will directly assist in qualifying future students. The enlisted school has a very high academic attrition rate. Sailors in the nuclear ratings account for 3% of the enlisted Navy.[4]

After Admiral Rickover became chief of a new section in the Bureau of Ships, the Nuclear Power Division, he began work with Alvin M. Weinberg, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) director of research, to initiate and develop the Oak Ridge School of Reactor Technology (ORSORT) and to begin the design of the pressurized water reactor for submarine propulsion.[5][6] Training for Fleet operators was subsequently conducted by civilian engineers at 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. This school remained in use through Class 62-2 in 1962. After which the school was relocated to Bainbridge, Maryland.

Subsequent locations include Naval Training Center Bainbridge, Maryland (1962-1976); Mare Island Naval Shipyard, 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 Sailors prior to attending Nuclear Power School.

In 1993, in response to the BRAC-directed closure of NTC Orlando by the end of Fiscal Year 1999, the Nuclear Field A School and Nuclear Power School were joined to create Naval Nuclear Power Training Command. A move from Orlando, Florida to Goose Creek, South Carolina began in May 1998 and was completed in January 1999. Construction of the new command allowed Nuclear Field A School and Nuclear Power School to be located in the same building.

Many improvements were added to the command to improve each sailor's quality of life and the effectiveness of training. The Bachelor Enlisted Quarters include microwaves and refrigerators along with semiprivate rooms joined by a common bath. The complex also includes a galley, recreation building, and recreation fields conveniently located for the sailors' use. The NNPTC complex when fully manned, can accommodate over 3,600 students and 480 staff members. Naval Health Clinic Charleston is located across NNPTC Circle from the NNPTC site and is a short walk from the main Rickover Center building.[7]

The following topics are learned in the curriculum for all program attendees:

• Mathematics
• Calculus-based physics
• Fluid Dynamics
• Applied Hydraulics
• Nuclear physics
• Electrical power theory and generating equipment
• Nuclear reactor technology
• Thermodynamics
• Heat Transfer
• Chemistry
• Materials science and metallurgy
• Health physics
• Reactor principles
• Reactor ethics

Even more intensive than the enlisted course, the officer course involves extensive post-calculus mathematical examination of reactor dynamics. Officers cover all topics in equal depth, whereas enlisted training is specialized for each student's job rating (with significant cross-training in the remaining nuclear specialties). The officer course also requires students to have undergraduate engineering or science degrees.[8]

The nuclear program is widely acknowledged as having the most demanding academic program in the U.S. military. The school operates at a fast pace, with stringent academic standards in all subjects. Students typically spend 45 hours per week in the classroom, and are required to study an additional 10 to 35 hours per week outside lecture hours, five days per week. Because the classified materials are restricted from leaving the training building, students cannot study outside the classroom.

Students who fail tests and otherwise struggle academically are required to review their performance with instructors. The student may be given remedial homework or other study requirements. Failing scores due to personal negligence, rather than a lack of ability, can result in charges of dereliction of duty under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Failing students may be held back to repeat the coursework with a new group of classmates, but such students are typically released from the Nuclear Power Program and are re-designated or discharged.

The American Council of Education recommends an average of 60-80 semester-hours of college credit, in the lower-division baccalaureate/associate degree category, for completion of the entire curriculum including both Nuclear Field "A" School and Naval Nuclear Power School. The variation in total amount depends on the specific pipeline completed — MM, EM, or ET. Further, under the Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges degree program for the Navy (SOCNAV), the residency requirements at these civilian institutions are reduced to only 10-25%, allowing a student to take as little as 9 units of coursework (typically 3 courses) through the degree-granting institution to complete their Associate in Applied Science degree in nuclear engineering technology or as much as 67 units to complete a bachelor's degree in Nuclear Engineering Technology or Nuclear Energy Engineering Technology.

The following select colleges offer college credit and degree programs to graduates of the U.S. Naval Nuclear Power School (NNPS):[9]

• Thomas Edison State University School of Applied Science and Technology Bachelor of Science in Applied Science and Technology (BSAST) Degree is designed for graduates of the U.S. Navy nuclear power program and degrees granted after October 2010 are accredited by the Technology Accreditation Commission (TAC) of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET).[10][11]
• Old Dominion University's Batten College of Engineering & Technology offers a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Technology accredited by the Technology Accreditation Commission (TAC) of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). The Nuclear Engineering Technology Option of the Mechanical Engineering Technology major is a special program available to graduates of the U.S. Navy Nuclear Power School.,[12]
• Excelsior College School of Business and Technology's Bachelor of Science Nuclear Engineering Technology Degree. The Excelsior College baccalaureate degree program in nuclear engineering technology is also accredited by TAC of ABET.[13]
• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering, in cooperation with the Education for Working Professionals Office and the U.S. Navy, have developed undergraduate degree programs in nuclear engineering for graduates of the U.S. Navy Nuclear Power Training School.[14]

Nuclear Power Training Unit (NPTU), one of which is also located at the former Naval Weapons Station Charleston, has two decommissioned submarines, ex-USS Daniel Webster (MTS-626) and ex-USS Sam Rayburn (MTS-635). These moored training ships have their missile compartments removed, but have fully operational S5W reactor power plants. Both of these training ships are equipped with a diesel generator-powered Supplemental Water Injection System (SWIS) to provide emergency cooling water in the event of an accident.

USS La Jolla (SSN-701) was placed in commissioned (Reserve, Stand down) status in February 2015 for conversion to a Moored Training Ship (MTS). The conversion is expected to take 32 months. During that time, the submarine will be cut into three pieces, and a portion of the hull will be taken out. Three new hull sections from General Dynamics Electric Boat will be added to accommodate the sub's new mission.[16] A newly fabricated hull section will be welded in place, and the new space will contain training spaces, office spaces, and a Supplemental Water Injection System (SWIS) to provide emergency cooling water in the event of an accident. The future MTS-701 will be permanently moored at Nuclear Power Training Unit (NPTU) at Naval Support Activity Charleston in South Carolina.[17]

La Jolla is the first Los Angeles-class submarine to undergo the conversion to a training ship and will be followed by USS San Francisco (SSN-711) about two years after, according to the Navy's long-range ship decommissioning plans.[18]

Two land-based reactor prototypes are based at the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, Kenneth A. Kesselring Site Operation, in Ballston Spa, New York. These are the MARF/S7G and the S8G Trident prototypes. The S8G core has now been replaced with the S6W reactor core. At one time, two additional prototypes were operational: D1G and S3G.[19]