Savannah River Mission Completion (SRMC), the Savannah River Site (SRS) liquid waste contractor, recently graduated its largest apprenticeship nuclear fundamentals class.
SRMC’s fourth apprenticeship group completed training at Aiken Technical College with 59 apprentices who graduated from the program and now entered Facility Systems training.
However, things were different this time, according to a press release from SRMC.
Under the previous format for the fundamentals training program, the apprentices attended two days of classroom instruction and two days of facility training during the week.
“In an effort to enhance the apprentices’ learning experience, the schedule was improved to allow for daily classroom instruction,” stated a press release from SRMC.
SRMC Training Manager Charles Lampley said this change in strategy resulted in value-added improvements designed to lead to qualification as a production operator at SRMC.
“The benefit of the extended period in class is significant as it allows trainees uninterrupted instruction on the courses being taught,” Lampley said.
Lampley said the classroom training was followed by an extended period of in-facility familiarization training, which acclimated the apprentices to the plant’s layout, equipment and operations, which supports improved Systems Training outcomes.
SRMC Chief Operations Officer Wyatt Clark said the improvements to the apprenticeship program are a practical application of SRMC’s core value of Continuous Improvement.
“Under this new training standard, we found these students retained the classroom instruction at a higher capacity and competently applied that understanding in the facilities,” Clark said.
Most importantly, Clark said the apprentices were indoctrinated by current, experienced SRMC operators. This allowed a knowledge transfer from the classroom to the facilities, which created a stronger employment pipeline that strengthened operations.
“SRMC will employ this transformative training system to build an even stronger workforce as we stay focused on completing the liquid waste mission,” Clark said.
