Army Nuclear Power Program - Nuclear Power Plant Operator Training

Nuclear Power Plant Operator Training

The Nuclear Power Plant Operator Course (NPPOC) was conducted at Ft. Belvoir. Applicants for the program were enlisted men who had to commit to serving a minimum of two years after completion of training. The requirements for admission to the NPPOC included aptitude test scores at least as stringent as those required for admission to Officer Candidate School. Over 1,000 Nuclear Power Plant operators were licensed between the years 1958 through 1977. The NPPOC was an intense and academically challenging year-long course.

The training was in three phases of four months each: (1) Academic; (2) Operator; (3) Specialty. Academic phase was eight hours per day of classroom work on Electrical, Mechanical, Nuclear Engineering. Operator phase was at the SM-1, and was shift work both on the "floor" of the plant (i.e., as an "Equipment Operator") and in the control room (Control Room Operator). Specialty phase was one of Mechanical, Electrical, Instrumentation, or Health Physics / Plant Chemistry. The plants were maintained by the operator personnel, trained in these plant maintenance specialties. On graduation from the NPPOC, an individual was "licensed to learn" how to operate a nuclear power plant. A series of badges worn on uniforms designated the individual's progress through the training program.