Post by newsfeeder on Jul 15, 2006 9:42:23 GMT -5
About 150 jobs will be cut during the next few months at Nine Mile Point nuclear station as owner Constellation Energy strives to make the two reactors more profitable, according to company officials and the union representing plant workers.
The job cuts a combination of early retirements and layoffs will reduce the work force from roughly 1,100 to 938, said officials at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 97.
As recently as six weeks ago, the union protested to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission that the pending job cuts would "sacrifice the safe and reliable operation" of the plants. But many of the union's concerns about safety were later resolved during contract negotiations, which concluded June 23, said David Falletta, president of Local 97.
Among other things, the company scaled back plans to use outside contractors and established a labor-management committee to assess job cuts and how they affect operations, Falletta said.
"We're not happy, but we're going to have to try this," Falletta said. "And then we'll be making recommendations to management about how it's operating."
Union officials said the company might have to cut more than 200 jobs to reach its goal.
But Maria Hudson, speaking for Constellation Energy, said the company expects to eliminate approximately 150 jobs by the end of the year.
In any case, reducing the work force to 938 people - the number targeted in Constellation's 2006 business plan, according to union leaders - will make the facility far leaner than it has been in recent years.
Nine Mile Point had 1,330 employees when Constellation acquired it in 2001. As recently as 2005, the facility had about 1,200 employees.
Restructuring the Nine Mile Point work force is part of a company wide effort to improve its nuclear business, Hudson said. Nine Mile Point is over-staffed compared with the best-run nuclear plants in the country, she said.
"We need to get in line with the rest of the industry," she said.
Staffing will be reduced in a way that maintains the safety and reliability of the plants, Hudson said.
"We are absolutely committed to the safe operation of the plants, first and foremost," Hudson said.
Staffing at U.S. nuclear plants has shrunk by an average of 20 percent over the past decade, according to industry surveys by Goodnight Consulting of Vienna, Va.
The average work force at a two-unit facility such as Nine Mile Point was 1,137 in 2005, the latest year for which data has been collected, Goodnight reported. But the numbers vary widely, and nuclear companies with reactors at multiple sites averaged 205 fewer employees per two-unit facility than companies with stand-alone facilities.
The trend toward lower staffing gathered steam while the industry consolidated from 45 nuclear operators in 1995 to 26 in 2005. As companies acquire more plants, they can consolidate some job functions, said Chuck Goodnight, president of Goodnight Consulting.
Much of the consolidation has involved jobs that can be done off site, he said.
"It's an oversight or a regulatory or a paperwork kind of activity that doesn't require an operator on the controls," Goodnight said. "You can centralize that activity to a corporate office."
Besides Nine Mile Point, Constellation owns the two Calvert Cliffs reactors in Maryland and the Ginna plant near Rochester. The company hopes to merge with FPL Group, which owns six nuclear reactors.
Some Nine Mile Point employees will be offered early retirement incentives during July and August, said Falletta, the union official. Layoffs likely will follow in September. The number will depend on how many take the retirement offers, Falletta said.
"There are going to be layoffs," he said.
Constellation made employees aware of its plans to reduce the work force earlier this year.
In April, Assemblyman William Magnarelli, D-Syracuse, wrote a letter asking the NRC to investigate whether the reductions would affect the safety of the plants.
Richard Laufer, of the NRC's Division of Operator Reactor Licensing, responded that the commission does not set minimum staffing levels for nuclear plants except for certain job functions, such as control room operators and security officers. The NRC relies on its ongoing reactor oversight process to identify problems stemming from any cause, including personnel issues, Laufer said.
"When performance issues are identified, the licensee is required by the NRC to implement corrective actions," Laufer wrote.
The NRC gave Nine Mile Point high marks in an annual performance assessment in April.
Nuclear companies can reduce staffing and improve efficiency without jeopardizing safety, but some are better at it than others, said David Lochbaum, a nuclear safety expert at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington, D.C.
"It's a challenge for management," Lochbaum said. "It does put added burden on management to make the right calls and apply the resources properly. If you have good management, then they meet that challenge just as they meet other challenges. If management has a problem, then that may be the straw that exposes the problem."
from www.syracuse.com
The job cuts a combination of early retirements and layoffs will reduce the work force from roughly 1,100 to 938, said officials at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 97.
As recently as six weeks ago, the union protested to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission that the pending job cuts would "sacrifice the safe and reliable operation" of the plants. But many of the union's concerns about safety were later resolved during contract negotiations, which concluded June 23, said David Falletta, president of Local 97.
Among other things, the company scaled back plans to use outside contractors and established a labor-management committee to assess job cuts and how they affect operations, Falletta said.
"We're not happy, but we're going to have to try this," Falletta said. "And then we'll be making recommendations to management about how it's operating."
Union officials said the company might have to cut more than 200 jobs to reach its goal.
But Maria Hudson, speaking for Constellation Energy, said the company expects to eliminate approximately 150 jobs by the end of the year.
In any case, reducing the work force to 938 people - the number targeted in Constellation's 2006 business plan, according to union leaders - will make the facility far leaner than it has been in recent years.
Nine Mile Point had 1,330 employees when Constellation acquired it in 2001. As recently as 2005, the facility had about 1,200 employees.
Restructuring the Nine Mile Point work force is part of a company wide effort to improve its nuclear business, Hudson said. Nine Mile Point is over-staffed compared with the best-run nuclear plants in the country, she said.
"We need to get in line with the rest of the industry," she said.
Staffing will be reduced in a way that maintains the safety and reliability of the plants, Hudson said.
"We are absolutely committed to the safe operation of the plants, first and foremost," Hudson said.
Staffing at U.S. nuclear plants has shrunk by an average of 20 percent over the past decade, according to industry surveys by Goodnight Consulting of Vienna, Va.
The average work force at a two-unit facility such as Nine Mile Point was 1,137 in 2005, the latest year for which data has been collected, Goodnight reported. But the numbers vary widely, and nuclear companies with reactors at multiple sites averaged 205 fewer employees per two-unit facility than companies with stand-alone facilities.
The trend toward lower staffing gathered steam while the industry consolidated from 45 nuclear operators in 1995 to 26 in 2005. As companies acquire more plants, they can consolidate some job functions, said Chuck Goodnight, president of Goodnight Consulting.
Much of the consolidation has involved jobs that can be done off site, he said.
"It's an oversight or a regulatory or a paperwork kind of activity that doesn't require an operator on the controls," Goodnight said. "You can centralize that activity to a corporate office."
Besides Nine Mile Point, Constellation owns the two Calvert Cliffs reactors in Maryland and the Ginna plant near Rochester. The company hopes to merge with FPL Group, which owns six nuclear reactors.
Some Nine Mile Point employees will be offered early retirement incentives during July and August, said Falletta, the union official. Layoffs likely will follow in September. The number will depend on how many take the retirement offers, Falletta said.
"There are going to be layoffs," he said.
Constellation made employees aware of its plans to reduce the work force earlier this year.
In April, Assemblyman William Magnarelli, D-Syracuse, wrote a letter asking the NRC to investigate whether the reductions would affect the safety of the plants.
Richard Laufer, of the NRC's Division of Operator Reactor Licensing, responded that the commission does not set minimum staffing levels for nuclear plants except for certain job functions, such as control room operators and security officers. The NRC relies on its ongoing reactor oversight process to identify problems stemming from any cause, including personnel issues, Laufer said.
"When performance issues are identified, the licensee is required by the NRC to implement corrective actions," Laufer wrote.
The NRC gave Nine Mile Point high marks in an annual performance assessment in April.
Nuclear companies can reduce staffing and improve efficiency without jeopardizing safety, but some are better at it than others, said David Lochbaum, a nuclear safety expert at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington, D.C.
"It's a challenge for management," Lochbaum said. "It does put added burden on management to make the right calls and apply the resources properly. If you have good management, then they meet that challenge just as they meet other challenges. If management has a problem, then that may be the straw that exposes the problem."
from www.syracuse.com