Welcome to Nuclear Update, the only newsletter that just commissioned a brand new reactor at home. 👶⚛️

On February 14th we had an unplanned sprint to the hospital, and after 12 hours of controlled chaos we got to welcome Nuclear Update Junior to the world. A healthy 8 lb and already running at full power.

Because of that, this week’s edition is a special one.

Instead of the usual headlines, one of our readers will take the controls and share a story from inside the industry. And not just any reader.

Gregg Pennington spent 56 years working in nuclear power, from Navy reactors to commercial startups, training simulators, Japan builds, DOE projects, and AP1000 construction. He’s lived through almost the entire modern history of nuclear, not as an observer, but as a participant.

What follows is Gregg’s story, a firsthand walk through the nuclear age from someone who helped build it.

But first: this week’s trivia question:

Last week, I asked: 

Which of the following is the strongest conductor?

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Iron (83%)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Wood (1%)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Plastic (1%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Air (34%)

Now, let’s dive into the good stuff!💥

⚛️A Stroll Down the Nuclear Pathway

I am passionate about Nuclear Power! I am equally honored Fredrik asked me to contribute to Nuclear Update.

My name is Gregg Pennington; I am 83 years young and I spent 56 years as an active participant in the world of Nuclear Power.

My goal is not to bore you with my life story, but to focus on the various nuclear related activities I enjoyed over all those years!

Please follow along with me as we review the exciting and wonderful career associated with the Nuclear Power industry.

The fact that you follow and read Nuclear Update tells me that you already have a positive opinion toward nuclear power, and I hope that you find my input interesting and valuable.

In 1960, I was a South Texas Farm Boy and my only exposure to the technical side of life was a few Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics courses in High School.

When I graduated from High School there were no opportunities for work except manual labor at $1.00/hr.

There was no way for me to survive, and my parents could no longer afford to support me; so, I visited the local recruiters and ended up in the Navy program.

That decision was the start of my career, and it turned out to be the best decision of my life.

I was selected to become a part of the Navy Nuclear Power Program.

Since I had never been away from family and friends, the pace of the Navy program was a whirlwind and somewhat frightening.

I completed Electronics Technician school at Treasure Island in the middle of San Francisco Bay, went directly to New London, Connecticut for Submarine school, then back to San Diego, CA for six months aboard the WWII Diesel Electric Submarine, USS Capitaine (SS-336).

I then went back to Vallejo, CA for the first phase of Nuclear Power School.

During classes at the Navy Nuclear Power School in Vallejo, CA my eyes were opened and the “Pathway” referenced, in the title, changed to an Expressway with no speed limits and no stop signs.

I learned so much in a short period of time that I could not wait for the next day to arrive.

I discovered The Periodic Table, Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow, Thermodynamics, Boyles Law, Metallurgy, Motors, Generators, OHMs Law, Electrical Distribution, Steam Turbines, Uranium and Plutonium with Fission and Fission products, Radiation and Shielding and on to more and more.

From the classroom training in Vallejo, I went to Prototype Training in West Milton, NY.

This was my first exposure to D1G, a real Naval Propulsion Reactor.

After another 6 months of instruction, I was assigned to the Nuclear Fast Attack Submarine USS Scorpion (SSN-589) located in Charleston, SC. This was in July 1963.

I remained aboard Scorpion for the next 4 ½ years as a Nuclear Reactor Operator.

In 1967 I made the decision to leave the Navy and transitioned to civilian status.

NOTE: This was a critical decision for me since the Scorpion was lost with a crew of 99 in May of 1968 just five months after I departed the Navy. (Rest in Peace my Brothers)

Now---I had to find a job!

I enjoyed California and decided to drive from Norfolk, VA back to the San Francisco area.

I contacted an old friend who lived in the area and was working at Stanford University on the 30 BEV Linear Accelerator and scheduled me for an interview.

I did the interview and they decided to make me an offer for employment.

HOWEVER, while driving back across San Francisco Bay on my way to the Lawrence Livermore National Lab, I passed a complex called Vallecitos Nuclear Center, put the brakes on hard and said out loud to myself, “This is where I want to work”.

I turned in to see if there was an opportunity. The guard told me to go see a person named Archie Carson who was the facility Operations Manager. (This is where my civilian adventure started).

I introduced myself and he responded with, “Are you another of those Navy Nukes—you’re the 12th one this month looking for a job”.

Of course, my response was yes, and Mr. Carson told me to go to the blackboard in the office next to him and draw him the schematic for a B+ Power Supply.

I completed the schematic and asked him to review. He looked at me and said I was the first one that could draw the power supply and offered me a job on the spot.

I told him about my interview at Stanford; the offer coming and told him I needed something in writing as quickly as possible because I wanted to work for him rather than Stanford.

At 9:00PM that evening I received a phone call and the next day I notified Stanford that I would not be accepting their offer.

I worked as an Instrument Technician for the next 18 months on the General Electric Test Reactor (GETR) and yes—I saw the Cherenkov Glow many times.

In the 18th month, Mr. Carson asked me to come to his office. He told me that I did not really fit into the life at GETR and I panicked.

I thought I had been fired.

He saw the expression on my face and quickly said, “how would you like to be a Simulator Instructor?” I said, “what is a simulator instructor?”

I was transferred to Joliet, IL and started a 12-week course on General Electric Boiling Water Reactors (BWRs).

At the end of the course, I was one of a group of people who completed an 8-hour test, a walkdown and interview inside the Dresden Unit 2 BWR with a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) examiner (Paul F. Collins, Chief Operator Licensing Branch).

I passed all requirements and stayed at the General Electric Training Center as a Simulator Instructor and was issued an NRC Senior Reactor Operators License (SOP-142 dated October 15, 1970). Local GE Management doubled my current salary.

WOW! Was I Happy.

I stayed at Dresden for another year. Dresden was under construction at that time, my students and I crawled into, over and under every place our bodies would fit.

Under the heading of “Stranger things have happened”; the Manager of the Training Center left GE and went to work for Westinghouse.

His family stayed in Joliet and he came home once a month from Pittsburgh, PA.

Every month he would call me and ask me to come to work for him in Pittsburgh. I said no multiple times, but he just kept asking.

Finally, I said yes and I moved on to Pittsburgh in 1971 and joined the Nuclear Service Division as a Classroom Instructor for Westinghouse Pressurized Water Reactors (PWRs).

I traveled to a number of operational Nuclear Power Plants and taught 2-week plant operational courses to Utility personnel.

Meanwhile, Westinghouse had built a Nuclear Training Center near Zion, IL which is North of Chicago and just next door to the Commonwealth Edison Zion Generating Station.

I moved from Pittsburgh to Zion in 1972 as an Instructor on the Westinghouse Simulator. I again met all requirements, took the test and was issued a Senior Operators Certificate for Zion Unit 1 by the NRC.

While teaching in Zion, one of my students was the selected Startup Manager for the Kansi Electric Takahama Unit 1 and asked if I would be interested in moving to Japan to be one of a group of Startup Test Engineers.

I accepted the offer and moved to Japan for 13 months in 1973-1974. When the plant was completed and initial criticality and low power testing had been completed, I returned to Westinghouse Nuclear Service Division in Pittsburgh.

There I continued with the Training Group and then transitioned to a Project Manager position for New York Indian Point Units 2 & 3 as well as D. C. Cook Unit 1 located in Michigan.

In March 1979 the Three Mile Island Incident occurred.

The need for additional training for plant operators quickly rose to the top of the list and the training environment needed new simulators.

I was moved from Project Manager for Operating Plants to the Operations Manager for Simulator Construction and Testing.

One day, while I was on the Simulator construction floor, I was approached by a gentleman I did not know.

He said, “You do not know me and we have never met, but if you will attend college and get your degree, I have a job for you”.

I was stunned, but excited and said yes.

That man’s name is Richard Barclay (currently 92) and he changed my life.

The next day I went to a Counselor at the University of Pittsburgh, told him my story and we laid out a plan to meet this challenge.

Four and ½ years later, while working and going to night school, I graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Pittsburgh.

I took my diploma and went to Mr. Barclay’s office. I showed him the diploma and asked, “Is your offer still valid?

He confirmed that the offer was still valid and told me he needed 6-weeks to finalize my movement from my current job to his organization.

I became the Program Manager for the startup of new construction reactors.

This included a doubling of my salary, responsibility for 13 new commercial PWRs and a staff just shy of 200 Test Engineers.

All personnel were located at plants in the USA, Korea and Taiwan.

I’m sure you are yawning by this time so I will summarize the remainder in a bullet format:

Stayed as the Corporate Startup Manager until all plants were operational in 1986

Took a job in Panama City, FL as the Plant Manager for a Waste to Energy Plant for 2 ½ years

Moved to the Department of Energy Savannah River Plant near Atkin, SC as Startup Manager for the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) at Savannah River

I left Westinghouse and joined Jacobs Engineering where I worked on Thorium decommissioning at the Fernald Site in Ohio, Program Manager for DOE Uranium Hexafluoride Storage at Oak Ridge and a Pumped Storage 40 mw Hydroelectric Plant in Escondido, CA.

I worked as a Contract Startup Engineer and Procedure Writer at the Southern Company Vogtle Units 3 & 4 AP1000 Plants in Georgia.

Some Final Thoughts

I have had a wonderful life and career. That Texas Farm Boy could never imagine all that has happened

When your Boss approaches you with, “I have a job for you at “xyz location”—don’t think, just say yes and enjoy life! The rewards will come.

I stand more than excited about the recent renaissance of nuclear power and its acceptance by both government and the commercial sector.

Finally, acceptance of nuclear power as a clean and safe source of power is almost more than I could expect.

In the mid-1980’s when the nuclear business was slowing to a crawl, I wished and hoped that such an event would develop, however it has taken over 30 years for my wish to come true.

There are thousands of jobs coming available over the next 1-2 years and these jobs will blossom into solid career paths.

-Gregg

💪Review of the Week

DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research