Follow The Friday: Nuclear Down Under with Mark Schneider
Mark Schneider accidentally became a nuclear professional at 17 when a sarcastic answer to a Navy recruiter — "only if you have nuclear power" — launched a 20-year career. He went on to serve as a nuclear electronics technician, make chief petty officer, earn his commission as a nuclear-powered limited-duty officer, and operate reactors on three submarines and an aircraft carrier.
Now he's the Chief Nuclear Officer at UBH Group, and his current mission is one of the most unusual in the industry: building Australia's nuclear workforce from the ground up. Because of AUKUS, Australia is getting nuclear-powered submarines for the first time and they need people who understand what that actually means.
What this conversation
- How a sarcastic teenager accidentally built a 20-year nuclear career in the U.S. Navy
- What it's like to operate reactors on nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers
- Why "a nuclear reactor that happens to submerge" is the same as any other reactor
- How AUKUS is creating one of the most unusual nuclear workforce challenges in the world
- What ISO 19443, NQA1, and 10 CFR 50 supply chain standards actually mean in practice
- Why the O-ring on a cooling pump matters as much as any major system
- AUKUS Submarine Partnership: https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3326875/
- ISO 19443 (nuclear supply chain quality management)
- NQA-1 (American Society of Mechanical Engineers nuclear quality assurance)
- 10 CFR 50 (NRC domestic licensing requirements for nuclear facilities)
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