1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,160 Who actually builds the nuclear power plants we're talking about 2 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:06,560 this season? Not the companies or CE OS, the 3 00:00:06,920 --> 00:00:11,400 fancy engineering design teams, but the people on the ground 4 00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:15,280 welding pipes, assembling structures, signing their name 5 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:17,080 on work that will last for decades. 6 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:22,360 I wanted to understand this side of nuclear construction, so I'm 7 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:24,840 bringing you inside the world of somebody who has lived that 8 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:27,840 reality. From the time he was 19 years 9 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:31,600 old, Tyree McCall started his career as a labourer on Plant 10 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:35,480 Vogel's Units Three and Four, the first major nuclear power 11 00:00:35,480 --> 00:00:38,000 plant built in the United States in decades. 12 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:42,040 From there, he worked his way up, went to welding school while 13 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:45,680 working full time, and built a career inside one of the most 14 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:48,280 demanding construction environments in the world. 15 00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:51,560 But nuclear welding is completely different because 16 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:54,240 you're welding on pipes and you're welding on a lot of 17 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:57,440 different structural supports that are going to be stayed into 18 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:00,320 these nuclear plants for years and years and years to come. 19 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:02,120 And your signature is on this stuff. 20 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:06,960 So my mindset shifted. This episode is about craft, 21 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:11,160 discipline, responsibility, and the culture that makes nuclear 22 00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:16,560 possible. So how did Tyree get involved in 23 00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:19,600 nuclear in the first place? It's a little bit about my 24 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:21,480 background. I'm from a city called Baxley, 25 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:26,440 GA, maybe 40, maybe 50-60 miles southeast of Savannah, GA. 26 00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:30,360 We have where the first nuclear plant from Georgia was built, 27 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:34,680 which is named Plant Hatch. So growing up, I watched a lot 28 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:37,840 of the community where they had nice houses and cars and things. 29 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:39,560 And I'm wondering where is this coming from? 30 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:42,120 And then I heard about Plant Hatch a few times, but I never 31 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:45,200 really knew a lot about it. And so when I graduated, it was 32 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:49,360 either you go to college, you go to the military, or essentially 33 00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:51,960 you go to the nuclear plant if you wanted to be successful. 34 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:55,360 My family was very successful in many different, you know, career 35 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:57,320 fields. But I'm one of the first in my 36 00:01:57,360 --> 00:02:01,160 family or immediate family that chose the nuclear career with a 37 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:03,520 craft. When we talk about becoming a 38 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:04,960 labor, I mean, I'm becoming a welder. 39 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:07,080 I'm sorry. So just a little bit about my 40 00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:10,039 background coming growing up in the city where nuclear was, 41 00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:13,040 knowing the success of it. It just like I said, I tried it 42 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:16,240 in military and things or wanted to go and I took the route of 43 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:18,280 nuclear and I needed a job at the time. 44 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:20,000 So it was more so just going to work. 45 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:24,320 My grandma, she took me to plant Hatch and they weren't hiring at 46 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:26,680 the time. And then they say, well, you can 47 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:29,360 go to try plant Vogel and this is when they were doing the 48 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:32,080 construction or three and four and she took me there. 49 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:37,040 I started in November of 2013. I graduated in 2012, 2013 my 50 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:40,880 first major job ever fresh out of high school working Vogel 3 51 00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:44,840 and 4 wanted to be projects ever been completed and got my start 52 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:49,120 there and the rest has just been history as far as my career to 53 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:54,720 where I am today. Tyree grew up in Baxley, GA, not 54 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:57,760 far from Plant Hatch, another nuclear power station. 55 00:02:58,120 --> 00:02:59,840 Growing up, he saw something interesting. 56 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:03,400 People in his community who worked at the plant had stable 57 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:07,840 jobs, homes and opportunities. But like many young people, he 58 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:10,720 didn't necessarily know what those jobs actually were. 59 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:14,160 Then after high school, an opportunity appeared. 60 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:17,880 Plant Vogel was building units three and four. 61 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:22,400 At 19 years old, Tyree stepped onto one of the biggest nuclear 62 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:24,440 construction projects in the world. 63 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:28,640 So imagine this for a second. You're 19 years old, fresh out 64 00:03:28,640 --> 00:03:32,280 of high school, and suddenly you're walking onto a mega 65 00:03:32,280 --> 00:03:35,120 construction project. Are you nervous much? 66 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:39,360 So I wanted to know what that experience was like for Tyree. 67 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:41,600 At that age, they saw something in me. 68 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:43,600 They saw potential. They knew that I was a young 69 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:46,640 man, but I started as a laborer and it was like, well, it's cool 70 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:48,440 that you start here, but don't stay here. 71 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:52,560 So going through that, when I first came on site, it was just 72 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:54,360 a different glow. It was a different like, OK, 73 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:56,280 this young man, he needs to be going places. 74 00:03:56,280 --> 00:03:59,040 We don't need to have him just stuck in this same mindset. 75 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:01,640 And I could have settled because I was making coming out of high 76 00:04:01,640 --> 00:04:04,720 school that working at a nuclear plant, just a start. 77 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:07,720 Now, salary is great. But like you said, they were 78 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:09,760 around me. So the culture there for me 79 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:12,760 being a young person was like, we're surprised that you're 80 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:14,680 here, but we're going to push you while you're here. 81 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:18,440 So when you ask what that was, every day I ran into people that 82 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:20,480 was pushing me to be great and do things. 83 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:24,400 And so that was like learning. It was kind of like an 84 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:27,160 apprenticeship, honestly, without being in The Apprentice. 85 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:29,920 And so that's what it was. The older guys, they taught me, 86 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:31,920 they raised me. I went through life with them. 87 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:36,880 I had my first child at 19. So as soon as I got to the 88 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:38,440 nuclear plant, I start making money. 89 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:40,760 I had my first, my son was born in 19. 90 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:44,280 So I'm making a lot of money, but I had a responsibility. 91 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:47,560 So as they begin to have conversation with me, they're 92 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:49,840 like, yeah, you're making money, but you got to take care of 93 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:51,520 yourself. But that's what kept me working 94 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:52,800 as well. You get what I'm saying? 95 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:56,680 And now say, well, while I'm here, I might as well learn this 96 00:04:56,680 --> 00:04:59,360 culture, this nuclear industry and just safety and this so. 97 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:01,720 And it just, I fell in love with nuclear. 98 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:04,000 I really did. I don't see myself working any 99 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:05,840 other career. I fell in love with it. 100 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:10,360 One of the most powerful things Tyree shared was that the 101 00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:13,200 experienced workers around him became mentors. 102 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:16,240 They pushed him. They told him something simple 103 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:19,560 but important. You can start here, but don't 104 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:23,320 stay here. For Tyree, the job became more 105 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:25,960 than just work. It became an informal 106 00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:29,000 apprenticeship. He was learning the culture, the 107 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:32,400 expectations and the responsibility of nuclear work 108 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:36,720 while also navigating adulthood, including becoming the father. 109 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:40,360 Now, if you've never worked in nuclear construction before, you 110 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:42,000 might be wondering something basic. 111 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:44,360 How do you actually learn the job? 112 00:05:44,840 --> 00:05:47,560 How do you go from knowing nothing about tools, procedures, 113 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:51,240 or nuclear work to being someone who can operate inside that 114 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:54,600 environment every day? Tyree explains what that 115 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:57,200 learning curve looked like for him when he first started. 116 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:01,600 Listening, learning, just listening, sitting back. 117 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:05,040 At first I was kind of hot and, you know, young hot on fire. 118 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:07,720 But I learned that I've worked construction at the house 119 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:09,760 before. So it's different. 120 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:12,120 You're not building Walmart, it's not like a regular. 121 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:14,800 So it's so many different procedures, right, when you're 122 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:17,640 dealing with nuclear because of the safety of the environment, 123 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:20,160 dealing with just nuclear culture as a whole. 124 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:23,400 So I had to learn to be patient. I learned a lot of coming out of 125 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:26,160 high school on fire, just ready to run, but I literally had to 126 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:28,880 slow down and learn the procedures, the processes, the 127 00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:32,920 word packages, calling engineering and calling QC for 128 00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:36,000 different steps and processes. You can't just put something 129 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:39,160 together and sign off on it. Like with nuclear, signing 130 00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:42,920 material and things and signing off on stuff is very big deal. 131 00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:45,800 So those different types of procedures and that thing with 132 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:49,080 what you don't know, that's kind of something I had to learn. 133 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:55,080 One of the biggest shifts Tyree experienced was learning how 134 00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:57,960 different nuclear work is compared to ordinary 135 00:06:57,960 --> 00:07:00,680 construction. In nuclear, you don't just build 136 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:04,120 something and move on. Every step is documented, every 137 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:07,760 material tracked, every signature matters because when 138 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:10,880 you sign off of something in a nuclear plant, you're 139 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:13,640 accountable legally and professionally. 140 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:18,880 So one thing you'll hear over and over in this episode and 141 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:23,720 this season is safety culture. Every process, documentation and 142 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:25,640 signature carries responsibility. 143 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:29,600 And if you're wondering actually what that means on a job site, 144 00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:32,720 we'll get to that. And then also understanding 145 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:34,720 being around the people that you're working with. 146 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:37,200 It's like a family. You're around them more than you 147 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:39,040 are your own and your own family. 148 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:42,400 So that's something I did have to learn as well to on certain 149 00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:45,800 job, it's like, I don't like you, I can quit or leave, but 150 00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:48,360 making that kind of money, it's like you got to learn to deal 151 00:07:48,360 --> 00:07:51,480 with people. So you don't want to give up, I 152 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:54,320 mean, running from one job to another and another and another 153 00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:57,560 and just with the integrity that it takes to have a nuclear 154 00:07:57,560 --> 00:08:00,520 clearance, to have a nuclear badge to even get in the plant 155 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:04,080 to begin with is something you should carry when honor and 156 00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:06,560 integrity. So I thought about welding only 157 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:09,480 for the money. Fast forward timeline, I had my 158 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:13,240 first son in 19 as a laborer and then I had another my daughter 159 00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:16,360 at 21. And then this was two years 160 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:18,360 passed by. I was in the labor crap at this 161 00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:20,240 time. I had already built my realm, 162 00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:23,160 kind of got my feet wet in the career, become a little 163 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:26,160 accustomed to the culture. So I'm two years in, I'm like, 164 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:28,960 yeah, it's time to make a shift. I thought about welding only for 165 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:31,000 the money. People around me were like, hey, 166 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:33,919 you know, they used to call me young Bucky been here for two 167 00:08:33,919 --> 00:08:35,600 years. It's time to do something. 168 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:38,240 What are you going to do? Like I said, for the money was 169 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:40,080 it was just something I wanted to do. 170 00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:43,200 As far as AI knew, I wanted to trade and honestly, to be real, 171 00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:48,080 welding was the highest paying craft out there that I knew when 172 00:08:48,080 --> 00:08:51,080 I asked around outside of I think crane operators, welding 173 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:53,400 was just wet. It was I wanted to be 174 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:55,640 successful. So I took that route and that 175 00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:58,640 transition was tough. I had, by this time I had two 176 00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:02,120 children and then I also was going to school that night and 177 00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:04,640 working in a day. So I was working as a laborer 178 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:08,400 still at playing Vogel Unit 3 and 410 hours a day. 179 00:09:08,680 --> 00:09:13,640 And then I would get off and go to night school at Weld welding 180 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:17,160 night school and I'd probably go from like 5:00 PM to like 930 181 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:19,760 ten O clock at night every night Monday through Friday. 182 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:24,640 So for two years to get my welding and engineering kind of 183 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:27,240 degree. So but that process was very 184 00:09:27,240 --> 00:09:28,800 tough, but I knew I didn't want to settle. 185 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:32,000 And then I think what made me want to get involved was that as 186 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:35,840 a labor, working around those Craftsman, it's a different 187 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:37,800 respect. I respect the labour craft, but 188 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:40,000 I think it's important that you get in and use it as a 189 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:41,880 footstool. So what I'm saying is that they 190 00:09:41,880 --> 00:09:46,920 kind of just don't have a lot of respect because they don't have 191 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:49,600 a skill, you know? I mean, some do, some don't. 192 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:52,160 But like when you actually go through an apprenticeship or go 193 00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:55,680 to school and actually get some knowledge on it, you'll respect 194 00:09:55,680 --> 00:09:57,760 it more because you took the time out to do it. 195 00:09:57,760 --> 00:10:01,680 So that was another reason that I went and like I said, it paid 196 00:10:01,680 --> 00:10:03,560 off, but it was hard. It was tough. 197 00:10:03,560 --> 00:10:05,840 That was one of the toughest journeys of my career. 198 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:12,360 After two years as a laborer, Tyree started looking ahead. 199 00:10:12,800 --> 00:10:16,320 He had two kids, had responsibilities, and he had 200 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:20,440 realized something important. The nuclear industry rewards 201 00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:23,000 skill. So he made a decision. 202 00:10:23,640 --> 00:10:27,480 He worked 10 hour shifts during the day at Plant Vogel, then 203 00:10:27,520 --> 00:10:32,440 went to welding school at night, five days a week for two years. 204 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:36,760 So I wanted to know what makes someone decide to go all in in a 205 00:10:36,760 --> 00:10:41,440 craft like welding and what does that path actually require? 206 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:44,680 I'm glad you asked and I think this will give a perspective to 207 00:10:44,680 --> 00:10:48,160 a lot of viewers listening. So by me, taking the labour 208 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:51,920 route was good and I'll advise that if anyone is, if you don't 209 00:10:51,920 --> 00:10:54,440 go through an apprenticeship, you can take the labour route. 210 00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:56,240 But what that does is expose you. 211 00:10:56,640 --> 00:10:59,480 So because when I went to welding school, there were a lot 212 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:02,320 of people they didn't know about welding or they didn't know 213 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:04,760 about the opportunities for welding when it pertains to 214 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:08,440 nuclear. They were like mom and pop fab 215 00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:11,640 shops, local fab car shops that you can Weld on. 216 00:11:11,640 --> 00:11:13,720 That's the reason why they wanted to go to welding school. 217 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:17,680 So to my advantage being at Plant Vogel at the time working 218 00:11:17,680 --> 00:11:23,080 as a laborer, I was around the craft in date in the daytime at 219 00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:24,840 work. And then I would get off of my 220 00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:29,600 job, go to school and then learn at school and then take what I 221 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:32,680 learned from school and go back to work the next day in the 222 00:11:32,680 --> 00:11:37,560 nuclear culture and kind of real time, like on the job training 223 00:11:37,560 --> 00:11:40,480 and school. And it played to my benefit 224 00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:43,560 because a lot of the kids that were in Weldon school, they were 225 00:11:43,560 --> 00:11:46,080 either like working at McDonald's and things like that. 226 00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:49,560 So they didn't really know the culture or they didn't really 227 00:11:49,560 --> 00:11:51,440 know the money. A lot of people were just 228 00:11:51,440 --> 00:11:53,960 thought, like you said earlier, they were kind of intimidated, 229 00:11:53,960 --> 00:11:56,760 like when you hear the word nuclear and welding and just 230 00:11:57,040 --> 00:11:59,640 people don't really have the confidence to, you know what I'm 231 00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:01,240 saying? But I think, like I said, by me 232 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:04,840 being there already and just building and working myself up, 233 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:07,840 not being content with where I was, was what kind of gave me 234 00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:10,840 that additional spark to want to continue on. 235 00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:17,000 One thing Tyree explained really clearly is that exposure 236 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:19,560 matters. Because he was already working 237 00:12:19,560 --> 00:12:22,920 at a nuclear plant, he could see the opportunities in front of 238 00:12:22,920 --> 00:12:25,440 him. Many of his welding classmates 239 00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:27,840 were training for local fabrication jobs. 240 00:12:28,360 --> 00:12:32,800 Tyree already knew nuclear welding existed, and that it 241 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:35,560 offered an entirely different level of opportunity. 242 00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:39,560 Welding exists in a lot of industries, construction, 243 00:12:39,560 --> 00:12:43,640 automotive, manufacturing. But listen to what Tyree says 244 00:12:43,640 --> 00:12:45,920 about what makes nuclear welding different. 245 00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:51,400 If we're serious about building the next generation of nuclear 246 00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:54,880 power plants, we need more than concrete and containment dones. 247 00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:59,160 We need people. Engineers, welders, licensing 248 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:03,680 professionals, project managers, Inc specialists, operators. 249 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:07,400 The people behind the build. That's where Nuclear Talent 250 00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:10,560 Scout comes in. We source directly for companies 251 00:13:10,560 --> 00:13:13,880 to find the people who can actually move projects forward, 252 00:13:14,400 --> 00:13:18,200 the ones who understand safety, culture, regulatory rigor, and 253 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:20,760 how to execute on time and on budget. 254 00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:25,080 If you're ready to step into the next phase of nuclear or you're 255 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:28,160 hiring for it, head over to nucleartownscout.com. 256 00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:32,960 Because the future of nuclear energy isn't just designed, it's 257 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:35,960 staffed. Now back to the show. 258 00:13:38,200 --> 00:13:40,680 Yeah. So funny enough, I've worked 259 00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:45,400 both what we call hard dollar jobs or hard money jobs where 260 00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:49,240 it's outside of nuclear, which means like, you know, it's soon 261 00:13:49,240 --> 00:13:52,280 as the whistle blows. But with nuclear safety culture, 262 00:13:52,280 --> 00:13:55,160 because of the what we're working on, we're building a 263 00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:58,120 nuclear plant, right Or we're working and doing maintenance on 264 00:13:58,120 --> 00:13:59,960 nuclear plants that are already running. 265 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:02,840 You got to think about the environment and the safety 266 00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:08,600 culture is more so if I check a procedure and I like it and sign 267 00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:12,680 off on it, there's probably about, I have the six different 268 00:14:12,680 --> 00:14:18,000 additional signatures go behind me to check and verify, right. 269 00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:22,480 So with that, you have just by default different eyes looking 270 00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:24,560 at it. And if one person finds 271 00:14:24,560 --> 00:14:27,840 something, we stop. We don't go forward, we stop. 272 00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:31,400 We try to find ways to rectify the situation. 273 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:34,560 We have meetings and we discuss. And so with nuclear safety 274 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:38,120 culture is slow because of the integrity of the work and 275 00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:40,960 protecting the environment. And you know, it's very serious. 276 00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:43,720 I think the difference in what I will say about nuclear safety 277 00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:48,040 car and to explain it more is if you're outside of like building 278 00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:51,000 a house or something, you can kind of get away with not 279 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:54,640 wearing safety glasses or not. When if you're a handyman on the 280 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:58,640 outside, you doing stuff just without gloves, you know, back 281 00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:01,000 in the old days, you can just get away with a lot of things at 282 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:02,920 home, you know? But with the safety culture, 283 00:15:02,920 --> 00:15:06,360 it's a complete different. They are watching for safety 284 00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:09,720 glasses, earplugs, your PPE, boots, hard hat. 285 00:15:10,040 --> 00:15:12,480 It's almost like a constant everyday thing. 286 00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:15,040 I think the culture there is completely different and it's 287 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:17,080 slower and it's very important though. 288 00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:19,560 So, yeah, I think that's something I like about the 289 00:15:19,560 --> 00:15:22,200 culture. Yeah, we see that often even 290 00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:24,640 with nuclear safety culture, when you talk about people 291 00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:28,200 coming from the outside in, they want to come in and just like, 292 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:29,600 get it, you know what I'm saying? 293 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:31,800 Like, I want to go straight to work, work, work, work, work. 294 00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:35,360 And sometimes the process of them having to slow down it just 295 00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:36,800 they, it doesn't sit well with them. 296 00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:39,520 They leave or they can't work it because they're so used to 297 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:42,800 taking a Red Bull or taking a drink and just go get straight 298 00:15:42,800 --> 00:15:44,440 to work. And then or they're used to 299 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:46,960 working at home, like you said, building things at home in their 300 00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:49,280 garage and things. And they're just go, go, go, go, 301 00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:52,080 go, go with this. And they do not tolerate it at 302 00:15:52,080 --> 00:15:54,000 all. It's a very low tolerance for 303 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:55,840 it. I mean, every day you're liable 304 00:15:55,840 --> 00:15:59,600 to get it's terminal offenses for PPE and things like that. 305 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:02,080 So it's very serious only for your safety. 306 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:04,080 It's, it's important that you stay safe. 307 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:05,960 So they put a heavy emphasis on that. 308 00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:08,160 And yeah, you do have people that cannot deal with it. 309 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:10,320 Funny enough. It's mental, right? 310 00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:13,360 It does look like micromanaging, but it's very mental. 311 00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:15,440 It's very mental and it's for your safety. 312 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:17,840 But yeah, everyone can't deal with it. 313 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:20,920 It can be a lot, but you become accustomed to the culture. 314 00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:25,240 Again, it comes back to safety culture. 315 00:16:25,560 --> 00:16:27,960 If you've never worked in the industry, it's hard to 316 00:16:27,960 --> 00:16:30,160 understand what that actually means. 317 00:16:30,720 --> 00:16:33,560 In nuclear construction, safety culture is everything. 318 00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:37,560 Multiple sign offs, procedure verification, stopping work when 319 00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:41,160 something isn't right, and even the smallest details like 320 00:16:41,160 --> 00:16:45,400 wearing PPE or walking while using your cell phone are taken 321 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:48,400 seriously. It might seem like an abstract 322 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:52,280 idea, but we wanted to get into what that actually looks like in 323 00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:56,160 the day-to-day and why safety is non negotiable. 324 00:16:56,720 --> 00:16:59,960 I think with nuclear and non nuclear, so non nuclear is more 325 00:16:59,960 --> 00:17:03,120 so of schedule and budget. They don't have the funds, they 326 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:05,640 don't have the resources. Most time it's independent 327 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:09,000 contractor, subcontractor, small contractors that are trying to 328 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:11,640 save more and profit more, right? 329 00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:15,480 But with nuclear, I mean it's a enormous budget, you know what 330 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:16,560 I'm saying? It's huge. 331 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:19,640 It's more so of we care about you doing it right. 332 00:17:19,839 --> 00:17:21,520 We don't care about how long it takes. 333 00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:25,319 There's projects we worked on that are supposed to take us a 334 00:17:25,319 --> 00:17:28,119 week, that can take 3 months. But then there's sometimes that 335 00:17:28,119 --> 00:17:31,480 a project can take or supposed to take three months and last a 336 00:17:31,480 --> 00:17:34,320 year or things like that. So I think the difference is, 337 00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:37,880 yeah, budget and schedule On non nuclear, it's like you got to 338 00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:40,400 go. You can't be standing around. 339 00:17:40,560 --> 00:17:42,800 Even if you don't have nothing to do, you got to find something 340 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:44,000 to do, right? It's crazy. 341 00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:47,560 But with nuclear it's do it right. 342 00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:49,840 And if it takes however long, it's no time pressure. 343 00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:55,440 Basically it's no time pressure. Tyree has worked both nuclear 344 00:17:55,480 --> 00:17:58,480 and non nuclear jobs and one difference stood out 345 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:01,240 immediately. In non nuclear construction, the 346 00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:03,280 pressure is usually scheduling and budget. 347 00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:06,480 In nuclear construction, the priority is different. 348 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:09,400 You have to do it right, you have to do it safely. 349 00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:13,160 So what actually changes when the project you're working on is 350 00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:15,960 in a nuclear power plant? What's different about the 351 00:18:15,960 --> 00:18:18,760 culture and expectations and pace of work? 352 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:23,400 So with me as a laborer when I first started, like I said 19, 353 00:18:23,560 --> 00:18:26,280 the biggest thing for me when I did start was making that kind 354 00:18:26,280 --> 00:18:28,600 of money out of high school was just culture shock. 355 00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:31,160 And I was making adult money at 19. 356 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:36,520 Like we talking 60 almost 7019 a year. 357 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:40,680 And this was back in 2013 when everything wasn't as high. 358 00:18:41,240 --> 00:18:45,520 So I say that I'm transparent enough to speak on that because 359 00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:48,400 I spent a lot of time in the mall when I graduated in my 360 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:52,080 hometown, we didn't have a mall. I got exposed to our largest 361 00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:55,880 city from my hometown to when I moved to Plant Vogel and the 362 00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:59,000 economy was building around Vogel because of the money that 363 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:01,400 they were paying, but also the businesses. 364 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:03,600 It created opportunities for a lot of businesses and things 365 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:07,000 around Plant Vogel, a lot of businesses to start coming in 366 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:10,640 and things. So I spent a lot of money and I 367 00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:13,560 start noticing that I didn't have anything to show for after 368 00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:16,840 a while. Kind of like having fun at first 369 00:19:16,840 --> 00:19:20,120 kind of just buying clothes and every week I was buying clothes 370 00:19:20,120 --> 00:19:22,720 and shoes. But as I continue to grow and my 371 00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:26,240 responsibility shifted, I think what kept me grounded often a 372 00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:28,640 lot was my children. And I talk about them a lot 373 00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:30,680 because they carried me through this career. 374 00:19:30,920 --> 00:19:33,680 And the reason I know they have because I don't get to take them 375 00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:35,440 with me, but I take them with me. 376 00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:37,560 I show them pictures. I send them pictures of what I'm 377 00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:41,280 doing often every city I travel to around the country. 378 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:43,840 And so they're aware of the nuclear culture and now 379 00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:46,320 currently implant and backs to where plant hatch is. 380 00:19:46,320 --> 00:19:49,480 So we I take them out there sometimes and ride them through 381 00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:52,520 and see from then. It's been an evolution, like I 382 00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:54,640 say, of just growing up as an individual. 383 00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:58,560 Even the safety culture trans transmute into my lifestyle 384 00:19:58,560 --> 00:20:01,680 because of being safe. For example, we can't walk on 385 00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:04,640 the phone and talk at work like we have to stop. 386 00:20:05,360 --> 00:20:07,920 And ticks or whatever we're doing, we can't continue to 387 00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:09,400 walk. But even when I'm away from 388 00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:12,920 work, it carries with me. So like if I'm in Chicago or New 389 00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:16,600 York or wherever, walking, I stop and I look at my phone and 390 00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:18,320 I text and then I start back walking. 391 00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:22,320 But yeah, I learned a lot, like you said, from being a labourer. 392 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:24,800 Now, like you said, the responsibility. 393 00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:28,560 So when you become a welder, your lifestyle shifts just 394 00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:33,040 naturally because of the income, the responsibility that it comes 395 00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:34,560 with, the integrity of your work. 396 00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:36,760 Your name is signed off on this stuff. 397 00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:39,040 Whereas when I was a laborer, you don't have much 398 00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:42,160 responsibility. You, you know, sweep clean up 399 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:44,440 this and that. But nuclear welding is 400 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:47,440 completely different because you're welding on pipes and 401 00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:49,520 you're welding on a lot of different structural supports 402 00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:53,120 that are going to be stayed into these nuclear plants for years 403 00:20:53,120 --> 00:20:55,760 and years and years to come. And your signature is on this 404 00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:59,240 stuff. So my mindset, it shifted like 405 00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:02,600 I'm signing off on things that I have to have integrity on, which 406 00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:06,240 means I have to verify, check. So it was a complete different 407 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:09,120 mindset. And so, yeah, it did shift a 408 00:21:09,120 --> 00:21:11,880 lot. And then also my finances and my 409 00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:13,840 budget and everything had to shift as well. 410 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:16,440 So that was kind of how that went. 411 00:21:19,360 --> 00:21:23,040 Terry's career has evolved dramatically from a laborer 412 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:26,400 sweeping and supporting crews to a certified welder whose 413 00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:29,400 signature is attached to structural components that 414 00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:32,680 remain inside nuclear facilities for decades. 415 00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:36,880 That shift doesn't just change your job, it changes your 416 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:39,120 mindset. This is what I love about the 417 00:21:39,120 --> 00:21:42,200 evolution of this story. Labourer. 418 00:21:42,240 --> 00:21:45,120 Student, welder. Each stage comes with a 419 00:21:45,120 --> 00:21:46,960 different level of responsibility. 420 00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:50,640 So if you're curious about what an actual day looks like for 421 00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:55,280 someone walking inside a nuclear plant, Kyrie explains how that 422 00:21:55,280 --> 00:21:57,320 job changes as your career grows. 423 00:21:57,680 --> 00:22:01,360 If I'm speaking to a welder, I would just say it's more so like 424 00:22:01,360 --> 00:22:05,680 a glorified fabricator, pretty much like same fabrication you 425 00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:09,960 do outside nuclear is the same. Like we went on carbon steel 426 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:12,600 just kind of like unistressed and do a lot of electrical 427 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:14,120 support. I'm a structural welder so we do 428 00:22:14,120 --> 00:22:16,880 a lot of different structural welds, but it's the same. 429 00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:19,440 I think that the intimidation comes from the test. 430 00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:23,080 You have to take a test to get your search when you first 431 00:22:23,600 --> 00:22:26,880 qualify for nuclear water. So you take a plate test or a 432 00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:28,400 pipe test depending on the location. 433 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:31,240 But to pat to get your search, you have to pass that test. 434 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:32,880 And that test can be very challenging. 435 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:36,960 I felt it once and I haven't felt it ever again after that. 436 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:40,080 But that first time I felt it, it crushed me, but I learned 437 00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:41,960 from it. But that test is very 438 00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:44,080 challenging. It can be very challenging. 439 00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:48,000 But yeah, when you pass it, then you start to learn to go in more 440 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:51,160 detail as far as your procedures, We work out of work 441 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:52,920 packages depending on what the work is. 442 00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:55,760 But like I said, if I had to explain it, it's not hard 443 00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:57,840 because your supervisors, they guide you through and like I 444 00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:00,480 said, you're unsure. You have to stop and it's OK to 445 00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:03,600 stop and they want you to stop. Like I said, if I'm talking to a 446 00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:05,720 welder from outside, I would definitely tell them. 447 00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:10,360 It's not as bad or hard as they make it, but it can be 448 00:23:10,360 --> 00:23:12,720 intimidating. I know my first time welding at 449 00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:16,080 a nuclear plant, I was shaking. I actually messed up, you know 450 00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:18,680 what I'm saying? When I first got my certs, I got 451 00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:21,640 inside of the plant and you have that kind of like, I want to 452 00:23:21,640 --> 00:23:25,000 show that I'm a welder. Your ego and so you knew, you 453 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:29,440 knew, you knew y'all on the job. I messed up bad my first cover 454 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:32,440 welds, but my supervisor sat me down, you know, and they, they 455 00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:34,040 walked me through the steps and processes. 456 00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:36,360 And then over time you just keep getting better and better and 457 00:23:36,360 --> 00:23:38,480 better. But it's really nothing like too 458 00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:40,440 technical. You have specialty welders that 459 00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:43,960 do different like specialty work that like underwater welding and 460 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:45,680 all this kind of stuff at the nuclear plants and stuff. 461 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:48,320 But we don't really get into that kind of detail. 462 00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:54,960 One of the biggest barriers to becoming a nuclear welder isn't 463 00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:59,840 the work itself, it's the test. To work as a nuclear welder, you 464 00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:02,800 must pass a certification Weld test to prove you can meet 465 00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:06,640 extremely high standards. Fail the test, and sometimes 466 00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:11,440 that opportunity disappears. So you can't just show up and 467 00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:13,640 start working. You have to earn their 468 00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:16,760 certificate. And those tests can be intense, 469 00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:20,720 so Tyree will explain why they matter so much. 470 00:24:21,520 --> 00:24:24,880 So often back in the day, the culture has shifted a lot, but 471 00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:27,360 back in the day, a lot of welders tell me, listen to a lot 472 00:24:27,360 --> 00:24:30,160 of older guys when I'm at work. I just do I lean, I run straight 473 00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:32,880 to them and they talk about the culture, how it was to to where 474 00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:36,200 it is today. But you used to would have to do 475 00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:39,240 what they call a make a break. And I think some jobs do, but it 476 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:40,600 don't matter where you're coming from. 477 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:44,160 Like if I'm in Georgia and I'm going to Texas or Louisiana or 478 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:47,280 whatever to take a well test, you get one opportunity and you 479 00:24:47,280 --> 00:24:49,280 fail it, you go home and you don't get paid. 480 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:53,520 Like you travel out there because oftentimes because we're 481 00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:57,240 driving, because we have to have our car for work or vehicle for 482 00:24:57,240 --> 00:24:58,800 work. So we're driving out and you can 483 00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:01,840 drive miles and miles and you take your wheel test. 484 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:05,680 If you fail it, it's over. Like if you fail it, you got to 485 00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:07,680 go home. You don't get paid this kind of 486 00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:10,120 thing. So the pressure of going into a 487 00:25:10,120 --> 00:25:14,200 wheel test alone is hard, you know what I'm saying? 488 00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:17,120 But then when you fail it, you're crushed because you got 489 00:25:17,120 --> 00:25:19,960 to go back to your family and tell them you didn't get the job 490 00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:23,120 because and you don't have no money because you you failed the 491 00:25:23,120 --> 00:25:25,480 welters. And that that pressure is, I 492 00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:28,960 don't wish that fellow nobody. Now today it looks kind of 493 00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:30,760 different. Whereas if you come as a welder, 494 00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:32,920 you fail it, they'll keep you a job. 495 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:34,680 Of course, you won't get the same pay scale. 496 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:36,680 You'll probably get like a helper pay scale. 497 00:25:37,080 --> 00:25:40,040 We have fab shops at our job at the nuclear plants, like little 498 00:25:40,040 --> 00:25:42,640 fab shops. You can go and practice and then 499 00:25:42,640 --> 00:25:44,800 if you feel comfortable, maybe six months later, the 500 00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:47,520 supervisor, he trusts you, he'll let you go back and take it. 501 00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:51,160 But that's a very crushing feeling to fail a well test when 502 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:54,160 you don't have a job either. Like you don't have a job and 503 00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:56,520 you're going to get a job and still don't get the job. 504 00:25:56,520 --> 00:25:59,880 I felt that one time and I told myself I never want to feel that 505 00:25:59,880 --> 00:26:02,080 ever again by the time I was in the union. 506 00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:06,040 And you can go back to the local and practice, but you got to put 507 00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:07,240 the work in. I think that was the good 508 00:26:07,240 --> 00:26:09,400 feeling. When you fail, don't just stay 509 00:26:09,480 --> 00:26:11,240 or fail. You learn from it and then 510 00:26:11,280 --> 00:26:17,080 improve. Failure is a part of every 511 00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:19,640 craft. Terry talked openly about 512 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:23,280 failing his first welding test and the pressure that comes with 513 00:26:23,280 --> 00:26:25,640 it. When your career depends on 514 00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:29,480 passing a single exam, the stakes feel incredibly high. 515 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:32,080 But the key lesson he learned was simple. 516 00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:36,720 Failure isn't the end, it's feedback, because failure 517 00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:40,240 happens in every craft. So how do you move forward? 518 00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:43,080 I studied a lot. My teachers at school were 519 00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:45,840 great, but then you build colleagues, you build friends. 520 00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:48,760 A lot of the people came out of well at school my age. 521 00:26:48,760 --> 00:26:51,160 I had a couple guys that were my age and then the guys that you 522 00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:54,120 work with on your crew, you just ask questions for the first 523 00:26:54,120 --> 00:26:56,640 couple. You shadow your, you have 524 00:26:56,640 --> 00:26:59,440 someone that'll be over you, so you shadow who you're working 525 00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:00,680 with. That's when you ask questions. 526 00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:02,840 But like I said, I went to Wellness school, so I had a 527 00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:04,800 little knowledge. It was just a safety culture. 528 00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:06,840 But yeah, you have to take it with a grain of salt. 529 00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:09,280 Don't take nothing personal. It's only for your good. 530 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:11,320 They're only trying to help you. Now. 531 00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:14,920 The delivery might not be the best because with construction, 532 00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:18,160 delivery is rough. It's better than what it used to 533 00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:21,080 be back in the day, but you got to have thick skin out there. 534 00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:23,120 You do. So I think once I learned that, 535 00:27:23,120 --> 00:27:25,880 because at first I took everything personal, but you 536 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:28,200 can't take it personally and just received it, you know, just 537 00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:29,440 receive it. They're only trying to help you. 538 00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:31,800 But yeah, that's how you have to take it. 539 00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:33,960 A lot of time. You have to swallow your tongue. 540 00:27:34,040 --> 00:27:35,440 You could be right and still be wrong. 541 00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:36,520 Similar, you know what I'm saying? 542 00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:39,240 And then you thinking about the responsibilities because like I 543 00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:42,480 said, when you work in nuclear, you get a different pay scale 544 00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:44,440 just because of working in nuclear stuff. 545 00:27:44,600 --> 00:27:47,560 Income increase comes with an increase in responsibility. 546 00:27:47,880 --> 00:27:50,680 So when I say that, I mean, and oftentimes people build our 547 00:27:50,680 --> 00:27:53,760 lives off these incomes, right? So you thinking about that the 548 00:27:53,760 --> 00:27:56,120 whole time, like is it worth me going back and forth over this 549 00:27:56,120 --> 00:27:59,000 individual because of what they're paying me and just you 550 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:00,720 get what I'm saying. You have to have those, you 551 00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:02,280 know, you have to do the inner work too. 552 00:28:02,280 --> 00:28:05,680 And it's a lot balancing that and work and home and it's a 553 00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:09,440 lot. Different pay scales come with 554 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:12,960 different sets of responsibility, and Tyree shared 555 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:16,120 how he grew his financial understanding over time. 556 00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:20,720 But what happens when you rely on a certain income level or 557 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:25,000 paycheck and it's not there? Kyrie walks us through what it 558 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:28,400 was like getting laid off during COVID and how to leverage 559 00:28:28,440 --> 00:28:31,080 entrepreneurship as a backup plan. 560 00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:34,880 To the entrepreneurship role and everything, just having that. 561 00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:38,240 So back in the day, like I said, I speak on that a lot because I 562 00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:40,520 sit around a lot of older people and they talk about the culture. 563 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:44,240 But the time the whole nuclear culture has shifted from the way 564 00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:46,360 it used to be. And the reason I bring that up 565 00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:50,360 is because now we have a little more freedom to and it used to 566 00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:54,160 be frowned upon, like to have something going on side and it 567 00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:56,040 kind of still is. It's not a bad thing. 568 00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:59,040 It's just like you work here. We need to hear because a lot of 569 00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:00,920 people would try to be in two places at one time. 570 00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:03,320 Their mind is not focusing that how you get accidents and things 571 00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:05,800 like that. But I think when the pandemic, I 572 00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:10,240 was working at playing Bogor from 2013 to 2020 and the 573 00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:12,480 pandemic came and stopped me from working. 574 00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:14,680 I had responsibility to take care of. 575 00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:16,640 So it was kind of like what am I going to do? 576 00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:19,920 And I started my business and just kind of working that on the 577 00:29:19,920 --> 00:29:23,000 side. And then Fast forward, just 578 00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:26,960 always having that trade under my bill, I knew I was going back 579 00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:29,760 to work. But I think 2022, I went back 580 00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:32,120 and I learned how to have that balance. 581 00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:34,800 But often times we work a lot of shutdowns sometimes. 582 00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:38,400 So I work shutdowns too. So they only last two 3-4 583 00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:39,800 months. We do maintenance and do 584 00:29:39,800 --> 00:29:42,400 shutdowns and they last 2-3 months and then you'll get laid 585 00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:44,720 off. And that looks kind of hard 586 00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:47,480 sometimes when you have a family and responsibilities and bills 587 00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:50,040 because you don't have no income. 588 00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:52,160 Sometimes you get unemployment, sometimes you don't. 589 00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:55,840 But it's always good to have and it's for any career. 590 00:29:55,840 --> 00:29:58,400 Anyone listening, like I think it's always good to have 591 00:29:58,400 --> 00:30:01,480 something to fall back on. But yeah, that's how my career 592 00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:06,600 and my creative entrepreneurial journey started, just by having 593 00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:09,640 that balance and diversity. Or does that balance in wanting 594 00:30:09,640 --> 00:30:12,960 to know that if I get laid off today or when I get laid off, 595 00:30:12,960 --> 00:30:15,800 because oftentimes that's the way it comes to what can I fall 596 00:30:15,800 --> 00:30:20,960 back on? As the nuclear industry prepares 597 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:24,920 for new builds, one of the biggest questions is where will 598 00:30:24,920 --> 00:30:27,920 the workforce come from? Tyree's advice is clear. 599 00:30:28,360 --> 00:30:32,720 Ask questions, find mentors, join apprenticeships, and 600 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:35,320 understand the responsibility that comes with the work. 601 00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:38,240 So if you're a student or someone thinking about the 602 00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:41,560 trades, you might be wondering, how do you actually get started 603 00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:45,200 in nuclear? Where do you begin and what 604 00:30:45,200 --> 00:30:47,720 should you know before stepping into the industry? 605 00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:51,720 Learn as much as you can if you're in school already, but if 606 00:30:51,720 --> 00:30:54,440 I had to advise anyone coming fresh out of high school or just 607 00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:57,120 wanting to get begin I would say join an apprenticeship. 608 00:30:57,720 --> 00:31:01,680 I'm union, but you know, I just advocate for either you join an 609 00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:05,520 apprenticeship or also getting under someone's tutelage and 610 00:31:05,520 --> 00:31:08,280 kind of being guided. I think that's very important 611 00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:13,840 because often times you have people just being honest, a lot 612 00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:17,840 of people that their grandparents and parents work in 613 00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:21,080 nuclear culture, and sometimes you get where they can pull 614 00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:24,400 people through the cracks or just a lot of different things 615 00:31:24,400 --> 00:31:26,480 that go on. And it's nothing wrong with it. 616 00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:29,000 I just think that you need to know what you're doing, dealing 617 00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:31,320 with this kind of stuff. And I say just learn as much as 618 00:31:31,320 --> 00:31:33,200 you can. Always ask questions. 619 00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:35,320 Don't be afraid. No questions, a dumb question. 620 00:31:35,320 --> 00:31:37,560 They tell us that every day at work, literally. 621 00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:39,760 But yeah, you can't be afraid to ask questions. 622 00:31:39,760 --> 00:31:41,240 You can't be afraid to fail either. 623 00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:44,360 But yeah, that my advice to a young person coming up and want 624 00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:46,600 to get in nuclear, ask questions. 625 00:31:46,600 --> 00:31:50,880 Like I said, it's a very, very strategic, it's very calculated 626 00:31:50,880 --> 00:31:52,600 career. Like you really have to be on 627 00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:55,200 top of it and then transcends into your lifestyle certain 628 00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:57,520 things and certain people that you hang around with. 629 00:31:57,920 --> 00:32:00,240 You can't hang around with working and carrying a nuclear 630 00:32:00,240 --> 00:32:02,120 badge. You have a nuclear clearance 631 00:32:02,120 --> 00:32:06,160 that is rare, you know, So some of the decisions that you make 632 00:32:06,600 --> 00:32:10,000 affect your job. Things that happen off the job, 633 00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:13,560 get back to the job and you can lose your clearance. 634 00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:17,240 So it's a lot to go on with advice I could give to someone 635 00:32:17,240 --> 00:32:19,640 wanted to learn and get inside a nuclear career. 636 00:32:19,640 --> 00:32:21,680 I'm just going to have a little tidbit about that. 637 00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:23,440 And you lose friends, you lose people. 638 00:32:23,480 --> 00:32:26,160 The people, the kids that you grew up at with in high school 639 00:32:26,160 --> 00:32:27,800 and stuff. That's not the main thing. 640 00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:30,240 The friends that you hang around with, you are going to lose 641 00:32:30,240 --> 00:32:32,280 them. You're in a different old, 642 00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:34,680 different tech record. You're in a whole different 643 00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:38,240 ecosystem, right? So, yeah, I lost a lot of 644 00:32:38,240 --> 00:32:41,400 friends. I left my hometown in 2013. 645 00:32:41,400 --> 00:32:44,400 I have never lived in my hometown since just being away 646 00:32:44,400 --> 00:32:47,400 on the road, working and moving away and working with this kind 647 00:32:47,400 --> 00:32:51,440 of career. So yeah, that's a very big point 648 00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:53,040 in this career. Yeah. 649 00:32:53,040 --> 00:32:57,360 Often times, if you listen long enough, sometimes the question 650 00:32:57,360 --> 00:32:59,520 that you do have, they do answer. 651 00:32:59,520 --> 00:33:02,120 And if most of the time if I have a question, it's like 652 00:33:02,360 --> 00:33:05,960 coming from a subject that they're discussing, right? 653 00:33:06,040 --> 00:33:09,040 But I mean, if someone is making, if they're having a 654 00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:11,640 public discussion or we're having a group meeting and 655 00:33:11,640 --> 00:33:14,320 discussion, they ask does anyone have any questions, comment 656 00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:16,400 concerns. You might think about it. 657 00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:20,840 But as you listen and hear and just kind of feel you have to be 658 00:33:20,840 --> 00:33:23,880 very present. But I really don't really have a 659 00:33:23,880 --> 00:33:27,800 lot of questions just for now because I've been in this is 660 00:33:27,960 --> 00:33:30,120 year 13. Was she 2013? 661 00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:33,680 So this is 2026, this is year. What? 662 00:33:34,440 --> 00:33:37,960 Wait, I started in 2013 and this is 2026. 663 00:33:37,960 --> 00:33:43,680 This year, 13, yeah, 13. So now I don't have a lot of 664 00:33:43,680 --> 00:33:47,240 questions it depend on, like if we're working on specific tasks, 665 00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:49,920 it gets embedded in me. I'm saying it becomes a 666 00:33:49,920 --> 00:33:53,120 lifestyle. So not too many crazy questions, 667 00:33:53,120 --> 00:33:55,440 unless it's a certain procedure you're working on or certain 668 00:33:55,440 --> 00:33:57,160 tasks you're working on, you just have questions. 669 00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:03,840 One point I re emphasize is something many people don't talk 670 00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:06,600 about. Working in nuclear changes your 671 00:34:06,600 --> 00:34:10,440 life outside of work. You hold a clearance, your 672 00:34:10,440 --> 00:34:14,320 actions off the job site can affect your career, and 673 00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:18,639 sometimes your path takes you away from your hometown, your 674 00:34:18,639 --> 00:34:22,760 friends, and your comfort zone. But for many workers, that trade 675 00:34:22,760 --> 00:34:27,080 off creates opportunity. I still can sometimes regret 676 00:34:27,080 --> 00:34:29,719 that I didn't just because I didn't have the knowledge of it. 677 00:34:29,719 --> 00:34:34,360 No one in my family worked union or worked, more of just 678 00:34:35,159 --> 00:34:37,239 tradesmen. Most of the guys I knew that 679 00:34:37,239 --> 00:34:41,040 worked at the power plant were either security or laborers. 680 00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:44,520 And if they did work crafts, they worked on the road. 681 00:34:44,520 --> 00:34:47,080 They didn't work in my hometown, so we would never see them, but 682 00:34:47,080 --> 00:34:49,719 we would kind of asked what they do and they'd say welding and 683 00:34:49,719 --> 00:34:54,000 they'd be present at the nuclear plant in Baxley, like at Hatch. 684 00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:58,120 So yeah, you need to have that knowledge going into and then 685 00:34:58,120 --> 00:35:00,320 you get that knowledge. But what I'm saying, the reason 686 00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:03,680 why I speak on apprenticeship is because I probably could trade 687 00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:07,160 fresh out of high school versus like I could have joined in the 688 00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:11,360 welding trade immediately or ironworker or Boilermaker. 689 00:35:11,480 --> 00:35:15,400 So welding, and I'll add to this, like welding is a part of 690 00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:18,720 a craft, which would either be maybe a pipe fitter, 691 00:35:18,920 --> 00:35:23,520 Boilermaker, ironworker, and that's just a tool that they 692 00:35:23,520 --> 00:35:27,320 use. Most times the Craftsman frown 693 00:35:27,320 --> 00:35:29,720 upon if you just come in and say I'm a welder. 694 00:35:30,240 --> 00:35:33,680 And the reason why is because you need to be more complete all 695 00:35:33,680 --> 00:35:35,440 around. Just because you can Weld, you 696 00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:38,800 need to know how to be able to layout, read blueprints right 697 00:35:39,240 --> 00:35:42,160 'cause often guys, you guys just come in and stand around. 698 00:35:42,160 --> 00:35:43,800 I'm not doing anything but just welding. 699 00:35:44,040 --> 00:35:47,080 Well, what about if we need you to help rig or what if we need 700 00:35:47,080 --> 00:35:49,800 you to help, you know, I'm saying moving beams or different 701 00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:53,080 things and you just get stuck in this mindset that I'm just a 702 00:35:53,080 --> 00:35:55,040 welder and it limits you for one. 703 00:35:55,160 --> 00:35:58,520 But then it just no one wants to work around those people 704 00:35:58,520 --> 00:36:01,280 sometimes because they just feel like that's all they come to do. 705 00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:03,560 And you get that often times on those jobs. 706 00:36:03,680 --> 00:36:06,520 And that's why I say, I know how to Weld. 707 00:36:06,680 --> 00:36:09,200 But there are some things that I'm still learning in the craft 708 00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:12,120 as far as rigging and reading blueprints. 709 00:36:12,120 --> 00:36:14,640 I'm pretty proficient. But there is so much to learn in 710 00:36:14,640 --> 00:36:18,360 this culture and this craft. That's why heavily, strongly 711 00:36:18,680 --> 00:36:24,720 advocate for apprenticeship. Now it's time for our rapid fire 712 00:36:24,720 --> 00:36:28,000 questions. These I will just keep on good 713 00:36:28,040 --> 00:36:29,320 on question back-to-back to back. 714 00:36:29,320 --> 00:36:32,960 You answer as fast as you can. So first, if you go to an ice 715 00:36:32,960 --> 00:36:35,640 cream shop, what flavor are you and your kids getting? 716 00:36:36,080 --> 00:36:37,800 Vanilla. I'm getting vanilla or you got 717 00:36:37,800 --> 00:36:39,280 kids and cream. Kids too. 718 00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:41,960 They're getting rainbows and sprinkles and gummy worms and 719 00:36:41,960 --> 00:36:44,720 all this kind of junk. They get everything they want, 720 00:36:44,720 --> 00:36:45,760 one of everything. A bar. 721 00:36:46,280 --> 00:36:50,760 Nice, Is there a place that you would like to travel to with 722 00:36:50,760 --> 00:36:53,440 your whole family? Probably in the states, maybe 723 00:36:53,440 --> 00:36:55,640 California. I don't want to take my family 724 00:36:55,720 --> 00:36:57,800 to California. Outside of the states. 725 00:36:58,320 --> 00:37:02,080 Any island? Water islands, Yeah. 726 00:37:02,760 --> 00:37:05,640 Mangoes and coconuts. Yeah, yeah. 727 00:37:06,680 --> 00:37:11,280 Fairness, If you had to give a Ted talk on any topic, what do 728 00:37:11,280 --> 00:37:14,800 you think you would talk about? Self development, personal 729 00:37:14,800 --> 00:37:18,520 development, motivation, growth, resilience, structure, 730 00:37:18,600 --> 00:37:22,080 discipline, character, character building, integrity, all of 731 00:37:22,080 --> 00:37:22,920 that. Easy. 732 00:37:23,080 --> 00:37:25,760 That flow, this, that's, yeah, that one right off the head. 733 00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:26,960 Yeah. Yeah, that's easy. 734 00:37:27,400 --> 00:37:30,400 Very nice favorite meal when you're out on the road. 735 00:37:31,080 --> 00:37:34,680 I like seafood, but outside of that, I'll probably have. 736 00:37:34,680 --> 00:37:38,120 I like a good burger. I like a good hamburger with egg 737 00:37:38,680 --> 00:37:41,480 eggs on it, fried kind of like fried egg, kind of running egg 738 00:37:42,400 --> 00:37:45,040 and fries, Yeah. Nice, nice. 739 00:37:45,360 --> 00:37:51,040 And last question, if you had to be the builder, the developer 740 00:37:51,040 --> 00:37:53,640 for the city of the future, the city that your grandkids are 741 00:37:53,640 --> 00:37:56,640 going to live in, what would you want to see in it? 742 00:37:57,160 --> 00:38:00,720 Strong leadership, people who are bold, who are not afraid to 743 00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:04,760 raise concern and who are aware of themselves and who are 744 00:38:04,760 --> 00:38:08,880 selfless, who puts the people community first and just carry 745 00:38:08,880 --> 00:38:11,000 themself with integrity like it has to be. 746 00:38:11,240 --> 00:38:16,280 Today's society is just so fast with microwave mentality and 747 00:38:16,280 --> 00:38:19,960 just everything growing so fast and but yeah, good people 748 00:38:20,200 --> 00:38:22,360 basically. That is the first time we've got 749 00:38:22,360 --> 00:38:25,080 that answer for that question. So I'm like very nice. 750 00:38:25,680 --> 00:38:27,400 Thank you for having me, I enjoyed it. 751 00:38:27,480 --> 00:38:30,880 Thank you. 1st, we wanted to thank Tyree so much for joining 752 00:38:30,880 --> 00:38:33,000 us on this episode of Deacon Nuclear. 753 00:38:33,440 --> 00:38:36,080 His story highlights something that often gets overlooked in 754 00:38:36,080 --> 00:38:38,720 conversations about the future of nuclear energy. 755 00:38:39,120 --> 00:38:43,240 Power plants aren't just design. They're built by people, by 756 00:38:43,240 --> 00:38:47,480 craft workers, by laborers, by welders, individuals who take 757 00:38:47,480 --> 00:38:50,440 pride in signing their name to work that will stand for 758 00:38:50,440 --> 00:38:53,120 generations. And as the nuclear industry 759 00:38:53,120 --> 00:38:56,440 grows, sharing these stories matter more than ever. 760 00:38:57,040 --> 00:39:01,080 Like Tyree said, working in the industry changes your mindset, 761 00:39:01,640 --> 00:39:04,920 changes your network, the people you hang out around. 762 00:39:05,400 --> 00:39:08,000 There's a subtle transformation that happens working in the 763 00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:11,560 nuclear industry, and it all leads back to safety culture. 764 00:39:12,120 --> 00:39:14,600 Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Naked 765 00:39:14,600 --> 00:39:16,960 Nuclear. We want to share more stories 766 00:39:16,960 --> 00:39:19,760 like this with Boots on the Ground, welders, pipefitters, 767 00:39:19,760 --> 00:39:24,160 INZ tags, anyone who wants to share their story and things 768 00:39:24,160 --> 00:39:27,200 have good advice for the next generation of the workforce. 769 00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:30,520 Thank you for listening to this episode of Naked Nuclear. 770 00:39:31,120 --> 00:39:38,360 Until next time, stay curious. This podcast was edited by 771 00:39:38,360 --> 00:39:39,440 Resonate Recordings.