That’s what 28-year old mother-of-three Sally Delk hopes to do with a job at the local nuclear power plant.
Delk is currently enrolled in night classes at the community college here in town. In two years, she hopes to get a degree in nuclear technology, and turn a $7.25-an-hour job flipping burgers into a position at the plant making $15 to $20 an hour.
“I have three kids I have to support, and it’s a very good job,” Delk said, lingering after class on a recent evening. “I don’t really know all the different jobs at the plant, but I know you can work your way up.”
Most graduates from her program become skilled maintenance technicians, radiation protection specialists or basic plant operators with a starting salary of about $40,000 a year.
But because there’s room for advancement she could end up making even more.
A plant spokesman said that, in time, she shouldn’t have any trouble reaching the average salary at the plant – $80,000 a year.
Delk’s view on the local nuke plant, and on nuclear power in general, mirrors that of most residents in this rural county some 100 miles southwest of Houston along Texas’s Gulf Coast.
People here think the country needs the power, they love the jobs and the taxes nuclear plants pay, and they aren’t afraid of an accident. Full story
