Wyoming is eyeing the nuclear industry to keep young adults from leaving. The state is giving almost $2 million to Western Wyoming Community College (WWCC) to develop a nuclear associate degree – the first of its kind in the state.
That’s because Bill Gates’ company, Terra Power, has chosen Kemmerer for his novel nuclear power plant. It’ll require about 250 full time workers to keep it running – the majority of which only need a two-year degree.
Some position titles include nuclear technician operator, industrial maintenance and instrumentation tech.
“Eighty percent of the positions that are actually going to be in the nuclear facility are actually community college graduates,” said Amy Murphy, who manages workforce initiatives at WWCC.
Murphy said she hopes some of WWCC’s new nuclear program’s students can fill those positions.
The first cohort will start in fall of 2025 with the goal of 15 students.
Murphy said she’s already recruiting Wyoming high schoolers, emphasizing the need to stick with science and math.
“I’m always kind of nerdy like this, but I always tell people, ‘Don't stop with the math. Keep going.’ Because once you stop, it's hard to catch it back up,” Murphy said.
She added that graduates from the first cohort will have the skills needed to apply for jobs at the new nuclear facility, which is slated to be fully up and running by the end of the decade.
The starting salary for some of the positions is often close to six figures.
Murphy said the end goal is to keep more young people in Wyoming. One report shows that most people born in the state leave by their 30s. Murphy added that Wyomingites are prime to fill these types of jobs because they know what it takes to live in the state.
“They're used to the weather environments and all of that, and they're used to what, you know, kind of the experiences in Wyoming,” Murphy said.
More information on the program will be released over the next year.
Editor's Note: A correction was made Oct. 17, 2024 to reflect that the first cohort will have the skills needed to apply for jobs at the new nuclear facility, rather than be guaranteed jobs at the facility.
