Boy Scouts Earn Merit Badge and Groundwork for Nuclear Science

With hundreds of switches, blinking lights and labels, boy scouts throughout the northeast region stepped into a fully modeled replica of Oyster Creek Generating Station’s main control room simulator and got a lesson in nuclear science.

More than 100 boy scouts from the Joseph A. Citta Scout Reservation’s Resident Camp will be visiting the Forked River based power plant throughout July to earn a merit badge in nuclear science.

“It’s a really interesting experience no one else can offer,” said Program Director Liz Lefkowitz. Citta has partnered with Oyster Creek for a year or two in the past for similar programs, giving the boy scouts hands on experience. “It goes an extra step than just a book.”

Jim Fleury a licensed operating instructor and formerly in the U.S. Navy, described the simulator as the equivalent of a flight simulator for a video game. The room is designed to train plant employees whose primary responsibility is to protect the health and safety of the public.

“The control room is the brain and nerve center of the nuclear plant,” spokesperson Suzanne D’Ambrosio said, adding that Oyster Creek is the perfect place for the boys to earn their merit badge.

The equipment is connected to computers and Fleury is able to manipulate them so employees can be trained to deal with any situation that’s possible, not probable, he said. Operating crews train every five weeks to ensure that they maintain proficiency.

“I train them to a high level and make sure they don’t fail,” he said.

One of the highest-ranking boy scouts stepped up to the simulator and turned a switch, initiating a mimicked scram.

As an alarm went off, panels started to light up. Fleury explained that the computers are simply used for monitoring but the hundreds of switches control the plant. The nuclear operators monitor the situation to make sure the plant is responding as designed. If something is off, then they take action.

Jack Gamble, now a procurement engineer at Oyster Creek, used to be a boy scout in Troop 23 in the 1980s. Yesterday, he took the time to teach the boy scouts about nuclear power. He discussed everything from different energy sources and radioactive material to fission and how a nuclear plant actually operates.

Several of the kids showed concern about radiation—one that asked if exposure to radiation causes cancer. Gamble responded that it all depends on how much and what kind of radiation but that each individual is exposed to radiation daily.

“It’s really easy to be afraid of radiation,” he said. “It’s invisible. It’s all over TV. But when you understand it, you’re not as afraid.”

The visits to Oyster Creek sparked interest in the Boy Scouts, Lefkowitz said.

“It gets that extra level of understanding that’s different than what they get in a plain merit badge,” she said.

Although uninterested in going into the field, Dylan Jansen, 16, of Little Ferry in Bergen County said it was “cool” to learn about the different sources of power and how nuclear is the cleanest.

“It was surprising to see all the procedures that the operators have to memorize,” he said.

The program not only earns the boys a merit badge but also lays the groundwork for their future.

“These are the kids who are going to be the ones operating nuclear power plants,” D’Ambrosio said.