Twenty college students will participate in this year’s U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Summer Internship program.
Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office
June 26, 2019
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PADUCAH, KY––Twenty college students will participate in this year’s U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Summer Internship program. The highly competitive 10-week program kicked off at DOE’s Paducah Site on May 20 and offers hands-on experience, leadership opportunities, and communications training to its interns.
“The DOE internship program is an opportunity for college students to explore a variety of careers, and at the same time our projects benefit from the talent these students bring to the Paducah Site,” said Jennifer Woodard, the site lead for DOE’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office.
Throughout the program, students attend educational seminars and participate in team-building activities and cross-training opportunities. Students are given hands on training in the areas of Planning and Optimization; Business Services; Environmental Services; Waste and Materials; Stabilization and Deactivation; Engineering; Environmental Safety, Health, and Quality Services; and Infrastructure activities.
The program’s interns are paired with mentors from Four Rivers Nuclear Partnership (FRNP), DOE’s deactivation and remediation contractor, and Swift & Staley, Inc. (SSI), DOE’s infrastructure support services contractor.
“Every student should do an internship at some point during his or her college career,” said FRNP Program Manager Jeff Bradford. “This internship not only helps these students gain work experience, but it also gives them a first-hand perspective on what it’s like to work on a DOE deactivation and remediation project.”
In addition to performing daily tasks, interns participate in the DOE’s Feds Feed Families drive that collects and donates food to local non-profits that work to feed the region’s hungry.
“Students always have a great time planning events that help people in our region. It’s a great way for us, as business leaders, to teach young people the value of giving back to the community,” said SSI Vice President and Project Manager Tammy Courtney.