Six training centers from Long Island to the Hudson Valley and western New York will get a share of $10 million to prepare New Yorkers for jobs in the nuclear energy industry.
The New York Power Authority on Tuesday, Sept. 29, named the colleges, universities and labor groups that will receive funding to train thousands of New Yorkers for the state's nuclear energy buildout.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has adopted an all-of-the-above strategy to keeping the state’s electric grid reliable amid surging demand from energy-hungry data centers and increased electrification, from vehicles to home heating.
Central to that strategy is developing 5 gigawatts of state-of-the-art nuclear energy (enough for nearly 5 million homes) at power plants upstate. NYPA has committed
$40 million to developing a pipeline of skilled workers.
“Through this first round of awards, NYPA is delivering real opportunities for New Yorkers, expanding pathways into high‑demand nuclear careers and strengthening the workforce foundation needed to support Gov. Hochul’s vision for a clean, dependable energy system,” NYPA President and CEO Justin Driscoll said in a statement.
Who will receive funding
Here are the recipients and their awards:
Statewide
Workforce Development Institute & New York State Building & Construction Trades Council, $3.6 million
The union will train pipefitters, boilermakers, sheet metal workers, ironworkers, operators, bricklayers, painters and others for construction and maintenance of nuclear projects.
Capital Region, Hudson Valley, Central New York
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), $1.85 million
A consortium that includes RPI, SUNY Westchester Community College, and SUNY Onondaga Community College will train students in welding, radiation protection, construction and HVAC.
Western New York
Jamestown Community College, SUNY, $1.29 million
Training in nuclear manufacturing and welding, mechatronics and engineering.
Central New York
SUNY Syracuse Educational Opportunity Center, $1.19 million
Training in instrumentation and controls, welding, civil and structural construction
Manufacturers Talent Institute, $1 million
Hands-on welder training, childcare, transportation, meals and coaching.
Long Island
State University of New York at Stony Brook, $945,000
Nuclear-aligned welding, HVAC, radiation. Four paid internships at Brookhaven National Laboratory.
In recent months, NYPA has solicited interest from upstate counties, cities and towns willing to host a nuclear power plant. And in January nearly two dozen developers expressed interest in partnering with NYPA in the buildout.
Thomas C. Zambito covers energy, transportation and economic growth for the USA TODAY Network’s New York State team. He’s won dozens of state and national writing awards from the Associated Press, Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Deadline Club and others during a decades-long career that’s included stops at the New York Daily News, The Star-Ledger of Newark and The Record of Hackensack. He can be reached at tzambito@lohud.com
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: NYPA picks schools, labor groups to train workers for nuclear buildout
