Daniel Johnson, Program Director of Wharton County Junior College's Nuclear Power Technology program, discusses training methodology at the Bay City campus with visitors from Estonia. WCJC's program was singled out in a state report issued this past fall by the Texas Advanced Nuclear Reactor Working Group.
WHARTON, TEXAS – Efforts are underway to make Texas a global leader in the production of nuclear power, and Wharton County Junior College is one of the educational institutions the state will lean on to provide workforce training.
A report — entitled “Deploying a World-Renowned Advanced Nuclear Industry in Texas” — was compiled this past fall by the Texas Advanced Nuclear Reactor Working Group and recommends the creation of an “advanced nuclear workforce development program” to train nuclear-grade welders, reactor operators and radiation control technologists.
The report singles out WCJC’s Nuclear Power Technology program for already serving in that capacity.
“Wharton County Junior College’s nuclear certification lab is a primary source of operators and has gained major recognition,” the report states. “(WCJC’s program) is a model for other programs to replicate.”
WCJC Board of Trustee’s Chairman J. Paul Pope said that WCJC is committed to continuing in its capacity as a lead institution in nuclear workforce development.
“As this report lays out, expanding nuclear power in Texas requires expanding the skilled technical workforce,” Pope said. “WCJC is working with excellent partners at Texas A&M to not only maintain this capability, but to build upon it as part of a comprehensive workforce development program to develop needed skills from technical operators to nuclear engineers.”
Wharton County Judge Philip Spenrath helped prepare the state report and noted that WCJC’s inclusion was not by accident.
“WCJC’s Nuclear Power Technology program is internationally recognized as one of the best, with its graduates successfully entering the workforce,” Spenrath said. “The program is renowned worldwide, with several countries visiting WCJC to learn from its success.”
Rudolph Henry, former director of the WCJC Nuclear Power Technology program, personally directed countless tours of the program’s laboratories and classrooms on the Bay City campus. During his tenure, Henry welcomed visitors from around the world, including the Middle East, Russia, Africa and India.
Henry believes WCJC is well-suited to continue its role as a leader in nuclear workforce training.
“I feel that WCJC is uniquely positioned to be a major force in the technician workforce development framework of this initiative,” Henry said. “I am excited for WCJC. It’s just a matter of letting the rest of Texas know our capabilities.”
The Texas Advanced Nuclear Reactor Working Group was created in response to a directive issued by Texas Governor Greg Abbott in 2023. Abbott requested that the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) establish such a group to consider ways of making Texas a “national leader in using advanced nuclear energy.”
More than 100 stakeholders and nuclear experts were consulted as part of the initiative, with their recommendations forming the basis for the “Deploying a World-Renowned Advanced Nuclear Industry in Texas” report.
The report can be viewed in its entirety on the PUCT website: www.puc.texas.gov/industry/nuclear/
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