A new study is drawing a road map for high school and middle school students to set foot on what many believe is the coming nuclear renaissance to South Carolina.

The study finds a significant gap between new workers and aging retiring workers in the nuclear industry even as 10,000 new jobs may emerge in the next decade in the Central Savannah River Area.

Savannah River Site Community Reuse Organization (SRSCRO) - an economic development group - hired consulting group Booz Allen Hamilton for the study.

"What we found out with this survey was there was a demand for a broader range of workers than we thought," said David Jameson, the vice chairman of SRSCRO. "It was an ‘ah-ha' moment."

The survey identifies 57 individual key job classifications organized into four general categories, he said.

Those categories include professional, technician, engineer and craft, said Jameson.

"This demand is not going to come from one company - it's going to come from a range of companies," said Jameson.

About 2,000 engineering jobs will be needed in the future but 8,000 other jobs will be sought as well. Craft jobs such as electricians and cement masons will be in demand, he said.

"The key is to be certified to work on a nuclear project," said Jameson.

Professional jobs such as project managers and software developers will also be desired.

"This is what seventh, eighth and ninth graders should be looking at," he said. "The jobs will be available locally for the right graduates."

Jameson said the positions are career jobs where people can carve out a good living.

"We're not talking about stimulus jobs," said Jameson. "The survey shows there is a great career in the nuclear industry."

He said a goal of the study is to reach educators so they can prepare students regionally for jobs with specific education tracks.

"Our real interest in this is how to get the message into the schools about the nuclear renaissance," said Danny Black,a SRSCRO board member and the head of the SouthernCarolina Alliance.

SouthernCarolina Alliance is an economic development group for Barnwell, Allendale, Bamberg and Hampton counties.

Black said many of the jobs require a focused curriculum and students should be steered into math or science classes.

"When you get a better educated work force it is going to attract industry," said Jameson.

It's a statement Black has heard many times in his dealings with industry.

"The first question of any high tech industry is ‘Is there a workforce available?'" he said.

Black said the area has a competitive edge over other communities because of its location.

Plant Vogtle, near Waynesboro,Ga. plans to add reactors; the MOX fuel facility at Savannah River Site is underway and possible future projects at SRS could create an economic boon to the area, said Black.

"We have the infrastructure and the land - we just need the talent," he said.

The recent stimulus money for SRS will quicken its cleanup, Black said.

"After it is cleaned up - what is next?" said Black.

SRS would provide a great research lab for alternative fuel or other nuclear research areas, said Black.

"What better place to do research?" said Black.

Success breeds success, and if one industry thrives others will follow - creating a surging new economic region with Barnwell County afloat in it, he said.
"Who knows? Down the road you may be swimming across the Savannah River to get to the city of Barnwell," he said.

The SRSCRO region includes Barnwell, Allendale and Aiken counties in South Carolina as well as Richmond and Columbia counties in Georgia.