AIKEN, S.C. - Nearly 170 students from dozens of colleges and universities are gaining professional experience while contributing new ideas during internships with the Savannah River Site (SRS) management and operations contractor and EM’s national laboratory this summer.
"Our reputation on college campuses throughout the U.S. is definitely growing," Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) Intern Coordinator Nate Diakun said. "We have students working with us from 17 states and U.S. territories including those as far away as California, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Texas, and Puerto Rico."
The primary goal of the intern program is to encourage contributions through meaningful projects and collaborations.
"We believe the unique internship experiences provided in many of our facilities help make SRNS and Savannah River National Laboratory compelling places to start a career once students receive degrees and become eligible for full-time, long-term employment," Diakun said.
SRNS engineering intern Magdalina Hansen of Clemson University said her assigned tasks have added to her skillset.
“It involves using a computer-aided design program to help design stretch-wrap covers for radioactive containers stored in K Area," she said. “I highly value this experience and the opportunity to work with people who are in the occupational field I'm pursuing."
SRNS President and CEO Stuart MacVean noted that SRNS tests the students, who become familiar with the site’s important national security and environmental work.
"That combination puts us in the position to graduate about 50 percent of our students into fulltime positions," he said.
MacVean added that the timing for career prospects is right.
"We are hiring about 400 people a year," he said.
Current and former interns accepted 90 percent of SRNS job offers in 2017, up from 83 percent a year prior, according to Diakun.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management
