RC109 NovDec 2023 - Magazine - Page 32
SKILLED TRADES
FIRST NATIONS POWER
Indigenous millwrights charting their careers through
OPG’s Darlington Refurbishment by Paul Choi
WO INDIGENOUS MILLWRIGHTS who got their start through
OPG’s Indigenous Opportunities Network (ION) are
now advancing their careers through the Darlington
Nuclear Generating Station’s Refurbishment project.
Both Sean Veinot and Sawyer Wilson have been
involved in various aspects of the project, including
Unit 3’s successful return to service in July, months ahead
of schedule, and Unit 1’s disassembly.
Both credit ION with helping them get to where they
are today.
The program recruits and places skilled and quali昀椀ed
members from Indigenous communities in jobs within the
nuclear and energy industries, including at OPG, union
halls, and vendor partners. Since 2018, more than 100
Indigenous candidates have found employment through
ION.
Wilson, who previously worked in landscaping, got
connected with ION through his home community of
Alderville First Nation. Meanwhile, Veinot, a former
pipeline operator in northern B.C., was introduced to ION
while training to be a 昀椀re昀椀ghter in Durham Region after
making the move to Ontario.
“I didn’t have a lot of experience in the trades before
this. But I was quickly brought up to speed,” said Wilson,
who was enrolled in the Introduction to Millwrighting
training program, a specialized six-week course hosted at
Darlington and created by the Millwright Regional Council. “I’ve only been at the Darlington plant for about three
months, but all the training, instruction, mentorship, and
guidance I’ve received has been a huge help.”
Veinot, who has a few more years of experience in
nuclear, started his career as a millwright at Pickering Nuclear before coming over to the Darlington Refurbishment
project with E.S. Fox.
“This is a great sector to be in right now,” said Veinot,
a member of the Eastern Woodlands Indigenous Peoples.
His brother, a nuclear engineer working at the Oak Ridge
National Laboratory in Tennessee, recommended nuclear
as a good career path to get into. “Just being part of clean
energy and a part of the solution for the future is a great
feeling.”
One of his most recent memorable achievements was
being part of the team to get Darlington’s Unit 3 re-connected to the grid on July 17, almost six months ahead of
schedule. Another memorable job was helping to shift fuel
channels back into place at Pickering Nuclear.
Wilson, who is just getting his feet wet in the industry,
T
Paul Choi is a senior
communications
advisor at Ontario
Power Generation.
32
RENEW CANADA – NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023
is currently helping to remove horizontal 昀氀ux detectors
on Darlington’s Unit 1, part of the reactor’s safety system.
As his 昀椀rst real job in the industry, he says the experience
is “opening up the door to everything here.”
Millwrights like Veinot and Wilson are in high demand
across the energy sector, particularly with ongoing
refurbishment projects across the nuclear space. Highly
trained millwrights install, maintain, diagnose, and repair
various industrial and mechanical equipment – from
pumps and conveyors to steam turbines.
The need for millwrights, and skilled trades in general,
is only expected to grow in the years ahead as more clean
energy projects, including OPG’s planned 昀氀eet of Small
Modular Reactors at Darlington, get underway.
“It can be a bit intimidating at 昀椀rst to get your foot into
nuclear,” said Veinot. “But you receive a lot of mentorship and support, and everyone wants to ensure you are
succeeding. Plus, OPG is one of the safest places to work
in Canada. The people here are very professional and
safe.”
Wilson agrees, adding that Indigenous workers thinking about making the move into the trades and nuclear
should take the plunge.
“Even if you feel like you’re not experienced in the
trade you’re getting into, the ION program does a great
job of preparing you for your future,” he said.
“Also, just having the general foreman, supervisor,
journeymen, higher-up apprentices, and others who have
more knowledge than you is a huge help. Instead of feeling
like you have to wait to ask questions, they make sure you
have the answers you need to do the work properly.”.
This article is reprinted with the permission of Ontario Power Generation.
RENEWCANADA.NET
