[TheRealVille]

Of that you may be sure. I have provided an excerpt and a link below to substaniate my position as it applies to the building trades only. I have no doubt but that what you say is true and that you have first hand knowledge of what you speak. No disrespect intended but, a nuclear facility is a notch up from coal mining. Only certified craftspeople, verified on-site through testing proceedures, are even allowed to perform many of the functions associated with construction at that level. I agree that to no small degree, craftsmanship is a matter of personal integrity. But, on the other hand, 4 and 5 year apprenticeships and on the job training requirements assure a measure of compitence that non-union firms just cannot match.

I came through in the 60's and I'm not just blowing gas here.
EXCERPT---
We recommend several actions to mitigate the risks associated with the limited availability of highly-qualified personnel:

• NSSS vendors and EPC contractors should complete the plant design(including the routing of small bore piping, tubing, and conduit to the maximum amount practical) prior to starting construction, prepare a detailed construction schedule, and plan for sufficient
staffing for rapid response teams at the point of work for problem resolution. To the maximum extent possible, personnel with experience designing and building nuclear units should be used to design and construct GEN III+ units. These steps are needed to sustain the high labor productivity rates necessary for achieving the desired construction schedules
and project costs. The past consequences of not having this level of design completion and project preparation have been that labor requirements and construction schedule durations were often doubled.

• EPC contractors as a group should negotiate and sign a national labor agreement with major labor unions to provide flexibility in staffing nuclear construction projects (e.g., allowing union members from different areas to work at any nuclear plant construction site). This step helps ensures the needed construction workers will be available.
END---


http://www.ne.doe.gov/np2010/reports/mpr...102105.pdf

That used to one of my fortes, nuclear pipefitting. I have worked in several. I don't do those anymore, but I worked them a lot in the 90's. There is a reason Nuclear power plants don't hire non union workers to do the construction, maintenance work.