At a "ribbon cutting" ceremony on November 9, 2009, Joseph Jenson, American Electric Power's (AEP) Chief Nuclear Officer, declared the simulator "ready for training." The project was unique for a number of reasons. First, it is the first simulator of its kind to fully integrate both control rooms of a dual site plant, and therefore sets a new standard for nuclear facilities with more than one unit occupying the same site. Secondly, it was delivered in less than 14 months, a record for the nuclear industry. The simulator is comprised of more than 100 miles of wire, and 4467 instruments.

Tim Vriezema, the AEP Project Manager, said "This was a real team effort from the beginning. Only through the full commitment of all vendors were we able to meet our compressed schedule. From the onset of the project, GSE committed to our schedule and fidelity demands, and was successful in meeting every milestone."

In other Company news, GSE graduated the first class of new nuclear plant instructor and operator candidates from its training program being conducted for Southern Nuclear at Augusta Technical College in Georgia. GSE announced this contract in its Oct. 21, 2008 press release.

The 20-week course included generic fundamentals, human performance, nuclear systems and integrated plant operations. The last two segments required a significant amount of time on GSE's soft panel Vogtle nuclear plant simulator. The graduates are being deployed to the Southern nuclear fleet for orientation, and then on to AP1000 plant operations training.

Based on the results of this initial course, Southern Nuclear has asked the Company to modify the 20-week course slightly, and to overlap classes in 2010 to create more operator candidates.

Both Southern Nuclear and GSE agreed that the major objectives of the program were met. First, it created a pool of instructor and operator candidates with high confidence that they can be certified in the short run and pass Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) operator exams in the long run. Second, it provided a cost effective means of culling candidates who lack the ability to obtain an NRC Reactor Operator license, much earlier than the typical 18-month licensed operator training program. Third, it was accomplished with minimal participation by the Vogtle 3 and 4 training staff.

Chuck Kelly, GSE Vice President of Training Services said, "This first of a kind training program is helping to create the next new pool of skilled nuclear power plant operators that will be required to operate both existing nuclear units as well as those under construction and planned for the future. The program has generated a great deal of interest in both the U.S. and global nuclear community."

Charlie Nesbitt, Southern Nuclear's AP1000 Training Deployment Manager, stated "GSE's soft panel simulator provided a great introduction to control room operations for candidates without previous commercial reactor experience."

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