 
IBEW, NECA Contractors Help Lead Nuclear Renaissance in New Mexico
September 2008, Electrical Worker
The clanking rhythm of oil pumps ring out day and night in the small desert town of Eunice, N.M. Bordering the oil fields of West Texas in the center of the state’s oil patch region, oil has been the town’s bread and butter for decades.
But now Eunice is on its way to becoming one the country’s leading centers for the production of enriched uranium, a key nuclear fuel. The first civilian nuclear facility built in the United States in more than 30 years will be located five miles outside the small town in southeastern New Mexico.
Construction of the facility has been proceeding under a under a unique alliance of the IBEW and three National Electrical Contractors Association contractors.
The $1.5 billion National Enrichment Facility, which began construction last year, will enrich enough low-yield uranium to produce 5 percent of the nation’s energy needs when the plant goes fully online in 2015. The United States now gets most of its enriched uranium from Europe and Russia.
Nuclear power hasn’t seen much domestic growth since the last major oil crisis more than 30 years ago, but rising oil prices and concerns about global climate change have convinced many government and industry leaders to take a second look at the energy source.
More than 70 percent of the facility’s planned uranium output over the next 10 years has already been sold to existing nuclear reactors and the soon-to-be increased supply of processed uranium is already sparking calls for the construction of new ones. Recently a group of New Mexico state legislators announced their intention to lobby for the construction of a new reactor in their state.
James Ferland, president of Louisiana Energy Services, a nuclear power consortium behind the facility, told the New York Times that the nuclear industry viewed the go-ahead for the plant’s construction by federal and state officials as a bellwether for future nuclear construction.
“Nuclear power is an important energy source for our future so we need to make sure the IBEW and NECA are taking the lead in doing the work,” said Albuquerque Local 611 Business Manager Chris Frentzel.
But in order to make sure plant was built union, the IBEW and NECA contractors had to pool their collective resources to get it done.
The sheer size of the facility made it difficult for just one contractor to handle all the work. “The job would require a huge investment from the contractor – $60 to $80 million – and that ruled out most local people,” said Linn Gamblin, construction coordinator for Rust Contractors, a management contractor hired by L.E.S. to supervise construction.
So three NECA contractors who originally bid on the job separately – Prime Electric, Rosendin Electric, and Budwine Service Electric – were encouraged by the IBEW to combine their forces to create a joint company, Trico, LLC.
“The whole thing was looking like it would go nonunion before the contractors got together,” said Seventh District Organizer Dick Wells.
According to Seventh District Vice President Jon Gardner, “an emphasis on building a partnership with the community, the customer, the contractors and Local 611 was a key factor in securing this project as a union job.”
Another factor in helping the project go union was the IBEW’s and NECA’s ability to attract experienced and trained electricians to a remote area where skilled labor was in short supply.
The facility broke ground more than a year ago, and currently employs more than 100 IBEW members, with an additional 400 electricians needed soon. It is expected that it will take eight years for the plant to be fully completed, but the company hopes that it can start enriching uranium as early as next year.
As part of its long-term commitment to the project and the people of Eunice, the IBEW has proposed establishing a job training center there, with a special focus on green jobs. “Most young people leave town when they’re old enough … there’s not a lot to do,” Gardner said. “A technical center that includes training in solar installation and wind power would give local high school grads a good reason to stick around.”
The local is planning to work with L.E.S. to make the sure that future maintenance crews will also be represented by the IBEW. “This is an ongoing opportunity for us and we think the work we have done so far and will do in the future is a great enticement for the company to keep the facility union,” Gardner said.
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