NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY AND THE PROFESSIONALIZATION OF LABOR'

HOWARD M. VOLLMER AND DONALD L. MILLS

ABSTRACT
There are some indications that the development of nuclear technology is associated with rudi-
mentary professionalization of labor, including the development of specialized techniques with under-
lying theoretical formulations, a career pattern supported by an association of colleagues, and a
community-recognized status. With nuclear technology, moreover, the importance of public health and
safety considerations is recognized as related to the professionalization process.

Accurate description of the changing sionalization of labor," apply to the re-

characterof labor in relation to technologi-
cal innovations has been a continuous con-
cern of industrial sociologists. For example,
Nelson N. Foote has contended that the
nature of our current industrial society
may be more meaningfully described in
terms of more dynamic social processes
such as "the professionalizationof labor."2
He claims that manual laboring occupa-
tions are in a process of status change,
that is, they are increasingly assuming the
technological, organizational, and ideologi-
cal aspects of professionalization.These as-
pects were described, respectively, as (1)
"a specialized technique supported by a
body of theory," (2) "a career supported
by an association of colleagues," and (3)
"a status supported by community recog-
nition."
Although his illustrations were largely
based upon automation of the automobile
industry in Detroit, Foote suggested that
the "professionalizationof labor" is a con-
cept describing a general trend in Ameri-
can society associated with the growth of
new technologies. The key question re-
mains, then: Does the concept, "profes-
'-Adapted from a paper originally read at the
Annual Meetings of the American Sociological
Association, New York, 1960. The authors appre-
ciate comments on this paper provided by Otto N.
Larsen, R. R. Tarrice, H. V. Kincaid, and David
Bushnell.
2Nelson N. Foote, "The Professionalization of
Labor in Detroit," American Journal of Sociol-
ogy, LIII (January, 1953), 371-80.
690
sponse of labor to new technologies other
than automation?
In this paper the authors will discuss
consequences of nuclear technology for
American labor. By "nuclear technology"
we mean the application of nuclear fission
and nuclear radiation phenomena to in-
dustrial processes. Access to information
on this subject has been provided by a
series of studies conducted by Stanford
Research Institute for the Office of In-
dustrial Relations of the United States
Atomic Energy Commission. Information
gained in these studies has provided sup-
port for Foote's thesis. Furthermore, our
attention was drawn to certain health and
safety considerations associated with nu-
clear technology which might further sup-
port the "professionalization of labor"
thesis.
NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER
There are two general aspects of nuclear
technology that have considerable impact
upon Americanindustry: (1) reactor tech-
nology, in which nuclear reactors are being
designed for electric power generation,
process heat, and various research uses in
industry; and (2) radioisotope technology,
in which radioisotopes are being used in-
creasingly for radiographic inspection, ra-
diation gauging, tracing, and other indus-
trial application. At present, more than
1,500 industrial organizations located
throughout the nation have been licensed
to use radioisotopes, and 146 nuclear re-

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 NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY AND PROFESSIONALIZATION OF LABOR
actors are being operated, built, or planned
for non-military uses in the United States.3
The number of workers involved in these
and related aspects of nuclear technology
has been increasing in recent years. In
1956 there were about 83,000 persons em-
ployed in installations owned directly by
the United States Atomic Energy Commis-
sion and operated by private contractors;
over 40,000 of these were manual or hourly
rated employees.4In 1961 there were about
130,000 employees in 158 AEC contractor-
operated installations, 53,000 of which were
manual workerswho worked with, or in the
vicinity of, radiation sources. Approxi-
mately 25,000 of these manual workers are
in skilled crafts or trades. In addition, at
least 22,000 employees are now employed
in other contexts affected by nuclear tech-
nology, such as the construction of nuclear
facilities, industrial laboratories using ra-
diation sources (not under contract to the
AEC), nuclear instrument manufacturing,
radioactive waste disposal, and uranium
mining.5 General Electric Company is an
example of an industrial organization that
employs more than 1,800 persons who
work directly with radiation sources and
more than 6,400 persons who work in the
vicinity of these sources.6
Manual or hourly rated job classifica-
tions in nuclear power plants typically re-
quire operating personnel to serve as re-
3 Atomic Industrial Forum, The Atomic Indus-
try: 1958 (New York: Atomic Industrial Forum,
1959), p. 12; and United States Atomic Energy
Commission, Major Activities in the Atomic En-
ergy Programs, January-December 1960 (Wash-
ington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1961),
p. 437.
'James J. Bambrick, Jr., and Albert A. Blum,
Labor Relations in the Atomic Energy Field
("Studies in Personnel Policy," No. 158 [New
York: National Industrial Conference Board,
1957]), pp. 22-25.
6 Major Activities in the Atomic Energy Pro-
grams, p. 109.
' W. A. McAdams, "Radiation
Protection in the
Industrial Use of Radiation" (paper read at the
Second United Nations International Conference
on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, 1958).
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691
actor operators, turbine operators, gen-
erator operators, or maintenance personnel
for mechanical maintenance (including
general mechanics, welders, machinists,
pipefitters, plumbers, and related trades),
electrical maintenance, instrumentation,
and chemical analysis. Use of radioisotopes
in industry involves production workers
(using radiation gauges or tracer tech-
niques), radiographicequipment operators,
radiological well-logging equipment opera-
tors, maintenance repairmen of radiologi-
cal equipment, industrial laboratory tech-
nicians (using radiological techniques),
personnel who manufacture radiological
equipment, and persons in related occupa-
tions. In addition, the new occupation of
radiation monitoring has developed in re-
sponse to the potential hazards of use of
radiation in industry.
Therefore, it would seem that the im-
pact of nuclear technology upon American
labor is worthy of notice, both in terms of
numbers of personnel and in terms of the
variety of occupations involved.
SPECIALIZED TECHNIQUES
That nuclear technology requires the de-
velopment of specialized techniques sup-
ported by a body of general theory for
operating and maintenance personnel has
been recognized by various authorities in
the field.7 These needs for specialized and
7 See, e.g., John I. Saks, "Labor Implications
of Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy," Monthly
Labor Review, LXXX (1957), 927-28; F. W.
Erhard, "Industrial Training Aspects of the Peace-
ful Uses of Atomic Energy," Proceedings of the
International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of
Atomic Energy (New York: United Nations,
1956), XIII, 66; K. K. Campbell, "Maintenance
Work in the Field of Nuclear Energy," Proceed-
ings-1953 Conference on Nuclear Engineering
(Berkeley: University of California Bookstore,
1953), p. G-12; D. Cochran, "Engineering Prob-
lems in Nuclear Power Plant Development,"
United States Congress Joint Committee on
Atomic Energy, Report on Atomic Power and
Private Enterprise (82d Cong., 2d sess. [Washing-
ton, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1952]), p.
306; and D. 0. Woodbury, Atoms for Peace (New
York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1955), p. 246.
692 THE AMERICANJOURNALOF SOCIOLOGY
more intensive training of workers for ap-
plications of nuclear energy have affected
the content of industrial training programs.
For example, special training programs for
journeymen reactor operators, welders, and
instrument repairmen at Shippingport
Atomic Power Station, Pennsylvania, re-
quire 72 to 133 hours of formal classroom
training (excluding on-the-job training) in
both theoretical and practical aspects of
nuclear power-plant work. Based upon an
analysis of training needs and training pro-
grams, a Stanford Research Institute re-
port has suggested that at least thirty-two
hours of training in basic theory be given
to workers in preparation for employment
in a nuclear power plant. The suggested
course outline provides for training in prin-
ciples of atomic structure, radiation, nu-
clear fission and fusion, nuclear fuels, nu-
clear reactor types and power generation
systems, reactor control and instrumenta-
tion, and related safety principles and
practices.8 Courses of this type are now
being given in adult-educationprogramsin
California, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New
York, Pennsylvania, and other states.
In connection with radioisotope utiliza-
tion, various training courses have also
recognized the need for formal training in
basic nuclear theory. For example, courses
conducted by Industrial Nucleonics Cor-
poration, Columbus, Ohio; by the Budd
Nuclear Systems Division, Philadelphia;
and by the Picker Laboratories, Cleveland
(major manufacturers of radiographic
equipment); include instruction in nuclear
theory and fundamentals.Based upon anal-
ysis of such courses, a study for the Atomic
Energy Commission has also suggested
thirty-two hours of training in basic theory
for radioisotope workers. This course out-
line provides for training in principles of
atomic structure and radiation, similar to
the content outlined in the previously men-
tioned nuclear power-plant course, and
8 H. M. Vollmer, Development of Training Pro-
grams for Operating and Maintenance Personnel
in Nuclear Power Generating Systems (Washing-
ton, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1961),
p. 36.
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additional training in special aspects of
radioactivity associated with radiography,
radiation gauges, and radioactive tracer
techniques.9A basic course of this type is
also being given in adult-education pro-
grams in several states and has been dis-
tributed by the Atomic Energy Commis-
sion to approximately 250 industrial com-
panies for integration into company train-
ing programs.
Contractors of the Atomic Energy Com-
mission give their operating and mainte-
nance personnel at installations like those
at Hanford, Washington, or Oak Ridge,
Tennessee, from seventeen to thirty-three
hours of formal training in radiation the-
ory, followed by much more on-the-job
training. Thus operators and mechanics
who are not themselves nuclear specialists
are gaining an elementary knowledge of
nuclear theory.
Not all management officials in indus-
trial plants affected by nuclear technology
are convinced that training workers in the
fundamentalsof nuclear theory is necessary
or desirable. It has been possible, as in
the case of reactor operators at the Han-
ford facility, for workersduring World War
II to perform prescribed operations with
a minimum of knowledge about the funda-
mental principles that underlie their
work.10Some managers still maintain that
"a little knowledge is a dangerous thing,"
inclining workers to assume responsibil-
ities that should be retained by physical
scientists or engineers. In most experimen-
tal prototype reactor facilities, college-
trained engineers are present and exercise
technical supervisory responsibilities on all
shifts. However, as power-reactorfacilities
and various uses of radioactive materials
become more commonplace in industrial
9H. M. Vollmer, L. J. Towle, and B. J. May-
nard, Development of a Training Program for
Radioisotope Workers in Industry (Washington,
D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1961), pp. 29-
31.
10Military security regulations during World
War II required that workers at Hanford know
as little as possible about the principles of their
work.
 NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY AND PROFESSIONALIZATION OF LABOR
operations, the assignment of professional
engineers to continual surveillance of these
operations becomes increasingly difficult,
especially in more isolated locations, where
nuclear power plants or other nuclear
facilities are often located. As a result,
journeymen operators and workers in the
vicinity of radioactive materials are neces-
sarily assuming more responsibility for
their own safety and public safety. Because
radioactive materials are inherently un-
stable and potentially dangerous despite
physical and procedural safeguards, the
personnel responsible for handling or
working around these materials must un-
derstand something about the underlying
"why's" of safety procedures in order to
take appropriate action in emergencies.
Furthermore,contrary to the initial opin-
ion of some skeptics, ordinary journey-
men workers in skilled operating and
maintenance crafts have demonstrated
their ability to assimilate considerable in-
formation about fundamental principles of
nuclear energy. A Stanford Research In-
stitute study of trial presentations of the
suggested nuclear power-plant course in
two adult-education programs has indi-
cated that journeymen workers learned as
much or slightly more about principles of
atomic structure and radiation during the
course than managerial and "white-collar"
participants in the course. A further study
indicated that journeymen operating en-
gineers, selected by West Coast locals of
the International Union of Operating En-
gineers, are capable of effectively assimilat-
ing such course materials for the purpose
of teaching them to other membersof their
trade.
Such developments as these seem to sup-
port the view of most authorities, in other
countries as well as in the United States,
that nuclear technology, automation, and
similar advanced technologies require in-
creased emphasis upon theoretical knowl-
edge relative to manual skills.11 In this
:' International Labour Conference, Report of
the Director General, Part I: Automation and
Other Technological Developments (Geneva: In-
ternational Labour Office, 1957), pp. 47-48.
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693
sense nuclear technology, like automation,
requires operating and maintenance per-
sonnel who are more like technicians and
less like manual workers. Their acquisi-
tion of abilities to perform specialized tech-
niques supported by theory (nuclear the-
ory in this case) fulfils Foote's first cri-
terion for professionalization.
CAREER ORIENTATIONS
Several items of informationmay be pre-
sented that support Foote's second criterion
for the professionalization of labor-
namely, workers are oriented toward a
career in their work, sustained by an asso-
ciation of colleagues. Trade unions are now
acting to facilitate and support the career
stability of their membership in relation
to nuclear technology. As early as 1954,
the late Martin P. Durkin initiated an
atomic energy conference with a keynote
speech on the "Challenge of the Atomic
Age" before representatives of the United
Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters.'2
Shortly thereafter a skills-improvement
course in "Nuclear Energy and Its Appli-
cations to the Pipe Trades Industry" was
established by the United Association.13As
mentioned earlier, the International Union
of Operating Engineers, through its West-
ern Conference of Stationary Engineers,
has trained its own cadre of instructors
and now has several hundred members en-
rolled in training classes on nuclear tech-
nology in various western states. The
Operating Engineers are now planning to
expand this programon a nationwide basis.
The InternationalBrotherhoodof Electrical
Workers is developing a similar training
program for its members.
One of the union organizations that has
taken a very strong interest in nuclear
technology has been the International
Brotherhoodof Boilermakers.A represent-
12 Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, Congress
of the United States, Employee Radiation Haz-
ards and Workmen's Compensation (Washington,
D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1959), p. 376.
3 American Chemical Society, "Atoms and La-
bor," Chemical and Engineering News, XXXIV
(February 20, 1956), 31.3.
694 THE AMERICANJOURNALOF SOCIOLOGY
ative of this union began in 1950 to sur-
vey available information and to report
the expected effects of nuclear technology
upon the boilermaker's trade. A desire to
avoid the kind of technological unemploy-
ment and disruption of career patterns
that had previously affected the Boiler-
makers in connection with dieselization of
railroads has caused them to assess very
carefully the career opportunities of their
membershipin nuclear work. Consequently,
this union has developed special training
programs to upgrade the skills of present
journeymen as well as to prepare appren-
tices for nuclear assignments.14
Thus it is not only the fact that nuclear
technology requires more training in fun-
damental theory, but also that this train-
ing, in many cases, is being assumed by
workmen'sassociations of colleagues (trade
unions) that is indicative of rudimentary
professionalization of labor.
It might also be added that unions have
taken other steps to facilitate career stabil-
ity of their membership in nuclear work.
This has been exemplified by many union
leaders' attitudes, particularly on the na-
tional or international level, toward special
hazard pay for workers employed in the
vicinity of radiation sources. Although
these officials are usually quite concerned
with the establishment of adequate struc-
tural and procedural safeguards for their
members'health and safety, they have gen-
erally refrained from pressing for special
hazard pay, lest this demand result in auto-
mated control systems and consequent
technologicalunemployment.Thus manage-
ment and union officials usually have
agreed that hazard pay is warranted only
where job classifications explicitly specify
special radiation hazards in the work sit-
uation.15
COMMUNITY-RECOGNIZED STATUS
Community and societal recognition of
nuclear work and the status of nuclear
14 Employee Radiation Hazards and Workmen's
Compensation, p. 366.
15
Bambrick and Blum, op. cit., p. 18.
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technicians has been expressed in several
ways. For example, officialsof public spon-
sored technical and industrial training cen-
ters and public junior colleges have recently
shown increasing desire to include nuclear-
technology subjects in their apprentice
and journeymen training programs. Basic
courses in nuclear power-plantapplications,
radioisotope utilization, and radiation safe-
ty have been given in California and in
several other states, as was mentioned pre-
viously. State supervisorsof industrial and
vocational education have requested that
these courses be developed and tried out in
preparation for use in the near future in
similar training programs throughout the
United States.
At present, reactor operators in private
industrial plants must be licensed by the
Atomic Energy Commission,after taking a
qualifying examination prepared by AEC
representatives. Licensing procedures for
those who use radioisotopesin industry dif-
fer somewhat from procedures for those
who operate reactors. Ordinarily,an organ-
ization may be licensed to use specific
radioisotopes for specific purposes; but in
the application for the license, the individu-
als who will "use or directly supervise use
of by-product material," along with their
experience and training, must be listed in
the application.
Among the responsibilitiesof the Atomic
Energy Commission is the special regula-
tion of manpower management and labor
relations in industries using nuclear energy,
especially in installations operated by pri-
vate contractors for the Atomic Energy
Commission. This includes regulation of
wages, hours of work, and general working
conditions, as well as the prompt settlement
of labor disputes to assure employmentcon-
tinuity.16 One effect of such government
responsibility in labor relations is to weak-
en the dependence of employees upon their
relationship with their employers in the
"6Oscar S. Smith, "Obligations of Government
as Owner, Financer, and Consumer in Relation to
Collective Bargaining," Labor Law Journal (No-
vember, 1956), pp. 684-85.
 NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY AND PROFESSIONALIZATION OF LABOR 695

niuclearplants subject to this regulation. effects of the more advanced phases of

Also, because employers in AEC contractor automation upon labor have been some-
installations do not own their facilities, and
what less dramatic than many authorities
may be removed at any time that the AEC on this subject originally expected. For ex-
decides to close an installation or to changeample, he has pointed out that increased
its management, the presumed continuity automaticity apparently results in un-
of operations typical of private industrial changed or reduced skill requirements for
establishments is lacking, or at least weak- most operating and maintenance personnel,
ened, in these nuclear plants. Moreover, except for electronics maintenance special-
where an employer operates an AEC instal- ists. At the same time, he has indicated that
lation in connection with defense contracts, there is evidence of need for more "over-all
he is also subject to influence by the Army,machine repairmen"who are familiar with
the Navy, or the Air Force in his dealings all the control technologies involved in an
with his employees. Such intervention and automated system. Yet Bright has main-
control of employer-employee relations on tained that there is no evidence that the
the part of public bodies thus serves to fur-
over-all effect of automation can be expect-
ther public recognition of nuclear work. ed to increase the proportion of the indus-
trial work force in more skilled specialist
It is reasonable to suspect that this situ-
ation contributes especially to the profes- or maintenancejobs.17
sionalizationof labor, in that it makes labor In two nuclear power plants studied by
more independent of employers and more the authors (the station in operation at
dependent upon associations of colleagues Shippingport, Pennsylvania, and the sta-
(i.e., the trade unions with jurisdiction ortion planned for Indian Point, New York)
interest in nuclear work) for the improve- more skilled operating and maintenance
ment of working conditions and career con- personnel are needed than would be re-
tinuity. Any substantial change in working quired in a conventional electric power
conditions, therefore, is not a matter that generation plant, even after the initial
can easily be settled between the repre- start-up of the plant. Moreover, from 6 to
sentatives of a local union and plant man- 8 per cent of the employees in nuclear
agement-it is a matter of industry-wide power plants are radiation-protectionspe-
concern affecting community interests rep- cialists-an occupation that does not occur
resented by the Atomic Energy Commis- in non-nuclear work. Between 1 and 2 per
sion. This has been a principal factor in cent of the employees of AEC contractors
the establishment of the Atomic Energy operating nuclear installations are radia-
Technical Committee of the AFL-CIO. tion-protection specialists.18
The development of the occupation of
HEALTH AND SAFETY radiation-protection specialists indicates
So far in this paper, the thesis has been the extreme importance of radiation pro-
presented that nuclear technology contrib- tection in nuclear facilities. Nuclear radia-
utes to the professionalizationof American tion, in the form of alpha and beta parti-
labor in ways somewhat similar to those of cles and gamma rays, presents a unique
automation. It should be pointed out, how- health hazard, in that these forms of radi-
ever, that nuclear technology may make an ation are ordinarily undetectible by the hu-
even greater contribution than automation man senses, exposureeffects are cumulative,
to the professionalization of labor, insofar and damage to the human system may not
as nuclear technology attaches special im- '" James R. Bright, Automation and Manage-
portance to public health and safety. ment (Boston: Graduate School of Business Ad-
After intensive study of thirteen auto- ministration, Harvard University, 1956), pp. 160-
mated plants in a variety of industries, 62, 176-93.
James R. Bright has concluded that the John I. Saks, op. cit., p. 923.
18

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696 THE AMERICANJOURNALOF SOCIOLOGY
result in a health impairment until many
years after the exposure has taken place.
For these reasons, the Atomic Energy Act
of 1954 and other federal and state regula-
tions, as well as administrative regulations
of the Atomic Energy Commission,the Na-
tional Committee on Radiation Protection
and Measurement, the United States Pub-
lic Health Service, and other concerned
government agencies, have specified physi-
cal and personnel safeguards for workers
in nuclear facilities and residents in sur-
rounding communities.
Although elaborate physical safeguards
are built into nuclear plants and radiation-
safety specialists are given responsibility
for full-time surveillance of compliance
with safety regulations, the basic responsi-
bility for radiation safety rests on the nu-
clear worker. Similar training requirements
are placed upon those who handle radioiso-
topes in their work. As in the case of nu-
clear reactors, radioisotopes in industrial
applicationsconstitute a source of radiation
hazard not only to employees but also to
their families and other members of the
surrounding community. Thus nuclear
workers appear to have a responsibility for
public safety that is greater than the re-
sponsibility for safety ordinarily placed
upon workers in non-nuclearplants.
In a sense, hazards from nuclear tech-
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nology are perhaps felt by much of the
public to be a dimly understood but pres-
ent danger; consequently, there is an ele-
ment of awe involved. Such apprehension
has, to some extent at least, surroundedthe
advent of many major technological inno-
vations (e.g., steam, electricity) with an
aura of mystery which has served at times
to set certain workers (e.g., the railroad
engineer, the airline pilot) apart, as occu-
pying statuses in our society worthy of spe-
cial prestige, inasmuch as they are consid-
ered to have the direct safety of many peo-
ple in their hands. But with nuclear tech-
nology the actual complexity and perceived
importance of such industrial applications
have perhaps made an even larger contribu-
tion to the process of professionalization,
because the work has been surrounded by
a supporting halo of secrecy and a lack of
general public understanding of the proc-
esses. It is no accident that the expression
"professional secrets" is to be found in
everyday speech; for surely this factor is
an important ingredient in the process of
the professionalizationof labor taking place
in research and manufacturing involving
nuclear energy.
STANFORD RESEARCH INSTITUTE
MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA
AND
UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA, CALGARY