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John Livingston's

The Nuclear Electrical Engineer

An educational resource for electrical engineers in the nuclear power industry

Here you can find design tips on technical skills like cable and breaker sizing, short-circuit evaluations and more, PLUS deep-dive analysis of nuclear-specific topics like design basis, Tech Specs, UFSARs, and safety-related SSCs — built from primary source documents.

Commodity Material Quick Reference Guide

This is a 15-page quick reference guide. It contains pictures and descriptions of basic commodities relevant to electrical engineers. It will help improve communications with the craft.

It covers basic electrical equipment including termination types and includes basic conduit support elements.

Download it now: commodity material quick reference guide

Most engineering schools don’t teach a class on basic construction commodities to electrical engineers. At least, none that I’m aware of. That would be a useful, practical class for any engineer who goes into the nuclear power industry.

The engineer is responsible for putting together the engineered materials in a mod package. That consists of gathering their descriptions and quantities so that a procurement agent can order them.

Engineered materials are usually things like cables, conduits, terminal blocks and components like relays, computers, and motors. Small consumables and commodities, like wire lugs, are generally handled by planners.

But that’s slowly changing. Engineers need to know everything down to the nuts and bolts. This will help bring you up to speed. It doesn’t cover everything, but it’s a good start.