On Saturday, June 8, 2019, Plant Farley hosted 37 scouts from Alabama, Florida and Georgia as they earned their Nuclear Science merit badges. The Boy Scouts of America is now open to young men and women, and following her visit to Plant Farley, Lindsey Blount became the first female scout in Alabama to earn the Nuclear Science merit badge. “It’s really cool,” Blount said when asked about her achievement. “My troop did the pre-work before we came to the nuclear plant and we met the rest of the requirements here. It’s been an awesome day.”
Members of the Farley Women in Nuclear (WIN) Chapter, the Farley NAYGN Chapter, Operations Training, Operations and Communications departments worked with the scouts to complete the requirements for this rather rare merit badge. “The Nuclear Science merit badge is not one of the more common badges a scout earns,” explained Assistant Scout Master and Farley Systems Operator Michael McBride. “The Farley team came together to make this happen and I’ve heard nothing but good things from the scouts and their parents and chaperones about today’s activities.”
McBride contacted Farley WIN Chair Kassondra Moore about this project earlier this year and she couldn’t wait to get involved. “Today was a great day for these scouts, the plant and our WIN chapter,” Moore said. “We pooled our resources with NAYGN resources, developed a great program and helped the scouts earn their badges and learn a little more about the safe generation of nuclear power along the way.”
During their time at the plant the group received an overview of the way electricity is generated with nuclear fuel, used a frisker to detect natural radiation in common items, saw radiation particles emanating from a piece of Fiesta Ware in a cloud chamber and got a demonstration in the station’s Control Room Simulator.
Moore is also thinking ahead to the next time the station and the scouts team up. “We’ve compiled a list of lessons learned to make future events like this bigger and better. This is only the beginning for this partnership!”
Mike Doherty, Public Relations, Southern Nuclear Farley, Region II
