Radiation Safety Program at Loyalist College is Meeting a Rising Need for Radiation Safety Professionals

Photo provided by Loyalist College.

The nuclear industry is growing, and skilled workers are in high demand. Loyalist College’s Radiation Safety program, delivered in Port Hope, ON, is a one-year certificate offering hands-on, industry-focused learning to meet the rising need for trained radiation safety professionals.

Loyalist is a small college. Small classes mean personalized attention and a tight-knit community that feels like home. A supportive learning environment ensures students have everything they need for success, including services like tutoring, counselling, adaptive learning, and mentorship.

Industry-focused learning

The Radiation Safety program was established in 2017 to address the need for qualified radiation safety technicians in a wide range of specialties. Students are immersed in industry practices from day one, with a concentrated focus on radiation theory, radiation protection protocols, the use of various radiation detection instruments, radioactive work planning, and contamination control. Throughout the school year, students learn from guest speakers, site visits, and tours with industry partners.

Program faculty members are industry experts involved in various capacities in the nuclear sector, each with their own skill set and expertise to enhance the curriculum and learning opportunities for the students.

Our students

Radiation Safety students at Loyalist College come from all walks of life, ranging from recent high school graduates to experienced professionals seeking career changes or additional qualifications. Many are referred by graduates or professionals in the field, reflecting the program’s reputation and the industry’s ample career opportunities.

More than half of Radiation Safety graduates secure full-time jobs by the time they write their final exam. Graduates find employment in nuclear power, inspections and maintenance, transportation of radioactive shipments, radiation instrument repair, environmental remediation, radioactive waste management, research, decontamination, medical isotope production, and more.

Intakes for the program are in May and September. For information about admission requirements, visit the Radiation Safety program page of the Loyalist College website.

Meet some of our graduates

Bobby St. Pierre

2022 Radiation Safety program graduate

The Radiation Safety Program at Loyalist changed my life!

I took the program when I was 34 years old, looking for a new start at a professional career. I had worked in a casino for 15 years, but Covid-19 made me question that direction. Melissa and the faculty at Loyalist completely changed my plans.

Completing this program and graduating on the Dean’s List gave me confidence I never thought I would have. The way they taught me how to take tests has prepared me for multiple jobs at Ontario Power Generation (OPG), including my current position as a radiation instruments technician at the Whitby labs.

I highly recommend the program for students looking for a base to get into the nuclear workforce.

Melissa Misner

2024 Radiation Safety program graduate

I am so thankful for my time spent at Loyalist College in the Radiation Safety program.

My class formed such a tight-knit community of people from all stages and walks of life. We celebrated each other’s successes and leaned on each other when things got hard; I am happy to call them not only my classmates, but friends and, now, co-workers!

Having professors from the industry made an immeasurable difference. You could see the passion in each lesson. Anyone can teach from a slide deck on a projector—the mark of a true educator is their ability to instill confidence in their students as they leave the program and venture into the world feeling prepared to tackle whatever it throws at them.

Our professors went above and beyond to teach us not only the course content, but also the real-world application of what we were learning. Having hands-on experience in such an encouraging environment gave me the ability to walk into my brand-new career feeling confident and excited to jump right in.

More information

For more information about the Radiation Safety program at Loyalist College, get in touch with Melissa Hollandy, radiation safety academic program coordinator and professor, by email at [email protected].

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