UCOR expands 2022 intern program
June 23, 2022

College interns from 12 universities gather in front of UCOR headquarters; UCOR

OAK RIDGE, TN -- Twenty-nine college students from across the United States have arrived at UCOR to participate in the company’s summer intern program. Because UCOR is aggressively working to develop a pipeline of environmental cleanup workers in Oak Ridge, the companied doubled the number of interns in this year’s program. The 2022 class includes students from 12 schools across six states.

“We have a great mix of skill and interest levels, and some of the brightest students I have had the chance to work with,” said intern program coordinator Shannon Potter. “I am very impressed with their eagerness to learn about the unique work we do here at UCOR.”

The class includes students who came through UCOR’s open solicitation for interns as well as students from the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Mentorship for Environmental Scholars (MES) Program. The MES Program actively recruits undergraduates from Historically Black Colleges, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, and other minority-serving institutions for extensive training that will help them start careers in various research and management positions with DOE.

More than half of this year’s interns are working in UCOR’s engineering department to support mission work for the DOE Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management. Because of the multi-faceted work that UCOR performs, the students were able to choose from a broad range of disciplines for their intern experience. Ten departments across the company are hosting and mentoring interns. In addition to the more traditional departments like communications, engineering, finance, information technology, records and document management, and supply chain, students also chose experiences in conduct of operations, environmental stewardship, environmental safety and health, nuclear and criticality safety, radiological protection, and waste management.

A unique situation in this class involves intern Monica Johnson. She began a longer-term internship program with the communications team in January 2022. Johnson is an Oak Ridge native who attends Roane State Community College and will be transferring to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in the fall. In addition to participating as part of the summer intern class, Johnson’s intern experience includes being on the coordination team for the overall intern program.

“I really enjoy interacting with the other interns and learning about their schools and experiences,” Johnson said. “My experience working with the Communications team is giving me exposure to a wide variety of skills and opportunities, helping me understand how I want to move forward in the communications industry while continuing to gain real-world experience.” Colleges participating in this year’s program are:

• Benedict College, South Carolina
• Clemson University, South Carolina
• Colorado State, Colorado
• Florida International University, Florida
• Murray State University, Kentucky
• NC State University, North Carolina
• Roane State Community College, Tennessee
• Tennessee State University, Tennessee
• Tennessee Technological University, Tennessee
• University of Colorado Denver, Colorado
• University of the Cumberlands, Kentucky
• University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Tennessee

United Cleanup Oak Ridge LLC (UCOR) is the DOE Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management’s lead environmental cleanup partner. The company is removing unused, contaminated facilities at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex, while continuing remedial actions at the East Tennessee Technology Park. UCOR is a partnership between Amentum, Jacobs, and Honeywell. The company’s nearly 2,000 workers are dedicated to safely reducing environmental risk on the Oak Ridge Reservation while helping DOE’s Office of Science and the National Nuclear Security Administration continue their missions. Learn more about the company at UCOR.com.