Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. ATI is a Washington State–licensed private vocational school based in Richland, Washington, offering nuclear-sector training designed to prepare students for DOE Core Qualification and related site-access credentials. Founded by Dr. Paul Nims, CSP, CHST, ATI also draws on the expertise of experienced instructors from the Hanford, nuclear, and technical workforce to deliver practical, career-focused training.

ATI holds its instructors to a higher standard. We do not hire underqualified faculty. Our instructors are expected to have substantial industry experience and advanced academic credentials. Many hold terminal degrees or graduate-level qualifications, and others are approved only through a rigorous qualification process based on exceptional expertise and experience in the field.

ATI also partners with Columbia Southern University (CSU) to provide transferable credit pathways for eligible students. For more information about our credentials, state licensure, and instructor qualifications, please visit our About page, where you can view the full legitimacy trail.

Our instructors are industry veterans with decades of combined experience in radiological work and safety. Dr. Paul Nims is a doctoral-level practitioner (IH), a board-certified Certified Safety Professional (CSP), a Construction Health and Safety Technician (CHST), a professor, and more. He began his career as a Radiological Control Technician at the former EnergyX training school nearly 20 years ago.

Additional instructors rotate in based on subject-matter expertise, ensuring students learn from qualified professionals with direct experience in the areas they teach. Full bios, credentials, and LinkedIn profiles for every instructor are available on our Faculty page.

As stated above, Dr. Paul Nims brings extensive academic, professional, and instructional credentials to ATI. He holds a doctorate in Industrial Hygiene, is a Certified Safety Professional, and is a credentialed professor, in addition to numerous other qualifications. He has taught RadWorker and related safety material for many years, starting at EnergyX and continuing through ATI. His Faculty page includes his full bio, degrees, certifications, memberships, and courses taught.

Depending on the ATI program or worker training pathway you choose, you can earn DOE qualifications, OSHA 10- or 30-hour Construction or General Industry cards, HAZWOPER 24- or 40-hour certifications, respiratory protection training, and site-specific orientation prerequisites. Each program page clearly lists the credentials included in that pathway.

Our programs may also be eligible for college credit, and the certificates you earn are portable across employers, subject to employer and site-specific requirements.

ATI has an articulation agreement with CSU that allows qualifying coursework to transfer for college credit. The agreement is designed for students who want to stack their vocational credential onto a bachelor's or applied-science degree without restarting. Contact admissions for the current credit equivalency table and transfer process.

We work with eligible veterans, WorkSource Benton-Franklin, WIOA programs, and other workforce development funding sources. Funding availability varies by program and enrollment period. Our Admissions Office can confirm which options apply to the program you are considering and help coordinate paperwork with your case manager.

At this time, eligible individuals in WorkSource worker training programs, including those who are unemployed or dislocated workers, may qualify for full grant funding for training costs. In some cases, participation may also allow for an extension of unemployment benefits. Contact us to learn more.

Similar funding opportunities may also be available through TC Futures, WorkSource’s sister program for young adults ages 16–24. Reach out to see what options may be available for you.

Tuition varies by program; the standard RCT + Core Qualification program is five thousand US dollars. Payment plans, split monthly with no interest, are available through our billing office. We also accept employer sponsorship, WIOA, GI Bill, and external scholarship payments. Full pricing and payment-plan details are on the Tuition page.

ATI's campus is at 1835 Terminal Drive, Suite 130, Richland, WA 99354. We are minutes from the Hanford site, Columbia Basin College, and Tri-Cities airport. Classrooms are purpose-built for radworker practical exercises.

Most graduates pursue Radiological Control Technician, decommissioning-support, environmental-sampling, and safety roles with Hanford prime contractors (Washington River Protection Solutions, Central Plateau Cleanup Company, Hanford Mission Integration Solutions) or with subcontractors and staffing firms serving those primes. Others go on to small-modular-reactor companies, medical isotope manufacturers, Energy Northwest, and out-of-region sites when they want to travel. The Partners and Alumni pages have specific placement examples.

HAMMER trains people who are already employed by Hanford contractors. ATI trains people who want to get hired into the field.

HAMMER’s role is largely internal: it helps contractors keep their workforce trained and qualified. ATI’s role is different. As an independent vocational school, ATI is open to anyone seeking entry into the industry. We prepare students for the same qualification exams and contractor pipelines without requiring them to already hold an employer slot.

ATI also offers advantages HAMMER does not, including college-credit opportunities and a pathway that can get students into the field faster and often at lower cost than other area programs. Both ATI and HAMMER share the same DOE NTC reciprocity level, so the training is accepted across DOE sites. The difference is that ATI helps you enter the field certified and with college credit, while HAMMER mainly helps current contractor employees stay qualified.

Yes. We hold regular open houses where prospective students and families meet every instructor in person, tour the facility, and see the training equipment. Upcoming open-house dates are on our Events page. You can also book a private tour by contacting admissions.

ATI operates under Washington State’s private vocational school refund rules. Partial tuition refunds may be available within the published withdrawal periods, and the exact refund schedule is outlined in your enrollment agreement.

We would rather have that conversation up front than enroll you in a program that is not the right fit. We encourage prospective students to schedule a tour or speak with Admissions before committing. In many cases, if one program is not the best match, we will work with you to identify another option that better fits your goals and background.

On purpose. Radworker training is hands-on and safety-critical; small cohorts mean every student gets meaningful practical-exercise reps with an instructor present. When we scale, we scale by adding cohorts and rotating instructors rather than by oversizing any single classroom. Every staff member is introduced on our Faculty page so you can see exactly who will be teaching before you enroll.