Enriching Careers: Centrus Manager Kailey Pemberton Launches Successful Pilot Internship Program

 Every intern from the 2025 internship program in Oak Ridge has been hired, creating a strong pipeline for the advanced manufacturing workforce.

Project Manager Kailey Pemberton was promoting Centrus during a career fair at her alma mater, Tennessee Tech, when she noticed a problem. Students kept asking her about internships, and the Oak Ridge site didn’t have one.

At the time, Pemberton was a machine and cascade analysis manager who saw a growing need for additional support on her team. She remembered meeting and being impressed by Tech chemical engineering student Michaela Taylor.

“She would be an amazing person to have on the team,” Pemberton thought.

But without entry-level positions or internships, Pemberton didn’t have a way to hire emerging talent like Taylor. She decided to turn workforce needs into opportunity.

Pemberton shared her idea for an internship program with retired Senior Vice President Larry Cutlip. She credits her own internships at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and UCOR with sparking her love for engineering and paving the way for her career. Centrus continued to invest in her professional growth, promoting her to senior engineering and management roles.

Now, Pemberton was ready to mentor the next generation of engineers and introduce them to the possibilities of advanced nuclear manufacturing.

“It’s pretty hard, just from the students I’ve talked to, for them to get their career started without experience because it takes a lot of time and investment to put into an entry-level person,” Pemberton said. “But after all of those internships and the mentors I had, I absolutely thought it was something Centrus could benefit from.”

Cutlip’s response? “Make it happen.”

A New Opportunity for the Golden Eagles

Launching an internship program is easier said than done. Pemberton scrambled with Human Resources to get the position ready to share with students, which was the next problem to solve.

Pemberton reached out to Tennessee Tech and connected with Bethany Smith, Tech’s assistant director for corporate relations, to see how they could engage students with Centrus’ new opportunity. Both teams agreed they wanted the interns to learn about the nuclear fuel cycle, practice quality assurance and gain safe, real-world industry experience.

The goal was to build on what students learn through Tech’s state-of-the-art nuclear simulator lab, makerspaces and growing nuclear engineering program.

“Our students are ready to go from day one,” Smith said. “They bring strong technical knowledge, practical problem-solving skills and a strong work ethic. Employers who hire Tech graduates gain talented, motivated individuals who make an immediate impact.”

Within one week of posting the internship on Tech’s job platform, Pemberton received more than 80 applications, including one from Taylor.

“When Kailey sent me the internship to apply, I responded very quickly. I was very excited about that opportunity,” Taylor said.

Growing up near the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant in Rhea County, Tennessee, Taylor always knew she wanted a career in energy and focused her studies on nuclear engineering.

“Centrus checked all the boxes for me,” she added.

The first internship cohort included Taylor, mechanical engineering graduate student Julian Saninocencio and chemical engineering major Katherine Delk.

From Interns to Industry Professionals

Pemberton tailored each internship to the student’s degree and interests, then assigned projects based on her team’s needs. Her approach allowed the interns to work alongside Centrus engineers and contribute to high-priority projects.

“They’re going to do the same exact work as the other engineers on staff,” Pemberton said. “I needed the work done and it would be valuable experience, but I also wanted to prove that entry-level engineers are highly capable of doing this kind of work.”

The interns completed their assignments ahead of schedule and under budget while meeting the team’s quality standards.

For Taylor, working with experienced engineers helped build her confidence and ease her transition into the workforce. Today, she’s a full-time associate project manager at Centrus.

“Centrus is very involved with their interns. They guide them,” Taylor said. “You’re not just doing your summer project, you’re getting pulled into the team and you’re a part of everything.”

In addition to assigning essential projects and responsibilities, Pemberton scheduled time for the interns to meet with experts from across the organization and learn about potential career paths in nuclear energy and advanced manufacturing.

For Delk, these conversations changed the trajectory of her future. When Site Director Dennis Yates explained that project management is like party planning, she thought, “I know how to plan a party. I can do this.”

When Delk returned to Tech, she took on the project management role for her senior project team. After graduation, she followed her newfound passion and skill set to a full-time associate project manager role at Centrus.

“Nuclear wasn’t necessarily my career path. I didn’t have a career path. But once I got the internship, it made me really excited about nuclear energy,” Delk said. “Energy is the most important job we could have.”

One of the best parts of Saninocencio’s internship was hearing directly from Centrus leaders about how he could make an impact.

“Kailey found time somehow in their busy schedules to meet with us and go over what they do in the company and how they relate to the inner workings of the operation,” Saninocencio said. “That was probably the most eye-opening part of learning about the industry and the company.”

Saninocencio had never pictured himself joining the nuclear workforce. Since his internship, he’s been hired as a senior mechanical design engineer at Centrus and plays an integral role in the Oak Ridge facility’s transition to large-scale centrifuge manufacturing.

Building Tomorrow’s Nuclear Workforce

Pemberton considers the pilot internship program a huge success. Taylor, Delk and Saninocencio each added significant value to their teams, moved time-sensitive work forward and enjoyed the experience enough to take the next step in their careers at Centrus.

The internship program continued for a second year this summer, and Pemberton hopes it will continue to grow.

“Engineering school teaches you the science and the concepts that you need, but it doesn’t always teach you how it’s applied,” Pemberton said. “Being here, immersed in the actual world of engineering and working side by side with other engineers, can help you find out what you really love and how to apply what you learn.”

Internships and industry partnerships with universities like Tennessee Tech will remain critical to building the nuclear and advanced manufacturing workforce.

“More and more companies see the importance of how these opportunities help their talent pipeline and workforce needs,” Smith said. “We love that Centrus came to our campus, they’re investing in our students and they’re giving them opportunities.”

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