|
Panel Reporter: Connie Callan, NETS (USA)
This panel session had its origin in the premise that, with a rapidly aging workforce, a perceived
decrease in nuclear-related education and an expected increase in interest in nuclear power, a shortage of properly trained workforce will be anticipated.
The following individuals participated in the panel
- Leonard Bond, CAES, INL, Idaho Falls. ID
- Ian Scott Hamilton, Texas A&M University
- Cathy Dixon, Director of University Research Alliance, Amarillo, TX
- Charles Hess, Chief Nuclear Engineer, Burns & Roe, Oradell, NJ
- Larry Burchfield, Radiochemistry Society, Richland, WA
The panel was asked to address the following questions:
- Is your organization able to recruit personnel with the required nuclear expertise?
- What skill mix is needed?
- What are your projections over the next, say, six years? (six years is an estimate of the time required to
get suitable programs going if they are needed and to get the first batch of students ready for the job market)
- How can the need be met? (what is there in the way of educational programs)
- What is the role of universities and what is the role of private educational organizations?
- Can we get by with "supplemental training" (for example, have a chemist take radiochemistry courses,
or engineering with supplemental nuclear science courses) or do we have to stay with more formal training at universities?
Leonard Bond addressed the impact of an aging workforce on the future needs of the nuclear industry. For instance, the DOE faces the problem that 75% of those with nuclear expertise could retire within 5 years. An NEI survey has further shown that to replace retirements and other loss the nuclear energy complex will need 10,000 new staff each year for a decade. In addition other surveys show that 40% of the total USA skilled workforce could retire within about 5 years. The National Academies have recently presented the report "The Gathering Storm" which highlights the need to address the inadequacies in the US high school system and the need to address the skilled US workforce pipeline. High schools are failing to prepare adequate numbers of students for science and engineering programs and to deliver strategies that attract high-ability students to develop the educational foundations needed for engineering and science careers. Among other causes the status and image of science and engineering are reported as significant issues that limit the numbers of US students being attracted into the professions. The result is that the US is only graduating about 70,000 BS engineers where as China and India is graduating 500,000 and 200,000 respectively. The US workforce situation has been further compounded by reductions in the supply of new foreign born talent entering the USA who currently make up 50% of new PhD graduates and more than 40% of those with PhD's within the USA. Science is a global enterprise and the US is becoming a less attractive work opportunity. At the same time there are growing opportunities in both Europe and Asia. It cannot be assumed that the USA will have the skilled workforce it needs and continue as the world leader in science, technology and innovation.
To address culture transformation, workforce supply, wider educational needs and university
engagement the new Idaho National Laboratory (www.inl.gov) is developing a unique partnership with academia to establish a new Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES) [CAESenergy.org] as a joint INL – universities institute. CAES is being developed with three Idaho universities and a national
university consortium. It will occupy a new building in June 2008 and provide education, research, and training and policy studies. Looking to the future the INL is expecting
that over the next 5 years it will need more than 850 new hires, including 60-70 nuclear engineers and 350-400 other scientists and engineers
Ian Hamilton pointed out that the drastic decrease in interest in nuclear science and engineering followed the TMI (Three-Mile Island) accident. However, he also showed the success by Texas A&M and Penn State in recruiting students into their nuclear engineering programs. Texas A&M has addressed the first of the two fundamental concerns from parents of students, financial support and prospects for employment following graduation, by offering scholarships. He also pointed out the need to re-evaluate the meaning of "average" from an A to a C. Equating an A (or 4.0) grade with average, many students are tempted to choose an easier curriculum than nuclear engineering. Recruiting efforts at high schools are having a positive effect.
Cathy Dixon spoke of the AFCI program and its predecessor the Advanced Accelerator Applications program have long recognized the value universities can provide toward answering the science and engineering questions the Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative program was created to address. The program has also recognized the contributions the public sector could make toward rebuilding the nuclear infrastructure at our nation's universities and the need for the talent pipeline that will provide the next generation of workers.
She discussed the successful US Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology
Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative/Generation IV University Fellowship Program that encourages and enables students to pursue master's degrees in fields that are of interest to the Advanced
Fuel Cycle Initiative and the Generation IV programs. The AFCI fellowship program was started in 2001 and the Gen IV program added fellowships for the first time in 2006.
The fellowship program is intended to support top students across the nation in the disciplines that
will be required to support transmutation research and technology development in the coming decade. To acquire top fellows, University Research Alliance (URA), the fellowship management
organization, reaches out to more than 16,000 professors at more than 200 colleges and universities to acquire fellowship applications. After the fellows are named, the URA announces the
fellows in such a manner that both the fellows and the program receive attention and more students are aware of the opportunities and consider studying in the related fields.
The fellowship program also supports the stability of the nuclear infrastructure and develops
research partnerships that are helping to enlarge the national nuclear science technology base. The selected fellows have research areas of interest and thesis topics that are important
to the AFCI and Gen IV programs and are approved by the program managers. For more information, please see
www.studentpipeline.org.
Charles Hess reported that Burns & Roe has taken the approach of providing supplemental training for incoming civil, chemical, mechanical, or electrical engineers. In addition to nuclear engineers, the nuclear industry also requires engineers that are familiar with designing large power systems. One of the problems, as he saw it, is that "everybody wants to same people" and, in that, he reflected the views expressed by Leonard Bond. However, he also felt that there is no need to panic as it is possible to "ramp up" in relatively short time and used the Manhattan project as an example that a quick response is possible.
Larry Burchfield pointed out that the radiochemistry community is shrinking and that supplemental training can be provided to equip technicians, scientists and engineers with sufficient information to bring them to a level where they can be employed in the nuclear industry, radiopharmaceutical industry and in nuclear medicine. He mentioned a renaissance in radiochemistry, as evidenced by the large number of "hits" that the Radiochemistry Society website is receiving.
The attendance at Session 79 was sparse, mainly due to the Thursday morning time slot that had been
allocated for this session.
However, the relatively small audience remained there for the duration of the session and showed an active interest in the session to the point that, at the end of the session, many of the attendees participated in an informal discussion with the panel.
It is clear that the topic of the session, to raise awareness of the impending shortage of personnel
in the nuclear industry, is very current and will need to be revisited in the near future. One dimension that needs to be added is an international one and future efforts should be
directed to bring in speakers or panel members from countries outside the US.
The contact information of the panellists are:
Leonard J. Bond, leonard.bond@inl.gov
Ian Scott Hamilton, hamilton@cedar.tamu.edu
Charles Hess, chess@roe.com
Cathy Dixon, cdixon@mail.wtamu.edu
Larry A. Burchfield, lab@radiochemiswtry.org
|
2006 Waste Management Symposium