Nuclear Education and Training: from Concern to Capability
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Nuclear Development 2012 Nuclear Education and Training: From Concern to Capability From Nuclear Education and Training: Nuclear Education and Training: From Concern to Capability NUCLEAR ENERGY AGENCY Nuclear Development ISBN 978-92-64-17637-9 Nuclear Education and Training: From Concern to Capability © OECD 2012 NEA No. 6979 NUCLEAR ENERGY AGENCY ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT The OECD is a unique forum where the governments of 34 democracies work together to address the economic, social and environmental challenges of globalisation. The OECD is also at the forefront of efforts to understand and to help governments respond to new developments and concerns, such as corporate governance, the information economy and the challenges of an ageing population. The Organisation provides a setting where governments can compare policy experiences, seek answers to common problems, identify good practice and work to co-ordinate domestic and international policies. The OECD member countries are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Republic of Korea, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. The European Commission takes part in the work of the OECD. OECD Publishing disseminates widely the results of the Organisation’s statistics gathering and research on economic, social and environmental issues, as well as the conventions, guidelines and standards agreed by its members. This work is published on the responsibility of the OECD Secretary-General. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Organisation or of the governments of its member countries. NUCLEAR ENERGY AGENCY The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) was established on 1 February 1958. Current NEA membership consists of 30 OECD member countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Republic of Korea, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. The European Commission also takes part in the work of the Agency. The mission of the NEA is: – to assist its member countries in maintaining and further developing, through international co- operation, the scientific, technological and legal bases required for a safe, environmentally friendly and economical use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, as well as – to provide authoritative assessments and to forge common understandings on key issues, as input to government decisions on nuclear energy policy and to broader OECD policy analyses in areas such as energy and sustainable development. Specific areas of competence of the NEA include the safety and regulation of nuclear activities, radioactive waste management, radiological protection, nuclear science, economic and technical analyses of the nuclear fuel cycle, nuclear law and liability, and public information. The NEA Data Bank provides nuclear data and computer program services for participating countries. In these and related tasks, the NEA works in close collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, with which it has a Co-operation Agreement, as well as with other international organisations in the nuclear field. This document and any map included herein are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. Corrigenda to OECD publications may be found online at: www.oecd.org/publishing/corrigenda. © OECD 2012 You can copy, download or print OECD content for your own use, and you can include excerpts from OECD publications, data- bases and multimedia products in your own documents, presentations, blogs, websites and teaching materials, provided that suitable acknowledgment of the OECD as source and copyright owner is given. All requests for public or commercial use and translation rights should be submitted to [email protected]. Requests for permission to photocopy portions of this material for public or commercial use shall be addressed directly to the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) at [email protected] or the Cen- tre français d’exploitation du droit de copie (CFC) [email protected]. Cover photos: Training at the Institut des sciences et techniques nucléaires, France (L. Godart/CEA, picture provided by I2EN); DELPHI subcritical assembly, the Netherlands (Delft University Technology). FOREWORD Foreword In 2000, the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) published Nuclear Education and Training: Cause for Concern?, which, for the first time, drew attention to the likelihood of insufficient human resources being available to support nuclear power plant operations, the decommissioning of existing nuclear facilities and foreseeable developments. Several measures were proposed in the report to encour- age urgent intervention by key stakeholders. Since then, the political and technological landscape has changed considerably with an increased global opportunity for civil nuclear power and expanding demand for a skilled nuclear workforce. Irrespective of changes that may occur in the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi acci- dent, significant numbers of highly trained personnel will be required, either in relation to new build or to compensate for the ageing workforce. This report reviews initiatives that have been undertaken during the last decade by govern- ments, educational and research institutes, and industry, illustrating examples of good practices in a number of countries. Achieving a steady and sustainable supply of workers for the nuclear sector is a challenge not only because of the high numbers involved globally, but also because of the high level of competency required. Concerns remain that sustainable sources of skilled workers have not been established in all areas or in all countries. As part of the study, a survey was conducted on the use of research facilities and laboratories in NEA member countries for education and training. The results show that, in general, existing infrastructure is underutilised for hands-on education and training, and expensive, unique facili- ties have been shut down or are due to close over the next few years. A noteworthy development has been the internationalisation of the nuclear workforce and the associated education and training, partly as a result of globalisation of nuclear technology and its applications, and partly from the recognition that some countries may not have all the facili- ties needed. This trend puts more emphasis on the need for greater consistency in education and training delivery and course content and, concomitantly, greater need to be able to accredit such training. Recognising this trend and the overarching priority to ensure safety, and drawing from the experience of a number of countries, the expert group responsible for the study researched and classified a set of job roles with significant nuclear competence found across the nuclear industry. This effort lays the basis for the development of an outline classification system for nuclear job profiles: a job taxonomy framework. Nuclear job specifications have been produced for the main activities associated with the construction, operation and decommissioning of commercial and research reactors, drawing up on analyses conducted by a number of companies. These may serve as an initial platform on which organisations or governments can overlay their own specific requirements. The study discusses issues related to the various aspects presented above, identifies areas of outstanding concern and provides a set of recommendations to address them. NUCLEAR EDUCATION AND TRAINING: FROM CONCERN TO CAPABILITY, ISBN 978-92-64-17637-9, © OECD 2012 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Acknowledgements This study was carried out under the auspices of the NEA Committee for Technical and Economic Studies on Nuclear Energy Development and the Fuel Cycle and prepared by an ad hoc expert group (see list in Appendix 6) under the chairmanship of Professor Michel Giot. The participation of the expert group members is gratefully acknowledged. Special thanks are due to Brian Murphy for his work on the job taxonomy framework, to Steve Bennett, lead author of Chapter 1, and to Michel Giot, lead author and important contributor of the section on the use of research facilities for education and training. The involvement of COGENT, TECNATOM, ONET Technologies, OPG, SCK•CEN, ANSTO, CEA and AECL in sourcing and reviewing data for the job taxonomy framework is also gratefully acknowl- edged, as is the contribution of David Gilchrist who provided a prototype of a job taxonomy appli- cation. The study was supported by NEA Secretariat members Maria Elena Urso, Scientific Secretary for the study, and Ron Cameron, Head of the Nuclear Development Division. 4 NUCLEAR EDUCATION AND TRAINING: FROM CONCERN TO CAPABILITY, ISBN 978-92-64-17637-9, © OECD 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of contents Executive summary ...............................................................................................................................................................