The ability to apply nuclear and radiological technology has a key role to play not only in the nuclear power industry, but also in health, defence and a wide spectrum of research, development and manufacturing industry. in recognition of this, BERR has taken the lead in the issue of nuclear skills, by coordinating other government departments, including HSE-NII. They have issued a paper 'Nuclear and Radiological Skills' outlining the measures that are being taken by BERR and government. The paper is available on the BERR website.
The Nuclear Directorate commissioned
a study to update an early study (2000) carried out on nuclear education in
the UK. This later study collected data during autumn 2001 on universities in
the UK where there was some teaching undertaken either at graduate or post-graduate
level. The work was concluded early in 2002 and the outcome is published here
under the title "Current Status of Nuclear Education".
The bad news in the report is that 2 MSc courses in Applied Radiation Physics and Radiation Physics have closed due to a lack of funding, and that at undergraduate level teaching is planned to stop at De Montfort, Bath and Strathclyde. The good news is that there are several new courses at postgraduate level offering a wider range of training/education which are focused on the needs of the nuclear industry, and that at undergraduate level teaching at Manchester, Leeds, Surrey and Hull is planned to increase.
Overall, the number of students taking postgraduate courses has remained unchanged but there has been a disconcerting drop in students taking 100% nuclear courses. The total number of students with an exposure to nuclear topics at undergraduate level was about 1300 but only 310 were awarded a degree with greater than 5% nuclear content.
The tendency for more modular postgraduate courses reflects the wider appeal for these courses felt by the industry, but for these courses to be sustained in the longer term they need to be supported. The developments at Manchester and other universities around the country being supported by BNFL are interesting and offer areas of revival in specialist areas at university level. They also offer the potential for creating a synergy between research and teaching which would give students a greater exposure to career opportunities in the nuclear industry. With a view to raising students awareness to careers in the nuclear industry, there is probably potential to look for and support these types of initiatives in other universities undertaking research for the industry.
This study supports the work of DTI's Nuclear Skills Group which is currently assessing the UK's nuclear competence needs now and into the future. It is the view of many that the universities do have a key role to play in addressing the nuclear skills needs of the future but the key to making this a success is to use the skills within the university sector as effectively as possible so that any arrangements can be self-sustaining in the long-term.
The Institution of Nuclear Engineers has set up a guide to courses available in the UK universities which contain elements of nuclear technology. This is used to identify courses which contain more than just nuclear science and it extends to applications of nuclear science in a wide number of technologies. The list includes courses which are based on engineering, physics, chemistry, environmental sciences and medical sciences. It provides basic information on each course together with links to the university departments to give access to the full course details (see http://www.nuclearcourses.com/).
If you have opinions, ideas and comments which you would like to communicate, please make contact with Peter Storey at HSE (norma.tunstall@hse.gsi.gov.uk).
HSE/NII is one of several organisations that has a role to play in the future of nuclear education. NII and DTI cosponsored a forum on this topic. Detailed proceedings have been issued.
The Forum took place on the 16 February and was characterised by the high quality of presentations and the senior representation from all parts of the nuclear sector. More than 100 delegates met at Mottram Hall Hotel (near Macclesfield) to hear the Chief Inspector, Laurence Williams, speak on the subject of Maintaining Nuclear Safety Competencies. He outlined the duties and responsibilities which fall to the nuclear regulator and to those companies which hold a nuclear licence, reviewed the status and development of nuclear education in the UK and around the world and ended by throwing down the challenge to both government departments and the industry to develop a strategic approach to the issue.
An opening talk by Helen Leiser, Director of DTI's Nuclear Industries Directorate provided a Government perspective on the issue and proposed the need to plan for the future. Helen was very keen that a group should develop a strategic way forward and take responsibility to co-ordinate activity and that integrated planning should especially take account of human resources and joined up government initiatives.
Roger Clarke, Director of NRPB, spoke of the importance of education and training in the Radiation Protection area and showed how broad the problem extends and the challenges he will have to confront.
The Forum also heard views from across the nuclear industry and in particular about certain initiatives which already have been taken. The universities were well represented and provided important information on how they are working closer with industry so as to deliver what industry needs. There was also a presentation from DfEE.
The Chairman, Professor John Chesshire from Sussex University summed up the event eloquently. He stressed the need for an interdepartmental Steering Group to co-ordinate response to the issue and to be a focal point for activity and accountability. John also required different parts of the industry to co-ordinate their activity and to develop strategic plans within their own corporate planning arrangements. He emphasised the need to resource these activities adequately but take account of similar developments occurring elsewhere.
The forum was organised in part to provide a UK response to the recent OECD report 'Nuclear education - Cause for concern?' and has given the topic the necessary visibility and momentum such that the steering group can establish a strategy to address the issues.
Delegates were requested to send suggestions and/or response to the event to NII (Peter Storey - contact norma.tunstall@hse.gsi.gov.uk) and DTI (contact terry.selby@lond06.dti.gov.uk ; a similar request is made of readers of this article. Regular updates on developments will be issued through HSE's website.
The OECD/NEA has published a report in 2000 entitled "Nuclear Education and Training - Causes for Concern?" based on an extensive survey of 16 OECD Member States, including the United Kingdom. The UK authors were from HSE/NII and BNFL. The report clearly states the condition of nuclear education and training in the OECD member countries and makes a number of recommendations to governments. It concludes that in some countries there are indications that the supply of future nuclear expertise is at risk. For the UK, it states that unless action is taken the prospects of maintaining a nuclear education capability for the future are not good. There are implications for a wide range of organisations involved in nuclear technology including nuclear licensees, nuclear contracting companies, government departments (DTI, DETR, MoD, DfEE) and the universities. Expertise in nuclear physics and engineering is increasingly necessary for technologies in health and medicine and for fabricating advanced materials from components the size of computer chips to the largest construction equipment.
The OECD report came to the following conclusions, based on the responses to a detailed questionnaire:
The possible implications of a decline in nuclear education and teaching arise because the future safe operation of the nuclear facilities in the UK is in part dependent on the continued availability of appropriate skills and expertise. The nuclear education capability within the UK universities helps to meet this need by providing a supply of high quality technically qualified graduates and post graduates.
In the UK nuclear education and training is a course or programme of training provided in an area of nuclear specific competence e.g reactor physics, radiochemistry, radiation protection. It could be part of an undergraduate or post graduate degree course or provided as in house company professional training and development. The nuclear industry does not recruit all its technical staff from undergraduate and post graduate courses with some nuclear content. The survey does not cover non nuclear programmes that provide good quality although non specialised graduates and post graduates for the industry. Taken overall, there is a substantial number of well qualified engineers and scientists emanating from UK universities and available to the nuclear industry. The nuclear industry trains non-specialised graduates, through in-house training and professional development programmes. In some cases the industry relies on training staff with an academic nuclear education background together with inputs from current university course modules and staff. There are benefits for other nuclear related technologies such as health and medicine that are dependent on expertise in nuclear physics and engineering.
The nuclear industry does not attract the high numbers of good quality graduates and post graduates as it did when it was a fast developing and emerging industry a number of years ago. There are also problems with the retention of younger trained staff who are readily marketable to other sectors after a period in the nuclear industry.
A number of factors help to maintain a nuclear education capability including:
The implications of this report first need to be digested by both the industry and academe. Universities, like the industry, operate as businesses and they cannot afford to put on courses for which there will be too few takers for them to be economically viable. The industry and the universities need to enter into dialogue to establish what is needed and where and how it will be provided. In the UK HSE/NII, as the government organisation responsible for regulating nuclear safety, has taken the lead in contributing and responding to the report. The Nuclear Safety Research Unit within NII is co-ordinating the regulatory response as there are natural links between nuclear education and the nuclear safety related research.
.
There are a number of areas where better data is required; for example
the OECD report does not identify the actual nuclear content of the courses
surveyed. In many cases it is known to be to be low (less than 5%) which
can give a false picture of the capability. For further information contact Peter Storey (norma.tunstall@hse.gsi.gov.uk)
Updated on the HSE website 25 February 2004