A Message From the Chair

A Message From the Chair When we look at the potential for the development of new nuclear power generation in this country and around the world, there is little doubt that the March 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant will loom large for years to come.  There are many factors that will impact the pace of new nuclear development, but however it progresses, the industry will have a need for a well-prepared workforce.  The workforce history, the areas of need, and the forces of demographics have not changed, and we know that continued hard work will be required in nuclear engineering education and nuclear technician training programs to keep the pipeline full. What we don’t know is how the Fukushima accident will affect our ability to attract high quality individuals into the nuclear field.  The accident is bound to cause an emotional response in people.  How will people’s emotions affect their career choices? It will be years, if ever, before the impact of the accident on the industry and on workforce development is truly understood.  The early evidence is anecdotal at best, but what news there is thus far appears to be good.  We have not seen students fleeing from university nuclear engineering programs.  On the contrary, students are energized and rededicated to the idea of making the next generation of nuclear power plants even better. The Fukushima aftermath will no doubt challenge those of us in the Education, Training, and Workforce Development fields for some time, but it is a challenge we are up to. The ETWDD has a full slate of sessions at the...

ANS 2011 Winter Meeting

The University, Industry, Government Relations (UIGR) committee of ETWFD met on October 30, 2011 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. Representatives from all three entities attended the meeting, which included discussions on a variety of interesting topics. A few of the attendees suggested that the function of the UIGR committee should be expanded so that the discussion topics and committee activities could be shared with other members of ANS. Thus, the ETWFD Executive Committee decided to separate the UIGR committee into two committees; specifically, one of which would be to promote and expand collaboration among the three entities, and a second one to continue to administer the annual ANS Student Design Competition, which has been the primary responsibility of the UIGR committee for over three decades. The current Chair of the UIGR committee, Lee Dodds, enthusiastically agreed with this decision. More significantly, Professor Dodds plans to retire at the end of CY2011 and has been seeking his successor to administer the annual Student Design Contest. Fortunately, a very talented and qualified young professor has agreed to take over the administration of the contest; namely, Dr. Travis Knight of the University of South Carolina, who will assume this responsibility on Jan. 1, 2012. H. L....