ENS NEWS Special edition on education and training: INTRO

This edition of ENS NEWS is a first. Never before has an edition been devoted to a single subject. You don’t need me to tell you how important the management of knowledge transfer from generation to generation, a high quality education and tailor-made training programmes - for both new and old employees - are for securing the future of the nuclear industry. So, I won’t. This bumper edition, which contains a record number of contributions, says it much more eloquently than I ever could.

In fact, we received so many contributions covering various aspects of the education and training debate, that we decided to first take those we received from corporate members and educational institutions and divide them up into two sections, each one with a slightly different focus. The first section features contributions that explore how the provision of on-going training for nuclear professionals instils and reinforces the safety culture that is a prerequisite for all nuclear facilities. The second one features contributions focusing more on the skills that are vital for developing tomorrow’s leaders - those highly qualified, highly trained and talented individuals who will drive our industry forward to the next level, thereby ensuring that the nuclear revival is both sustained and sustainable.

ENS NEWS then focuses on what ENS member societies are doing to promote higher education and training, with the emphasis on cutting edge research into the nuclear science and technology of today and tomorrow.

Then the spotlight switches from those providing the education and training to the students and trainees themselves. We take an inside look at what talented and ambitious young people, on the threshold of a career in the nuclear sector, think about the education and training they have received or are receiving. The ENS NEWS team went out and about interviewing students and young professionals to find out first-hand what really motivates them and what their hopes and expectations are. Clearly, with young talented and focused individuals like these, supported by a nuclear science community that is committed to working together and investing continually in education and training, the future of our industry seems bright. Do you agree?

I hope you enjoy this special edition of ENS NEWS, the first of the new decade, and find it an education in itself.

Word from the President

The greatest risk to the future of the nuclear industry today is a systemic failure to pass on to subsequent generations the vital knowledge that has been acquired over the decades. Since the Chernobyl catastrophe investment in automatic monitoring and safety control systems has been increasing continuously.

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How nuclear education has shaped the nuclear debate

Since this issue of ENS NEWS is devoted to nuclear education, I decided to dedicate my column to a topic that would follow its general theme. My usual concern being the investigation of the particularities of the nuclear debate, it was only natural to ask myself whether nuclear education could affect it.

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European Nuclear Society in action

The European Nuclear Society (ENS) is the largest learned society for nuclear science, technology and industry in Europe.  It reaches out to over 20,000 nuclear professionals in 22 countries in Europe, as well as in Israel. Nuclear education and training is a key issue for ENS members.

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Mark your diary for NESTet 2011!

The first ENS conference dedicated to nuclear education and training, called NESTet, took place in May 2008 in Budapest, Hungary. It attracted over 130 participants from 29 countries.

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TRAINING AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AT TVO

TVO (Teollisuuden Voima Oyj) is a non-listed public company founded in 1969 to produce electricity for its shareholders at cost price. The company owns and operates two nuclear power plant units, Olkiluoto 1 and Olkiluoto 2 (OL1 and OL2) at Olkiluoto in Eurajoki.

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TECNATOM: TRAINING FOR EXCELLENCE

Tecnatom is a Spanish engineering company that has provided services to the nuclear industry since its creation in 1957. The company’s main activity centers on the rendering of inspection and component structural integrity services, the training of operations personnel by means of full-scope simulators and engineering in support of plant operation.

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Vattenfall nuclear competence management: Co-operation in support of safety and performance

Competence is often described as a chain, and rightly so. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and this holds true also when it comes to safety and performance in the nuclear power sector. A high-level of safety and performance must be maintained by all categories of staff.

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KSU maintenance training at the Barsebäck NPP

Human performance and Safety culture

Is it possible to train people to improve human performance? What is human performance and what is its connection to safety culture?

When we were given the task of creating  the “Course in Safety Culture & Human Performance” these were the first questions we asked ourselves.

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ENELA

by Jean-Claude Gauthier
Chair, NESTet Programme Committee
Director, European Nuclear Energy Leadership Academy

This year promises to be an exciting time for nuclear education and training in Europe. At the NESTet conference in Prague, we will renew our collective focus on this topic, which is, of course, vital to the future development of nuclear energy. I am honoured to be the Chairman of the Programme Committee for this European Nuclear Society (ENS) conference. I am also delighted that the conference is being held back-to-back with the biennial meeting of the ENYGF – European Young Professionals in the Nuclear Field.

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