Jaclyn Brandt reports that the energy industry has been working toward training the future workforce, but who is addressing the need for qualified nuclear workers? The Nuclear Uniform Curriculum Program (NUCP) is a workforce pipeline that partners with utilities, nuclear companies, and community colleges that looks to train workers based on changing industry needs.
According to a recent overview of the program, 301 students graduated from two-year college associated with NUCP in 2014, in the disciplines of operations, mechanical maintenance, electrical maintenance, instrumentation and control, radiation protection, and chemistry. The goal of the NUCP program is to prepare students for careers in nuclear facilities.
Sustaining high-quality nuclear education programs is a priority for the nuclear energy industry, said Elizabeth McAndrew-Benavides, a NEI senior manager for strategic workforce planning. Universities and community colleges both play a role to ensure that our country has the world-class graduates needed by the nuclear industry.
Education programs play an essential role with improving diversity in any industry, McAndrew-Benavides said. The nuclear energy industry encourages the efforts of such nuclear education programs to increase their diversity enrollments and will continue to work with these institutions to continue to grow the number of women and minority graduates from these programs. It takes years to train a nuclear workforce to reach and achieve a high degree of technical competency and proficiency mandated in the nuclear industry.
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