With the support of the Division of Chemistry, Dr. Dorothy Zolandz from the National Academies of Sciences (NAS) will establish a 15 member committee of experts from academia and industry to assess the US National needs for training of the next generation of the nuclear workforce. The group will meet several times in Washington D.C. and will draft a report that will be widely disseminated to federal agencies, industrial groups, as well as the nuclear chemistry community.
Previous studies have suggested that the US may be facing a critical shortage of workers trained in nuclear and radiochemistry, but there have been no recent reports that have evaluated the national needs, potential training opportunities, and possible solutions to this problem. Nuclear energy provides approximately 20% of the US electrical energy requirements and radionuclides are widely used in industry and medicine. This study will provide valuable guidance for new training modalities to assure that the US has a workforce with adequate expertise in nuclear, radiation, and radiochemistry for the continued growth of the US economy and for improvements in health care.
The need for U.S. nuclear and radiochemistry expertise in areas such as nuclear medicine, nuclear power, nuclear security, and radioactive waste cleanup and disposal require a highly trained work force. An ad hoc committee examined supply and demand for nuclear chemistry expertise in the US compared with the production of experts with these skills, and discussed possible approaches for ensuring adequate availability of these skills, including necessary science and technology training platforms. The committee’s task was to: Estimate the availability and need for experts with nuclear chemistry skills. Including: The current and anticipated availability in 20 years of US experts (both type and number) with nuclear, radio, and radiation chemistry skills based on current education and training capabilities The type and number of experts needed in the next 20 years. Include skills necessary to support areas including education, basic science, weapons, non-proliferation, nuclear forensic, medical, and energy sector needs. Estimate the number of these experts who must be US citizens. Estimate the gap between estimated availability and need, and discuss the impact of this gap on the relevant sectors. Suggest approaches that could be implemented to assure the US supply of experts is adequate for the next 20 years. In particular, discuss models for science and technology training that could provide the necessary cadre of researchers with the appropriate skill set. In doing so the study will: Describe the current availability of US training programs, and assess the capabilities of these programs. Compare current US programs with science and technology training programs in other countries Provide practical input to current programs and suggest new programs if necessary to meet the anticipated need. In particular, suggest models beyond the traditional apprenticeship model between university professor and graduate student. Provide others suggestions as applicable for addressing causes of the decline in capability and re-establishing the health and vitality of nuclear, radio- and radiation chemistry within the US. The resulting report, Assuring A Future U.S.-Based Nuclear and Radiochemistry Expertise, finds that the needs for this expertise are barely being met and that future needs may not be met by the projected supply of workers. To avoid a gap in these critical areas, the report recommends ways to avoid a shortage of nuclear and radiochemists in the future, including formalizing collaborative partnerships for research and education, providing on-the-job training in national laboratories and industry, and identifying and prioritizing urgent requirements by federal agencies.
