The following article from Energy Pulse (reprinted below) may be of interest to those of us who work in the commercial nuclear industry. I would also recommend to the reader's attention NRC Commissioner’s Lyons speech on Work Force Issues in the Nuclear Industry at:

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/commission/speeches/2005/s-05-009.html

It helps to read Commissioner’s Lyons speech first and then the Energy Pulse article by Geoff Gilmore.

http://www.energypulse.net/centers/article/article_display.cfm?a_id=1121

HR & Professional Development

Solve HR challenges for success with nuclear power

10.19.05

Geoff Gilmore, President and CEO, Climax Portable Machine Tools, Inc.

Electric power demands and soaring gas prices are driving government officials and energy analysts toward identifying new energy solutions. Nuclear power is emerging as the number one choice for the 21st century. Advocates believe it is gaining popularity because safety has improved and operating and maintenance costs have declined. It has the added environmental benefit of no carbon emissions.

While a global transition toward nuclear power is still in its infancy, the resurgence is more of a reality every day. Recent policies inaugurated by President Bush and Prime Minister Blair like the Energy Policy Act and the National Energy Policy Development Group, are aimed toward extending the life of older plants even as new plants are being built. But in order to be successful in these initiatives, we must first solve a longstanding industry challenge.

Same question, new answers

With the future holding so much promise for nuclear power we must quickly address the industry’s greatest problem — the decline in manpower, including the lack of experienced senior level workers.

Manpower issues are not new to this industry. In the 1970s and 1980s, when many of the existing plants were built, there was a hiring boom. But as the years passed, with natural gas supplies in abundance, nuclear energy demands declined and so did the workforce.

By 2011, the supply of nuclear engineers in the United States is expected to fall short of demand by 50 percent, says Melanie Lyons, spokesperson for the Washington, D.C.-based Nuclear Energy Institute. According to a recent EPRI (Electric Power Research Institute) survey on new plant staffing, the two most affected areas will be maintenance and engineering.

Since today’s manpower deficiencies are similar to those we’ve witnessed before, it’s worth taking a look at what has or hasn’t worked in the past. Areas like training, retirement planning and outsourcing are the best places to start.

Training

We must evaluate a way to capture senior staff knowledge. While documentation such as manuals helps, many think it doesn't' go far enough. True, reading alone doesn’t entitle an engineer or a machinist to make big decisions about repairs and shutdowns, but it is valuable as one piece of the answer.

A logical addition is hands-on training. This too has its problems, such as offering training without providing context, however, dismissing its value entirely is a serious mistake. An aggressive, consistent hands-on training program specific to nuclear power, coupled with thorough documentation, can serve to provide employees the skills needed to help manage and maintain nuclear plants.

While such training is valuable, we still must identify qualified trainers. This is a real challenge, with the number of senior level staff on the decline, but there are answers. One way is to develop train-the-trainer programs to help pass on the knowledge.

Such programs can be offered through third party resources such as equipment manufacturers or through international trade groups, for example, the World Nuclear Association. These organizations can train staff on-site or at facilities, in a variety of transferable skills such as machining. As part of these sessions, trainers also could establish international standards for nuclear programs, which would further help the seamless transition between new and experienced employees.

Programs like this could be designed similar to a university’s degree curriculum, consisting of annually offered seminars or summer conferences. As the studies progress, students would become more familiar with technological developments that help power plants be more efficient and effective. Such programs would also help relatively new employees to come up to speed quickly and to learn skills easily taught to others.

Revitalize retirement

A second option to help fill the growing expert knowledge gap is to create management succession plans at plants — early on. Such programs would find and prepare replacement employees before workers transition out of their positions. This is easier said than done, but by planning for the need, managers could identify sources of potential help in advance, or have the time to develop training programs to “build” their own expertise in-house.

In connection with succession plans, we should re-evaluate policies that affect our workforce pools, such as retirement. Many employees who are close to retirement eligibility are not ready to stop working completely because of financial reasons, and are still able and willing to work.

One plant extended employment for potential retirees by creating an “on call” program, enabling them to prolong employment of these invaluable workers. The plant created on-call positions for their retired personnel in areas such as engineering, maintenance, and daily plant operation. This program also has been used to help transfer knowledge from retirees to less experienced employees.

Filling Plant Needs

A third option for positions that cannot easily be filled or for which training isn’t applicable is outsourcing, especially in areas such as maintenance and engineering services.

In most plants in Europe and the United States, outsourcing is already common practice; plants view third party organizations as an extension of their own resources, in some cases developing trust levels similar to what they have with internal resources. In such cases, outside organizations become partners and work as a cohesive unit, planning and making decisions as one group.

The knowledge and experience from such companies, such as those offered by vendors or service organizations expands a plant's skills in problem solving, engineering and more. For example, a company that provides portable machine tools for maintenance has many other resources a plant could use. The vendor could offer training on a number of machines or engineering expertise to supplement the plant’s own knowledge base.

Preparing for the future

Solutions like training and better succession planning coupled with ways to take advantage of the knowledge base that exists within our outsourced partners, will combine to help solve our manpower problems. As we analyze the past and more thoroughly evaluate these resources, we will be ready to take on the greater number of plants predicted for the future.