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Title: Building a Decommissioning Army - 19259

Conference ·
OSTI ID:23003022
 [1]
  1. Promation Nuclear Ltd. (Canada)

It is safe to say that Canada has, for the greater part, seen the end of large-scale commercial nuclear new build projects. In spite of a renaissance in the last decade, and the fact that nuclear is now widely viewed by many as the original green energy, refurbishment projects both underway and scheduled will likely be the last of the megaprojects. In a sense, the future of large-scale nuclear power generation is the end of large scale nuclear power generation. Just as the construction and operation of these facilities has, for decades, employed scores of highly skilled workers, so too will the decommissioning process. Today, Canadian decommissioning activities are first-of-kind (FOAK)projects. There are very few experts in the field and certainly no plan in place to educate and prepare the numbers of workers we will need to safely and successfully execute the programs. It is to this end that I propose a national education centre be created to recruit, educate and mobilize all manner of professionals needed to meet this challenge. In an effort to meet the human and technological needs of the industry in the future, I propose the development of a Canadian Institute where the students study and learn how to decommission a nuclear power plant. The student body of the institute would comprise graduate students with backgrounds in a wide variety of studies such as engineering, physics, chemistry, commerce, environmental studies, and communications. Collectively, their time spent at the institute shall not only prepare them for a career in nuclear but will also vastly improve the technical readiness level of the Canadian nuclear industry to transition from large-scale nuclear utilities to a future of small modular reactors (SMRs) and renewable energy resources. Staff at the institute would be selected from leaders in the industry -those who have shown a passion for nuclear and have demonstrated innovative problem solving and leadership. (authors)

Research Organization:
WM Symposia, Inc., PO Box 27646, 85285-7646 Tempe, AZ (United States)
OSTI ID:
23003022
Report Number(s):
INIS-US-21-WM-19259; TRN: US21V1138043355
Resource Relation:
Conference: WM2019: 45. Annual Waste Management Conference, Phoenix, AZ (United States), 3-7 Mar 2019; Other Information: Country of input: France; 3 refs.; available online at: https://www.xcdsystem.com/wmsym/2019/index.html
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English