DOE awards ANS-backed workforce consortium $19.2M

The Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy recently awarded about $49.7 million to 10 university-led projects aiming to develop nuclear workforce training programs around the country.

DOE-NE issued its largest award, $19.2 million, to the newly formed Great Lakes Partnership to Enhance the Nuclear Workforce (GLP). This regional consortium, which is led by the University of Toledo and includes the American Nuclear Society, will use the funds to fill a variety of existing gaps in the nuclear workforce pipeline.

Members and goals: In addition to ANS and the University of Toledo, the GLP has 20 members, bringing together experts and representatives from education, plant operation, fuel, manufacturing, unions, national laboratories, and elsewhere. Below are the partnering institutions of higher education:

• Excelsior University (New York)
• Lakeland Community College (Ohio)
• Monroe Community College (New York)
• North Dakota State University
• Owens Community College (Ohio)
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• University of Michigan
• Other partners include the following:
• Center for Energy Workforce Development
• Centrus Energy
• Constellation Energy
• DTE Energy
• Electric Power Research Institute
• Idaho National Laboratory
• International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
• Nuclear Energy Institute
• Nuclear Talent Scout
• Pittsburgh-Technical
• Vistra
• Westinghouse
• Xcel Energy

While each member will serve the consortium in its own unique capacity, overall the GLP has four project objectives:

1. To enhance the existing safety training pipelines for the light water reactor workforce.
2. To attract a larger, more diverse number of qualified entrants into the nuclear workforce.
3. To modernize training curricula to address emerging advanced reactor concepts.
4. To establish industry-recognized, national nuclear reactor safety certifications.

ANS focus: For its part, ANS will support the GLP in assessing current training gaps and will develop a variety of courses and training content to fill those gaps. The Society also will serve as an administrative hub for all regional national credential courses developed through the GLP. Importantly, this work will tie into and build on ANS's preexisting certification and course development efforts.

Under the direction of the ANS Certification and Workforce Development Committee, a number of offerings to bolster the workforce have been developed and released over the past few years, including the Certified Nuclear Professional credential, the Licensing and Regulation course, Nuclear 101, and the Radioactive Waste Management course. Further courses are currently in active development.

Workforce development does not only take place in the world of credentials and certificates. ANS will also develop new curricula and educational programs for K-12 students as part of its work with the GLP. This work similarly will tie into preexisting STEM programs at ANS, especially the Accelerators Program, a national program composed of local chapters that host regular in-person meetings for high school students. It aims to engage students through educational content, in-person interactions with nuclear professionals, field trips to nearby power plants or laboratories, and much more.

Words from the Society: Speaking on the formation of the GLP, ANS CEO Craig Piercy said, "The American Nuclear Society is proud to be part of the University of Toledo-led Great Lakes Partnership and is grateful to the Department of Energy for making this critical investment in our nuclear workforce. The nuclear energy sector is preparing for unprecedented growth right now. We need training programs that meet workers where they are, from K-12 classrooms to operating plant floors. As the professional home for America's nuclear community, ANS has been building the tools to do exactly that. We look forward to leveraging programs like our Certified Nuclear Professional credential, our Accelerators Program, and our growing portfolio of technical courses to help close the gaps in today's workforce pipeline. A robust nuclear energy future depends on a strong nuclear workforce, and the GLP gives us a powerful platform to help build one."