UMass Lowell, Czech Center Train Tomorrow’s Nuclear Industry Professionals

The global nuclear energy industry is experiencing a resurgence. Currently, there are more than 440 commercial nuclear power reactors operating in 31 countries, with a generation capacity of 390 gigawatts of electricity. They supply about 11 percent of the world’s energy demand, and about 20 percent of the United States’ needs, according to chemical engineering Assoc. Prof. Sukesh Aghara, director of UMass Lowell’s nuclear engineering program.

With more than 60 new advanced nuclear reactors being built around the world and many more applying for licenses and under development, this trend has led to an increasing demand for a highly trained and qualified workforce design, build and operate the global fleet of reactors, maintain them and keep them safe and secure.

“They present opportunities for nuclear engineering graduates to land high-paying jobs in the nuclear energy sector worldwide,” says Aghara, who also directs the university’s Integrated Nuclear Security and Safeguards Laboratory (INSSL).

To meet this growing demand for a skilled workforce, UMass Lowell and the U.S.–Czech Civil Nuclear Cooperation Centre (CNCC) in Prague have developed a joint summer fellowship program for graduate students and young professionals called the Intercontinental Nuclear Institute (INI). Its goal is to help contribute to the long-term sustainability of nuclear energy projects and infrastructure around the world.

The initiative – which is supported and recognized by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of State and the Czech Government – consists of four weeks of intensive hands-on education and training in reactor system fundamentals, operations and technology and advanced reactor design as well as radiation detection, dosimetry and protection, fuel cycle management and nuclear materials safety, security and nonproliferation.

The institute is co-directed by Aghara and Assoc. Prof. Radek Škoda of the Czech Technical University. CNCC will host the fellows at Chateau Štiřín near Prague for the first two weeks; UMass Lowell will host the attendees on campus for the last two. In addition to classroom lectures and workshops, mentoring, hands-on lab exercises and reactor experiments and poster presentations, there will be technical visits to several commercial nuclear power plants, research and test reactors and other industry complexes in the Czech Republic and New England.

Aghara is supported by several UML faculty and staff members who contribute to the INI program. They include former INSSL Assoc. Director Marco Marzo (who is presently secretary-general of the Brazilian-Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials, or ABACC), Profs. Emeriti John R. White and Gilbert J. Brown (both of chemical engineering), Radiation Safety Director Steven Snay and UML Research Reactor Director Leo Bobek. Retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Clarke Orzalli, who served in the navy’s nuclear submarine fleet, is also a guest speaker during the INI banquet program.

“The mission of the INI, now in its fourth year, is to leverage existing expertise and resources at both institutions and in both countries,” says Aghara. “We aim to engage a network of young professionals who will bridge the technology and knowledge gaps in the nuclear power sector, share best industry practices and spark the fellows’ interest that could lead to the next innovation in nuclear energy research.”

Last year, the program attracted 27 participants from 20 countries, including the U.S., the Czech Republic, Armenia, Bulgaria, Belarus, Croatia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, Bangladesh, Mexico and Brazil.

“We now have more than a hundred INI graduates who are involved in the nuclear energy sector worldwide. Many of them are destined to be future leaders who will shape the long-term nuclear energy policies and strategies of their respective countries and the world,” notes Aghara.

He says the INI fellowship has raised the visibility of the university’s nuclear engineering program globally: “Our program dates back to the 1960s, and UMass Lowell is one of only 23 schools across the U.S. that has a research reactor and accelerator facility on campus.” 

Aghara adds, “The university’s nuclear assets are unique and invaluable resources for our students, and programs such as INI provide a platform to our students for global engagement.”

This year’s INI program will be held June 3–16 in Prague and June 17–29 in Lowell. More information is available at www.uml.edu/ini.