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New nukes not a plus for unions

Nuclear power is nothing if not hugely capital, not labour, intensive.

    by beyondnuclearinternational

Trades unions should oppose nuclear power as there would be far more jobs in renewables and related industries, argue activists

UK union leaders Mike Clancy of Prospect and Gary Smith of GMB recently appealed to British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer to commit to finalising financial arrangements for the Sizewell C nuclear project in order to ‘help the UK meet its net-zero targets, deliver sustainable energy, and strengthen the economy’.

In response, the activist group Together Against Sizewell C (TASC) has written to the unions’ general secretaries setting out why they need to think again regarding their support for Sizewell C.  

What follows is the text of their letter, edited for context and clarity, which also debunks the myths that new nuclear power plants will provide long-term sustainable jobs for union workers. (Note: UK spellings in the original have been retained.)

We write in response to your recent appeals to Sir Keir Starmer to commit to finalising financial arrangements for the Sizewell C nuclear project in order to ‘help the UK meet its net-zero targets, deliver sustainable energy, and strengthen the economy.’ 

In the first instance, we refer you to two important documents. The first,  written by Professors Andrew Blowers, OBE, a social scientist of impeccable pedigree and lecturer at the Open University, and Steve Thomas, Emeritus Professor of Energy Policy at the University of Greenwich,  is entitled: It is time to expose the Great British Nuclear Fantasy once and for all.

The second document we are sending you — an open letter to the Labour Party on energy policy — submitted in June 2024 before the election, was written by members of this organisation, which has been fighting Sizewell C for more than a decade. 

The truth is that the government nuclear energy policy which is most brazenly and shamelessly represented by Sizewell C is unattainable and a recipe for financial and environmental calamity. Keir Starmer, an apparent subscriber to the ‘duty of candour’, will, at some stage, be required to agree. It is noticeable that in all public statements since the election of the Labour administration, ‘nuclear’ is a word which has been studiously avoided. We don’t believe that’s coincidental. 

The final investment decision (FID) for Sizewell C has been delayed because it is a manifestly bad investment option for UK plc and the private investors who have demonstrated their agreement with that view by shunning appeals to invest. Why should the public purse come to the rescue for a venture that was supposed to be ’subsidy-free’, which is already predicted to be at least three times the original cost and years overdue in completion? 

There will be no seamless transition of workers and supply chains from Hinkley because the sites and conditions are entirely different in timing and need. Whatever way the Sizewell C employment issue is regarded, each of the 900 long-term jobs created will have cost several tens of millions of pounds to create. That is a very bad investment in itself. 

Nuclear power is nothing if not hugely capital, not labour, intensive. It costs billions, the plants are always late and over budget, and it doesn’t do what it says on the tin in terms of climate change and security (it relies upon uranium from abroad and Sizewell C is a French design with a French developer – nothing home-grown about it). ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Sizewell C will not, in any way, be the salvation of East Suffolk nor UK plc. We are quite simply being swamped by a development which is a Boris Johnson vanity project, one that is unnecessary to the national energy requirements and that will fail to do all the things you and your trades union colleagues have been told to believe it can do. 

Trades union support for nuclear power is in itself disappointing when an energy policy based on a similar investment programme to that identified for nuclear could be invested in renewables and storage technology, energy conservation projects, microtechnology, decentralisation, and retrofitting thermal insulation. This can be coupled to the creation of many more job opportunities for today’s young people in industries that do not have the stigma of being linked to the nuclear weapons industry and the mass destruction that implies. 

If we need anything right now in the UK, we need Starmer’s duty of candour to be levelled at the nuclear industry and for the trades union movement, of which we are mainly supportive, to help us show the way to a nuclear-free world. 

Learn more at Together Against Sizewell C (TASC) and Stop Sizewell C. https://beyondnuclearinternational.org/2024/11/03/new-nukes-not-a-plus-for-unions/—

November 4, 2024 Posted by | employment, UK | Leave a comment

Green jobs and green skills – the state of play

October 26, 2024,  https://renewextraweekly.blogspot.com/2024/10/green-jobs-and-green-skills-state-of.html

In 2023, the global renewable energy sector witnessed a record increase in jobs, rising from 13.7 million in 2022 to 16.2 million. China led with an estimated 7.4 million renewable energy jobs, representing 46% of the global total. The EU followed with 1.8 million jobs, while Brazil had 1.56 million. The US and India each contributed nearly one million jobs. The strongest growth was seen in the solar photovoltaics sector, which accounted for 7.2 million jobs globally, with 4.6 million jobs located in China. 

However, as I have reported in earlier posts, green skill shortages may slow progress and, exploring this issue in the UK context, an Imperial College Futures Lab briefing paper has investigated the Net-Zero job skills and training requirements in the UK’s energy system. It notes that the governments advisory Committee on Climate Change (CCC) estimates that between 135,000 and 725,000 net new jobs could be created in the UK by 2030 directly in low-carbon sectors, this wide range highlighting uncertainties in estimates about the number of workers required to support the transition to Net-Zero. The Futures Lab study identifies ongoing barriers and opportunities for expanding low-carbon job competencies, culminating in a set of policy recommendations to create clear, inclusive training pathways into low-carbon energy jobs. 

Using three sectoral case studies, the paper investigates challenges and opportunities for improving skills and training. Firstly it shows how the building energy retrofit sector faces a significant shortage of skilled workers, particularly in heat pump installation, energy efficiency measures, retrofit coordination, and digital roles. Despite the potential to create 120,000–230,000 new jobs by 2030, it says ‘inconsistent policies and funding have hindered private investment in training’. Secondly, the offshore wind sector is forecast to employ over 100,000 workers in 2030, compared to 32,000 in 2022. But it says ‘offshore wind struggles with skills gaps in electrical, digital, consenting, and marine roles, relying on experienced workers and those from other industries to fill these gaps’. Thirdly, the paper claims the electric vehicles sector ‘could generate at least 80,000 new jobs over the next 10-15 years’ but says that this ‘is contingent on gigafactory development, with key skills needed in charging point installation, vehicle recycling, battery manufacturing, and electrification engineering.’    

Most of these cases involve expanding training for specific green energy technologies and electrification, but the report says that ‘not all industrial decarbonisation can be achieved through direct electrification, and particularly across hard-to-abate industries, decarbonisation will depend on the development of hydrogen and CCUS sectors’. It notes that ‘growth of these sectors is considered highly conditional, subject to the competitiveness of international markets, the availability of skilled labour, and levels of investment,’ but reports that the CCC estimates that ‘these industries could create between 1,500 and 97,000 new jobs by 2030’. It adds that ‘the current offshore oil and gas workforce is expected to provide a large number of skills required in these sectors’. 

That’s good news (arguably blue hydrogen/CCUS apart) but making it happen won’t be easy. It is interesting in this context that there has recently been a call for £1.9bn a year to help oil and gas workers move into clean energy, with the Green Jobs Taskforce also estimating that ‘the low-carbon transport sector could create 78,000 new jobs by 2040, including 24,500 in battery manufacturing, 43,500 in the battery supply chain, and 10,000 in EV manufacturing’. 

Looking to the way ahead, the Future Lab identify a series of barriers facing this type of job transition. First come straight forward ‘skills transferability’ barriers.  For example it notes that it has been estimated that 100,000 jobs in the UK’s offshore energy sector will be filled by workers transferring from oil and gas into offshore renewable roles, and by new entrants from outside the sector. But it says  ‘there is debate about how transferable skills across high- and low-carbon sectors actually are, and whether a ‘topping up’ of skills or more rigorous retraining will be required for those transitioning’.    

Then there are mobility barriers. ‘Whether or not workers are able to take low-carbon jobs will depend on where and when existing jobs are being lost and new jobs become available. It will also depend on the supply of and demand for relevant training, which is likely to be unevenly distributed in terms of quantity and quality. If green jobs or re-skilling opportunities do not appear in areas where jobs have been phased out, workers will either have to lose out on opportunities, seek employment in other high-carbon sectors, or relocate, which risks reinforcing existing regional inequalities.’  

That links up to regional barriers. It says  ‘UK regions with a higher concentration of energy-intensive industries, such as the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, and the West Midlands, stand a higher chance of being negatively affected by the transition. These regions are often also those whose economies have seen the least growth in recent decades. They are also likely to have less capacity and resources to be able to provide adequate re-skilling support’. 

And finally there are diversity barriers. The report notes that ‘the current energy sector is predominantly represented by white male workers. Available statistics suggest that only 5% of the workforce comes from BAME backgrounds. Unless active measures are taken to support underrepresented groups joining the Net-Zero energy workforce, occupational gender & ethnicity gaps are likely to persist’.  

Some of the reports recommended actions are obvious enough from the foregoing analysis.  For example green sectors should be ‘inclusive and respectful places to work, where underrepresented groups not liable to be discriminated against’, and we should build ‘closer links between high- and low-carbon energy sectors to create direct routes into new jobs.’  

More specifically ‘current public financing mechanisms for skills, including the Apprenticeship Levy, the National Skills Fund, and the Adult Education Budget, should be reviewed to see how funding can be better directed towards the development of training for green jobs. Additional public funding should also be leveraged to support long-term development of skills for Net-Zero, specifically for FE colleges and training providers to be able to develop new, high-quality green courses and overcome low participation rates. There is also a case for targeted funding for SMEs who cannot afford to send staff to be trained or take on apprentices’. And more generally, ‘introduce a national Net-Zero Skills Commission to take on monitoring, research and advisory roles to support development of skills for the Net-Zero transition in England.’

Plenty of good ideas. Let’s hope some are implemented soon, and meantime, the UK government is pushing ahead with its ‘skills passport’ initiative. In parallel, we hope helpfully, OU Visiting Research Fellow Terry Cook and I are putting together a journal paper on this whole area, looking in particular at what governments can do at the strategic level, by making new energy technology funding/subsidies conditional on the provision of green skill training programmes.  

October 28, 2024 Posted by | employment, renewable, UK | Leave a comment

The deceitfulness of the nuclear weapons industry -as it plays the jobs jobs jobs card

World-Ending Maneuvers? Inside the Nuclear-Weapons Lobby Today, TomDispatch, By Hekmat Aboukhater and William D. Hartung August 7, 2024

“……………………………………………………………………………Playing the Jobs Card

The argument of last resort for the Sentinel and similar questionable weapons programs is that they create well-paying jobs in key states and districts. Northrop Grumman has played the jobs card effectively with respect to the Sentinel, claiming it will create 10,000 jobs in its development phase alone, including about 2,250 in the state of Utah, where the hub for the program is located. 

As a start, however, those 10,000 jobs will help a miniscule fraction of the 167-million-member American workforce. Moreover, Northrop Grumman claims facilities tied to the program will be set up in 32 states. If 2,250 of those jobs end up in Utah, that leaves 7,750 more jobs spread across 31 states — an average of about 250 jobs per state, essentially a rounding error compared to total employment in most localities.

Nor has Northrop Grumman provided any documentation for the number of jobs the Sentinel program will allegedly create. Journalist Taylor Barnes of ReThink Media was rebuffed in her efforts to get a copy of the agreement between Northrop Grumman and the state of Utah that reportedly indicates how many Sentinel-related jobs the company needs to create to get the full subsidy offered to put its primary facility in Utah.

A statement by a Utah official justifying that lack of transparency suggested Northrop Grumman was operating in “a competitive defense industry” and that revealing details of the agreement might somehow harm the company. But any modest financial harm Northrop Grumman might suffer, were those details revealed, pales in comparison with the immense risks and costs of the Sentinel program itself.

There are two major flaws in the jobs argument with respect to the future production of nuclear weapons. First, military spending should be based on security considerations, not pork-barrel politics. Second, as Heidi Peltier of the Costs of War Project has effectively demonstrated, virtually any other expenditure of funds currently devoted to Pentagon programs would create between 9% and 250% more jobs than weapons spending does. If Congress were instead to put such funds into addressing climate change, dealing with future disease epidemics, poverty, or homelessness — all serious threats to public safety — the American economy would gain hundreds of thousands of jobs. Choosing to fund those ICBMs instead is, in fact, a job killer, not a job creator………………………………  https://tomdispatch.com/world-ending-maneuvers/

August 9, 2024 Posted by | employment, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Over two hundred jobs may be lost if Haverigg jail is displaced by nuclear dump

 https://www.nuclearpolicy.info/news/over-two-hundred-jobs-may-be-lost-if-haverigg-jail-is-displaced-by-nuclear-dump/ 6 Aug 24

Whilst Nuclear Waste Services are keen to promote the number of jobs that might be created by the establishment of a Geological Disposal Facility in West Cumbria, there is less clarity when it comes to identifying the number of jobs that might be lost.

The GDF will be the final resting place for the UK’s current and future high-level nuclear waste. Investigations are underway to identify potential sites in either Mid or South Copeland in West Cumbria, and in Theddlethorpe in Lincolnshire. A GDF would require a surface receiving station of around 1 sq KM, to which regular nuclear waste shipments would be made prior to the waste being moved underground and then pushed out along deep tunnels beneath the seabed.

In Theddlethorpe, a specific site, a former gas terminal, has been identified as the potential hub for a receiving station, but this has so far not been the case in Copeland. One major constraint in the South Copeland Search Area is that it mostly comprises the Lake District National Park and the proposed Southern Boundary Extension which are rightly ‘excluded from consideration’. Consequently, any GDF development would have to be confined to small areas around Drigg, Haverigg and Millom, and for many months there has been speculation that one potential site by the coast might be the location of HMP Haverigg.

Mindful that a GDF would most likely mean the closure of the jail, NFLA Secretary Richard Outram sent several Freedom of Information requests to the Ministry of Justice exploring the impact of the closure of the prison in these circumstances. The NFLAs are particularly keen to identify how many local jobs could be lost, as well as ascertaining the impact on local contractors and suppliers engaged in business with HMP Haverigg. There is also the less quantifiable contribution made by prisoners carrying out work within the local community and the positive impact of the training and support provided by prison staff and support agencies in reducing recidivism and turning around the lives of inmates to enable them to reenter society.

On jobs, Ministry of Justice officials were unable to supply all of the information requested, but advised that they employ a total of 206 full-time (80%) and part-time (20%) staff, both operational (prison officers) and non-operational (ancillary roles). Of these over half, 110, reside in the local LL18 postal district. However this excludes the number of staff engaged at this prison who are employed by other agencies, such as the local and regional NHS, and it was surprising to learn that ‘there is no legal requirement for MoJ to collate data relating to contractors and suppliers that work at HMP Haverigg’ so it is impossible to make a determination as to the dependence of the local supply chain on business with the prison.

6th August 2024

Over two hundred jobs may be lost if Haverigg jail is displaced by nuclear dump

Whilst Nuclear Waste Services are keen to promote the number of jobs that might be created by the establishment of a Geological Disposal Facility in West Cumbria, there is less clarity when it comes to identifying the number of jobs that might be lost.

The GDF will be the final resting place for the UK’s current and future high-level nuclear waste. Investigations are underway to identify potential sites in either Mid or South Copeland in West Cumbria, and in Theddlethorpe in Lincolnshire. A GDF would require a surface receiving station of around 1 sq KM, to which regular nuclear waste shipments would be made prior to the waste being moved underground and then pushed out along deep tunnels beneath the seabed.

In Theddlethorpe, a specific site, a former gas terminal, has been identified as the potential hub for a receiving station, but this has so far not been the case in Copeland. One major constraint in the South Copeland Search Area is that it mostly comprises the Lake District National Park and the proposed Southern Boundary Extension which are rightly ‘excluded from consideration’. Consequently, any GDF development would have to be confined to small areas around Drigg, Haverigg and Millom, and for many months there has been speculation that one potential site by the coast might be the location of HMP Haverigg.

Mindful that a GDF would most likely mean the closure of the jail, NFLA Secretary Richard Outram sent several Freedom of Information requests to the Ministry of Justice exploring the impact of the closure of the prison in these circumstances. The NFLAs are particularly keen to identify how many local jobs could be lost, as well as ascertaining the impact on local contractors and suppliers engaged in business with HMP Haverigg. There is also the less quantifiable contribution made by prisoners carrying out work within the local community and the positive impact of the training and support provided by prison staff and support agencies in reducing recidivism and turning around the lives of inmates to enable them to reenter society.

On jobs, Ministry of Justice officials were unable to supply all of the information requested, but advised that they employ a total of 206 full-time (80%) and part-time (20%) staff, both operational (prison officers) and non-operational (ancillary roles). Of these over half, 110, reside in the local LL18 postal district. However this excludes the number of staff engaged at this prison who are employed by other agencies, such as the local and regional NHS, and it was surprising to learn that ‘there is no legal requirement for MoJ to collate data relating to contractors and suppliers that work at HMP Haverigg’ so it is impossible to make a determination as to the dependence of the local supply chain on business with the prison.

On rates of recidivism, Ministry officials did not supply any specifics for the prison but instead referenced the latest national available statistics[i]. However, in a report which followed an unscheduled prison visit by inspectors in May 2021, it was recognised by HM Chief Inspector Charlie Taylor that Haverigg, in providing specialist accommodation and rehabilitation to older male sex offenders, ‘is fast becoming a very capable establishment and is progressing to a point where it soon may well be one of the better open prisons in the estate.’ It was notable that ‘All eligible prisoners had some form of purposeful activity…The employment hub was a particularly helpful service for prisoners’ and that ‘Prisoners benefited from a high standard of technical training. They developed significant new skills, knowledge and behaviours through vocational training.’[ii]

UK Government advice on the prison record that: ‘All prisoners work or train full time at Haverigg. Training and learning opportunities are focused on skills gaps in the job market and designed to improve prisoners’ chances of getting work on release. Professions include timber manufacturing, building, plastering, plumbing, industrial cleaning and agriculture. Prisoners can also train and work towards qualifications in the leisure industry through the gym’.[iii]

On community activities, Ministry officials advised that prisoners are engaged in litter picking and landscaping which has ‘received positive feedback from various community members for their impact on the local area’. The prison also holds a weekly market in Millom to promote the products made by HMP Haverigg, which has ‘significantly contributed to fostering strong relationships between the prison and the community’. Additionally, prisoners also support the local churches by maintaining church yards.

August 8, 2024 Posted by | employment, UK | Leave a comment

With global race to decarbonize electricity sector, demand for skilled nuclear workers heats up.

 COMMENT. Most (or all?) of the funds available to these companies to hire “skilled workers” is coming directly from the public (taxpayers) through direct subsidies, contracts or tax refunds. For example, the story mentions that AtkinsRéalis is one of the top hiring firms. A few weeks back was another story stating that the AtkinsRéalis nuclear division got a $750M contract for work on a CANDU reactor in Romania. A few months before that was another story that Canada had signed a $3 BILLION “export development deal” with Romania (i.e. a gift) to build its CANDU reactor, and that most of the funds would be spent on Canadian jobs. This all comes back to the nuclear industry’s current core problem: its products (new nuclear reactors) are hulking dinosaurs that suck up funds at an alarming rate and no private investor doing due diligence wants to be part of this costly scheme.

Globe and Mail, MATTHEW MCCLEARN, 8 July 24

Last month, U.S.-based nuclear reactor vendor Westinghouse opened a 13,000-square-foot engineering office in Kitchener, Ont. The company wants to sell its products, including its flagship AP1000 reactor, in Canada while also serving international customers.

Having hired most of its 250 Canadian staff in the last three years, it now seeks to hire 100 more engineers. It’s recruiting at a moment when, after a decades-long lull, skilled nuclear workers find themselves in high demand.

China and Russia have long dominated construction activity, while Western countries stagnated; Canada’s newest power reactor was completed in the early 1990s. But efforts to decarbonize the electricity sector have coalesced into support for designing and building new reactors, even as aging facilities are overhauled – leading to a proliferation of announced nuclear projects.

Whether there’s enough engineering talent to execute them all, however, is a question vigorously debated within the nuclear industry, here and abroad.

According to a survey the Canadian Nuclear Association conducted five years ago, the industry directly employs 33,000 people – up from 30,000 in 2012. Large employers include Ontario Power Generation and Bruce Power, which operate large nuclear plants, as well as uranium mining giant Cameco Corp. and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, which operates the Chalk River research facility.

That survey is now being updated, and while results have not been finalized, employment appears to have grown another 10 to 15 per cent during the past five years. But the sheer volume of announced projects implies more rapid growth.

OPG recently began early work to refurbish four reactors at its Pickering station. The eight-reactor Bruce station, already one of the world’s largest, is in the early stages of a planned expansion that could add four new large reactors.

AtkinsRéalis, steward of Canada’s homegrown Candu technology, is racing to develop a modernized 1,000-megawatt reactor it calls the Monark. It’s among the most active hirers on Nuclear Jobs Canada, an industry job board.

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories is hiring at its Chalk River facilities, a Second World War-era facility that has been extensively modernized in recent years. It’s looking to populate its new laboratories and replace retiring workers.

“Nuclear was a little bit quiet for a while, and now it’s coming back,” said Janet Tosh, CNL’s vice-president of human resources.

“So we are having to build up that talent pipeline. But it’s not just science and technology people we’re looking for. We’re looking for technicians, machinists, certified trade workers.”

And then there’s relative newcomers to Canada, such as Westinghouse. Another U.S.-based reactor vendor, GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy, has partnered with OPG to build up to four small modular reactors at Darlington station.

The picture is similar in other Western countries, including the U.S. and Britain, both of which have seen limited reactor construction for decades. Reports abound that nuclear employers, desperate for talent, have lured long-retired professionals back into the work force.

Last year, the U.S. National Academy of Engineering published a 250-page report examining the potential barriers to a major build-out of new “advanced” reactors. It identifies labour availability as a key constraint.

“Utilities have generally not retained the talent on their staff to execute these large projects given the limited deployment of nuclear technology in the past 30 years in the United States,” the report says.

“This shortfall in talent could become equally limiting across the supply chain, operations, and regulatory organizations that must support any large-scale growth in nuclear deployment.”

Akira Tokuhiro, a professor at Ontario Tech University, which has one of the largest nuclear engineering programs in North America, has noticed major nuclear employers pledging to hire hundreds of workers apiece on LinkedIn.

“And I thought, how can that be?” he recalled during an interview. “Because we’re producing 50 graduates a year.”

Prof. Tokuhiro added up the output from other programs across the continent, and determined that fewer than 1,000 people graduate with a degree in radiation science or nuclear engineering in North America. (He figures that for every such graduate, nuclear employers hire 10 times as many mechanical, chemical and other engineers who’ve not studied nuclear directly.)

He compares that against likely retirement rates for workers at major nuclear employers, as well as the many announced nuclear projects.

“We don’t have enough new graduates,” Prof. Tokuhiro concluded. “There’s a disconnect between what the industry needs, and what the universities are producing.”

Luca Oriani, Westinghouse’s global chief engineering services officer, disagrees. The reactor vendor almost exclusively hires graduates with little or no industry experience, he said, and then trains and retains them as long as possible, typically decades. The company has found the supply of engineering talent abundant, in Canada and elsewhere.

That’s not to say competition isn’t fierce. Westinghouse used to visit campuses a week ahead of job fairs for coming graduates to recruit before they met with competitors; now it’s offering them jobs as early as a year before graduation.

“I have over 2,000 engineers working for me,” Mr. Oriani said. “I still spend at least a week month just going to different universities and discussing with students, and trying to see how do we get them to come to us before they go somewhere else.”

In an interview earlier this year, OPG chief executive officer Ken Hartwick divided the industry’s labour into two groups: engineering and project management on one side; and trades, such as boilermakers and electricians, on the other. Availability of the first group, he said, has not been a problem, an aging work force notwithstanding.

“I’m less worried about the older person losing some of the experience, because the younger people coming through our universities are brilliant,” Mr. Hartwick said.

Tradespeople were another matter. OPG competes for them not just with other nuclear utilities such as Bruce Power, but with many other construction projects, including hospitals and roads.

“Can we ramp up our trades programs fast enough? That’s the biggest challenge.”

Some in Canada’s nuclear industry say talent isn’t as scarce here as it is in the U.S. and Britain, thanks to major multi-reactor reactor refurbishments at Ontario’s Darlington and Bruce stations over the past decade. They’re major capital projects in their own right, requiring significant manpower to execute.

That’s kept a lot of building trades very engaged, and it’s kept the regular work force [of utilities] engaged,” said Bob Walker, national director of the Canadian Nuclear Workers’ Council, an umbrella organization of nuclear sector unions.

He confirmed that retirees are re-entering the work force, but added that most nuclear employers offer generous pension plans, allowing workers to retire relatively early.

“That’s been a running joke for as long as I can remember: No one ever retires, they just change positions,” Mr. Walker said. “The industry plans on people coming back, and people plan on retiring and coming back.”……………….. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-after-decades-of-dormancy-competition-for-nuclear-engineering-talent/

July 9, 2024 Posted by | Canada, employment | Leave a comment

Talent Shortage Threatens Europe’s Nuclear Renaissance

As many countries in Europe look to boost their nuclear power capacities
and build more reactors, companies face a workforce challenge as many of
the skilled force are retiring while younger generations choose energy jobs
in solar and wind. European countries and companies planning major
expansion in nuclear fleets are struggling to fill in thousands of skilled
engineering jobs that would support the construction of nuclear reactors,
which take years to complete. Companies in France are hiring back retirees
and are collaborating with colleges and universities to promote jobs in the
nuclear power sector.

 Oil Price 3rd July 2024

https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Talent-Shortage-Threatens-Europes-Nuclear-Renaissance.html

July 4, 2024 Posted by | employment, EUROPE | Leave a comment

TODAY. Jobs jobs jobs in the nuclear industry – but is it true?

Go to Google news for nuclear information, and you’ll be swamped with glowing stories from the World Nuclear Association, the IAEA, and the big corporate media outlets – all about the wonderful future for the nuclear industry- –

all those jobs! including in the lovely nuclear weapons industry.

Jobs in renewable energy. This year’s report finds that renewable energy employment worldwide has continued to expand – to an estimated 13.7 million direct and indirect jobs in 2022. We can expect the creation of many millions of additional jobs in the coming years and decades.  https://mc-cd8320d4-36a1-40ac-83cc-3389-cdn-endpoint.azureedge.net/-/media/Files/IRENA/Agency/Publication/2023/Sep/IRENA_Renewable_energy_and_jobs_2023.pdf?rev=4f65518fb5f64c9fb78f6f60fe821bf2

Jobs in nuclear power. I have not been able to find any kind of authoritative report on global jobs in nuclear power. I did find one source (on Quora) stating that each nuclear reactor in construction provides 1400-1800 jobs, and in operation 400 -700 jobs. The nuclear industry claims many more, but for construction, we must remember – this is all in the rather distant future.

The figure below is a prediction from many years ago. If we are to believe the nuclear lobby, this prediction should change rapidly.

What we do know is that at present, renewable energy jobs are increasing exponentially, and nuclear power building is almost at a standstill.

The figure on the left is also from many years ago. But I doubt that much has changed.

Of course – this is all about the actual reactors. There are many jobs in uranium mining, milling, transport etc, and of course, in nuclear weapons-making

The quality of jobs.

In energy efficiency there are many interesting and clean jobs. Also, workers know that they are contributing to a healthier planet – something to be proud of.

In renewable energy the jobs are relatively clean and healthy, and there’s again, the knowledge of being in an alternative to the polluting industries – coal and nuclear.

In nuclear energy and nuclear fuel, the workers are involved in the risky area of ionising radiation. There’s a huge amount of documentation on this. It is NOT a healthy job, though I suppose that it’s better to be a highly paid nuclear executive or lobbyist, safe in a nice office.

I doubt that nuclear workers can get much satisfaction about “helping the planet”, as the “peaceful” nuclear industry is so dirty, dangerous, and intimately connected with nuclear weapons.

No doubt some nuclear workers get paid a lot more than renewable energy workers do. But, there’s real value in knowing that your contribution to society is a clean and positive one.

May 30, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes, employment, renewable | Leave a comment

Dounreay nuclear site workers strike in pay dispute

More than 500 workers at the Dounreay nuclear site have gone on strike in
a dispute over pay. Unite and GMB members have walked out after rejecting a
revised offer from Nuclear Restoration Services (NRS) made earlier this
month. Prospect union members accepted the deal after previously being
involved in the dispute at the complex near Thurso. Unite and GMB are
planning a further 24-hour strike on 19 June.

 BBC 28th May 2024

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cevvkvzp0lzo

May 30, 2024 Posted by | employment, UK | Leave a comment

Warning that Dounreay could be facing ‘prolonged’ industrial action over pay dispute

 https://www.johnogroat-journal.co.uk/news/warning-that-dounreay-could-be-facing-prolonged-industrial-350623/— 14 May 24, By Gordon Calder

Two unions at Dounreay are to strike on Wednesday after rejecting a new pay offer from management.

The Unite and GMB unions turned down the revised offer which proposed a one-off £500 payment on top of a basic 4.5 per cent increase. The deal was accepted by Prospect members.

Dounreay management is “disappointed” by the news of the strike but remains “committed to finding a resolution that is fair and affordable”.

Kim Thain, the vice-chair of the Trade Union Co-ordinating Committee at Dounreay, confirmed that GMB and Unite have rejected the new offer and will be on strike on Wednesday.

“There will be picketing at the site, and action short of a strike will commence on Thursday,” she said. “The next strike date of May 29 has been communicated to the company, and future dates will be notified to them over the next few days.

“I can confirm that Prospect has accepted the revised offer and is not taking part in any industrial action.”

May 20, 2024 Posted by | employment | Leave a comment

Industrial action by nuclear submarine workforce hits Rolls Royce

GMB members working on the company’s nuclear submarine programme have
begun industrial action. The action comes after 90 per cent of GMB members
at the company supported action if company bosses failed to present a pay
rise acceptable to union members. Known as ‘work to rule’, the
industrial action will see GMB members applying strict limits to working
outside of pre-agreed processes. Rolls-Royce is a world leader in the field
of submarine technology, as well as being the supplier to Britain’s
domestic nuclear submarine fleet.

 UK Defence Journal 30th April 2024

https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/industrial-action-by-nuclear-sub-workforce-hits-rolls-royce

May 3, 2024 Posted by | employment, UK | Leave a comment

Australia: Critical worker shortage menaces nuclear-powered submarine workforce

INDUSTRY, 29 APRIL 2024, By: Liam Garman

The document, sourced through a freedom of information request from former independent senator for South Australia Rex Patrick, examined the civilian nuclear workforce required to maintain a nuclear reactor plant.

According to the document, Australia will require over 75,000 additional electricians, construction managers, metal machinists and welders in its “feeder workforce”, a term for Australia’s pool of workers that are eligible to pursue a career in the submarine workforce.

In particular, by financial year 2030–2031, Australia will require:

  • An additional 33,553 electricians;
  • An additional 19,364 construction managers;
  • An additional 11,753 metal machinists;
  • An additional 12,280 welders.

The figures were assessed by calculating the difference between the projected demand and supply of skilled workers.

The document warns that the total shortfall will be even larger than the initial figures, confirming that the totals do not include additional demand produced by the nuclear-powered submarine industry.

The report raises an alarm for policymakers, noting that Australia has neither a skilled nuclear-powered workforce to leverage for the construction and maintenance of nuclear-powered submarines, nor does it have a big enough pool of eligible candidates.

“There is no current Australian talent pool with the required mix of qualifications, skills, experience, and behaviours to fulfil the civilian nuclear workforce roles,” the document read……………………………………………………………

Defence may also face additional constraints with the decision to build the SSN-AUKUS at Osborne in South Australia and maintain the capability in Henderson in Western Australia.

The research found the greatest feeder workforce is located in NSW, followed by Victoria and Queensland, while the state with the fewest skills is South Australia.  https://www.defenceconnect.com.au/industry/13993-critical-worker-shortage-menaces-nuclear-powered-submarine-workforce

May 2, 2024 Posted by | employment | Leave a comment

The size of the workforce at Hunterston B Nuclear is to be cut by nearly a third

 The size of the workforce at Hunterston B is to be cut by nearly a third
as the site enters the next stage of its decommissioning, it’s been
confirmed. But the station director says it’s hoped that compulsory
redundancies can be avoided. The workforce will be reduced to one of 244 by
2026 as a result of the latest “restructuring”, compared to a strength of
500 in 2020.

Station director Joe Struthers, confirming the plans, said
that once defuelling at Hunterston B was complete, the station and its
staff would transfer from EDF to Nuclear Restoration Services (NRS) for
decommissioning. NRS already manages the Hunterston A site. Mr Struthers
said it was hoped the reduction in job numbers could be achieved through
voluntary redundancy and retirement. “The new station organisational
structure, which we expect to implement sometime in 2026, shows 244 staff
roles,” he said.

“Defueling activities continue to progress well and, once
complete, the station and its staff will transfer from EDF to Nuclear
Restoration Services (NRS) who will be responsible for decommissioning the
site. NRS already manages the Hunterston A site. “The structure and
staffing levels will change again for the next stage of decommissioning as
the requirements are different.

 Irvine Times 19th April 2024

https://www.irvinetimes.com/news/24265969.hunterston-workforce-set-cut-nearly-third

April 22, 2024 Posted by | employment, UK | Leave a comment

Two days of strikes planned at Dounreay nuclear power complex

 Workers at the Dounreay nuclear power complex have voted to go on strike
next month. The Prospect union said its members would walk out on 1 and 2
May followed by a work to rule. Workers from Unite and the GMB had
previously voted in favour of industrial action after rejecting a 4.5%
offer backdated to April 2023. Dounreay’s operator, Nuclear Restoration
Services (NRS), has said previously it was disappointed by the result of
the votes. The site employs about 1,200 people.

 BBC 15th April 2024

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c51nwr5v657o

April 19, 2024 Posted by | employment, UK | Leave a comment

Dounreay workers vote to strike

Workers at the Dounreay nuclear power complex in Caithness have voted to
strike after long-running pay talks stalled. The GMB union said members at
the plant had overwhelmingly backed industrial action including strikes,
working to rule and an overtime ban. It comes after a pay offer was
rejected. GMB said its vote delivered a “crushing majority” on a
turnout of 85%. Other unions, Unite and Prospect, are also balloting
members.

Press and Journal 4th April 2024

Dounreay workers vote to strike

April 7, 2024 Posted by | employment, UK | Leave a comment

Sellafield’s head of information security to step down

Richard Meal is second senior leader to depart following Guardian investigation into failings at UK nuclear waste site

Guardian Alex Lawson and Anna Isaac, 28 Mar 24

A former Royal Air Force officer who has led Sellafield’s information security for more than a decade is to leave the vast nuclear waste site in north-west England, it can be revealed.

Richard Meal, who is chief information security officer at the Cumbrian site, is to leave later this year.

Meal will be the second senior leader to depart the organisation this year, after the top director responsible for safety and security – Mark Neate – announced in January that he planned to leave.

His imminent departure follows several safety and cybersecurity failings, as well as claims of a “toxic” working culture, that were revealed in Nuclear Leaks, a year-long Guardian investigation into Sellafield, late last year. Sellafield said no staff departures were linked to the revelations.

ellafield, which has more than 11,000 staff, was placed into a form of “special measures” in 2022 for consistent failings on cybersecurity, according to sources at the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and the security services.

Sellafield said it did not have evidence of a successful cyber-attack after the Guardian revealed that groups linked to Russia and China had penetrated its networks.

……………………………….. In response to the Guardian’s investigation, the energy secretary, Claire Coutinho, said the reports were “deeply concerning” and wrote to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), the state-owned body that ultimately runs Sellafield, demanding a “full explanation”.

In his response, the NDA’s chief executive, David Peattie, said there had been “necessary changes to the leadership, governance, and risk management of cyber” and responsibility for its cyber function had been moved. A new head of cybersecurity took up the role in January. Sellafield declined to name the new appointee.

On announcing his departure, Neate said that he had decided last year “that 2024 was the right time for me to move on”. He will be replaced this week by the current head of the site’s “spent fuel management value stream”, James Millington, on an interim basis.

Separately, Nic Westcott, the former Openreach and Severn Trent executive, was seconded from Nuclear Waste Services in January as interim chief people officer.

In its latest annual report, the ONR stated that “improvements are required” from Sellafield and other sites in order to address cybersecurity risks. It also confirmed that the site was in “significantly enhanced attention” for this activity……………………………

Britain’s public spending watchdog, the National Audit Office, last month launched an investigation into risks and costs at Sellafield.

The Nuclear Leaks series detailed concerns over cracks in the concrete and asphalt skin of a toxic point known as the First Generation Magnox storage pond or informally as “Dirty 30”. This week, Sellafield said that the building had been “prioritised for cleanup” by the NDA and that the first “zeolite skip” – containers used to absorb radiation in the 1970s and 1980s – had been removed and placed in a shielded box.

Separately, Sellafield released its gender pay report for the year to 5 April 2023, which showed the median gender pay gap had risen to 13.7% from 11.3% a year earlier. The proportion of women in the upper quartile of its pay scale was static, at 18%………………… https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/mar/27/sellafields-head-of-information-security-to-step-down

March 30, 2024 Posted by | employment, UK | Leave a comment

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