The Nuclear Engineering Doctorate and NTEC CPD and Masters Programmes: Education, Training and Research for the Decommissioning Skillsbase

Since its establishment in 2005 the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has a remit to maintain the skillsbase for safe, secure and cost effective decommissioning of the existing UK civil nuclear power plants and associated facilities. With an aging workforce and a competitive tender process for each project a number of new companies are realising the potential of the UK decommissioning market. The Nuclear Engineering Doctorate and NTEC Masters Programmes have been designed to provide the nuclear workforce of the future. The doctorate is a partnership between industry, a university partner and the research engineer with the benefit to industry that the research engineer is based with the industrial partner. Technical and management modules are studied at the university whilst the research project is carried out in the industrial environment. The Masters programme draws on the expertise of 11 Higher Education Institutes and offers over 20 modules that are delivered in a short-fat format either as stand alone CPD courses or, by taking further modules, a certificate, diploma or on completion of a research project an M.Sc. Modules are available that cover the technical aspects of decommissioning as well as management of the decommissioning process. The availability of modules in a Distance Learning format now enables students based around the world to benefit from this programme. This paper will describe the two programmes in detail and provide examples of current projects that are delivering the research and workforce required for a successful decommissioning programme.