Sustaining regional Nuclear Human Capacity Building in Europe

Nuclear science, a pillar of human advancement in the last century, contributes significantly to clean energy and advanced medical care worldwide. This work highlights the critical importance of preserving nuclear human capacity in Europe to maintain a robust pool of expertise and nuclear Education and Training (E&T) infrastructure. Since 2000, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development - Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD-NEA) has expressed deep concern regarding the potential shortage of human resources in the field of nuclear science. The European Human Resources Observatory for Nuclear (EHRO-N) provided insight into the actual human resource levels needed in the nuclear industry in Europe, and this concern remains prevalent in the international community as of the year 2023, especially considering the projected nuclear power capacity by 2050. Given the distinctive and diverse challenges encountered within Europe, a novel quadrangular analysis model is introduced to facilitate the understanding of the diverse Nuclear Human Capacity Building (NHCB) development scenarios in the region. In the European Union (EU), concerted efforts were initiated in 2003 to establish regional networking activities dedicated to nuclear E&T. Since then, a wide range of nuclear stakeholders, including universities, research centers, industry representatives, technical support organizations, and regulatory bodies, have come together in a bottom-up approach to tackle the different NHCB scenarios in Europe, challenged by a variety of public acceptance, a weakly coordinated nuclear policy top-down approach and the cyclical demand of human capital caused by nuclear construction projects. Their collective goal has been to shape a European nuclear E&T ecosystem capable of addressing potential gaps in human resources within the European region. Drawing from the accumulated experience of coordinated European nuclear E&T and knowledge management projects, primarily funded by Euratom, a human-centered and generic NHCB Regional Collaboration Framework Model is proposed to support future coordination efforts in this scientific ecosystem. It is designed to serve as a communication tool for both top-down and bottom-up initiatives from governments, public and private institutions in the EU. The insights and know-how developed by the nuclear E&T community extend beyond their specific domain, offering valuable lessons to the broader nuclear scientific community as well as other industries facing similar challenges in attracting, retaining, and developing human talent.