Role of universities in training nuclear facility personnel

The universities have a long tradition, a vast pool of experience, and the proper facilities to make significant contributions to the supply of qualified manpower to nuclear industry. Their capabilities will have to be relied upon and indeed will have to be expanded if nuclear power is to provide a major share of energy demand for the next several decades. It is the responsibility of universities to devise long-range plans to train people for various tasks associated with nuclear power development including research, design, construction, and management. Lack of communication and conflicting interests between pure research and applied project orientation of their efforts are seen as the main obstacles. These problems are given a close scrutiny and solutions are suggested, some of which already have been implemented successfully at Oregon State University and some other institutions