Universities can help the state address needed growth in the state’s nuclear industry workforce.
Tennessee Tech Nuclear Engineering Professor Jeffrey King said that was his biggest takeaway from the just-completed College System of Tennessee Nuclear Workforce Summit in Oak Ridge. With a sort of nuclear renaissance in Tennessee, King said right now, the workforce needs are not being met.
“If all of the hopes are realized, we are looking at probably far more open positions than there are currently students being produced by the educational programs in Tennessee,” King said. “That’s one of the reasons we created the program at Tennessee Tech.”
King said universities partnering with nuclear facilities will play a big role moving forward in addressing those needs. King said Tennessee Tech’s partnership with the Oak Ridge Nuclear Facility is an example of how the university is already establishing a nuclear workforce pipeline.
“They are providing us with expertise from Oak Ridge, providing us with research opportunities, and then in return, we are supporting their mission and hopefully providing students for them going forward,” King said.
King said the nuclear workforce’s biggest need is construction.
“There’s a great deal of construction-related activities going on,” King said. “There are a number of different processing plants that are being built, nuclear reactors that are being built, and all of these employers are really looking at their workforce needs for the next couple of years and then the next several years to help get those facilities built. Then it will transition to more of an operational staffing need.”
King said typically, once a student graduates from an engineering degree program, they go to grad school. King said with the growing industry and demand, students are entering the workforce immediately after graduating.
King said with more commitment to the Nuclear Engineering program from the university, he believes Tennessee Tech will play a major role in addressing the workforce need.