Many countries have big plans for the introduction of nuclear power or the expansion of their current programmes in the near future. But do they have the right people with the right expertise to do the job?
"Construction of a nuclear power plant requires a wide variety of skills that go way beyond those needed for other big construction projects like a skyscraper for example," says Yanko Yanev, Head of the IAEA´s Nuclear Knowledge Management Section.
"For instance, these electricians and welders - people who do nuclear quality work - need to have more training, qualifications and experience than their counterparts in other fields. And the key issue is, do the countries have these people?" says Yanev.
Although personnel for construction will be at the forefront of governments´ minds when considering nuclear power, there is also the issue of operating, managing and eventually decommissioning the power plant.
These are some of the issues that will be addressed during next week´s conference in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates from 14 to 18 March 2010.
Over the last 16 years, there have been one to six new reactors completed each year; but things are beginning to change. In the past two years there has been a surge in the number of countries interested in nuclear power.
In 2009 construction began on 11 new reactors, bringing the total number of reactors now under construction to 56.
About 60 Member States are interested in including nuclear power in their energy mixes, and many of the 29 Member States that already have nuclear power plants are either expanding, or considering the expansion of their programmes.
For many, this coincides with the impending retirement of the generation of workers who commissioned the plants now in operation. Of equal concern is the decline in the number of younger people studying nuclear sciences in some countries and the significant number of universities that have given up or strongly limited their nuclear education programmes.
Therefore the education, recruitment, selection, training, qualification and retention of human resources to support the introduction and expansion of nuclear power programmes are of concern to national governments.
In the face of the challenge, the International Conference on Human Resource Development for Introducing and Expanding Nuclear Power Programmes , which brings together 320 participants from 84 countries and 26 international organisations, will point to examples of what governments and industry have done to support HR development.
The conference aims to give a better understanding of common problems and issues regarding human resource development; provide practical guidance that can be used at the organizational and national levels to develop a sustainable human resource policy; and identify international cooperation approaches that could be initiated or strengthened to address human resource issues at regional and international levels.