In the early days, membership in ANS conveyed an air of exclusivity. The Society was mostly white, mostly male, and had a deliberate selection process akin to a country club. Acceptance involved an admissions committee, which required professional references and wanted to know what languages you “handled well.” It also meant demonstrating “important scientific or engineering experience within the fields of nuclear technology or the teaching thereof.”
I am inclined to forgive those who mistakenly assert that the Society represents the ivory tower of nuclear, especially if their impressions are grounded in historical context.
The ANS of yesteryear bears little resemblance to the Society of today. Unlike just a few years ago, we are growing fast. From the lows of 2020, our overall membership has grown by nearly 60 percent. We are also much younger. Among our 12,000-plus members from all 50 states and 57 countries, nearly one-third are either students or are under the age of 35.
We also have a wider reach. There is ample indirect evidence that ANS members are spread over a wider range of scientific disciplines and academic credentials than ever before, and our growth is being fueled in part by new entrants from adjacent industries who have or are seeking to make nuclear their home.
We at ANS are investing more in professional development, including an expanded portfolio of fundamental courses and a nationally recognized Certified Nuclear Professional credential, which gives anyone with a high school diploma or equivalent an opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge in the nuclear field without going back to college to get a degree in nuclear engineering.
It is widely held that most of the people nuclear needs in an expanded workforce are in the skilled trades. This is one of our biggest challenges, but it is not one that is unique to nuclear. Every day, more than 500,000 job openings in the U.S. construction and manufacturing sector go unfilled for lack of qualified candidates. The “war for talent” will continue to be a fixture of our employment scene for the foreseeable future.
The best way to grow the nuclear workforce is to attract the people we need with competitive wages and retain them with strong professional development offerings and a true sense of community—something professional societies like ANS are ideally positioned to provide.
Make no mistake, serving our core scientific and engineering constituency will always be a top priority for ANS, but today’s challenges require an openness to better serve a wider swath of our industry and workforce.
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