With the significant advances in additive manufacturing (AM), otherwise known as 3D printing, Orano Federal Services and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte recently re-examined the capabilities to print impact limiters for transportation casks used to ship spent nuclear fuel. Impact limiters protect transportation casks (sometimes also referred to as transportation overpacks) and their contents during an accident. Impact limiter designs must withstand testing based on a certain significance level of hypothetical accidents, including drops, crushing, fires, and immersion in water.

The nuclear industry has long recognized a shortage of both skilled craft labor and professional talent. As global demand for reliable energy continues to rise—across the United States and internationally—that need has not only increased but has become critical.” This is a truth that nuclear industry consultant Jeffery P. Hawkins understands, and it is why he developed a program called Interns to Industry. The former Fluor Corporation executive said that “there has been a deficit of qualified resources in the nuclear industry, and this is forecasted to be even more so in the future, so I am working with various universities to determine how to customize their curriculums to fit the forecasted needs of the industry.”

Steven P. Nesbit
president@ans.org

The April issue of Nuclear News focuses on university programs and the key roles they play in the nuclear technology field. The topic led me to do some reminiscing.

Like many Nuclear News readers, I studied nuclear engineering in college, departing the University of Virginia in 1982 with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the field. Most of us have fond memories of our college years, for reasons that may or may not relate to academic pursuits. I left the school with many such memories, but also with respect for the knowledge and accomplishments of my professors and an appreciation of the research they conducted. Also, UVA had two reactors, including a 2-megawatt pool reactor that was in use around the clock, five days a week. I had the opportunity to obtain a reactor operating license and work shifts as an operator, which was quite rewarding monetarily and provided practical, hands-on experience with nuclear technology.