The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy awarded NC State University $18.3 million to create  the Consortium for Reactor Safety Training (CRεST), part of the department’s nationwide efforts to grow the future nuclear energy workforce.

Led by the College of Engineering’s Department of Nuclear Engineering, CRεST will develop strategies to train the future workforce, as well as strategies to involve local communities in discussions about nuclear energy and highlight the economic and environmental benefits of nuclear energy.

The award for CRεST adds to NC State’s growing portfolio of major DOE investments, complementing recent grants that position the university as a national leader in nuclear energy research, workforce development and K-12 education initiatives.

CRεST will pursue six pathways to meet workforce demands, including skills and economic assessment, K-12 outreach, two-year college integration, university innovations, reactor safety training and community building.

“The nuclear industry encompasses way more than folks with graduate degrees,” said Professor Jacob Eapen, director of the nuclear engineering undergraduate program at NC State and the CRεST project director. “Only a small proportion of the total workforce have a bachelor’s degree. The idea is to develop programs with industry, universities and two-year colleges in North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia and Texas.

The DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy awarded more than $49.7 million to 10 university-led projects that will grow nuclear safety training programs and curricula nationwide. The funding is part of the DOE’s new Nuclear Reactor Safety Training and Workforce Development Program. 

“More nuclear energy means more nuclear energy jobs,” said Michelle Scott, acting deputy assistant secretary for strategic crosscuts. “Today’s awards help ensure that the next generation of nuclear energy workers receive robust and rigorous training that promotes the highest standards of safety.”

As the nuclear energy sector continues to experience unprecedented job growth, NC State will play a key role in educating and training the next generation of nuclear energy workers.

“We have one of the top programs in nuclear engineering in the country,” Eapen said. “We are well positioned to lead an endeavor of this nature.”

NC State established the first university nuclear reactor program in the world in 1950 and has remained a leader in reactor training programs and nuclear energy workforce development for more than 75 years. 

This post was originally published in College of Engineering News.