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ScienceDirect
Energy Procedia 160 (2019) 3–10
www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia

2nd International Conference on Energy and Power, ICEP2018, 13–15 December 2018,
Sydney, Australia

Nuclear power plants in emerging economies and human resource

development: A review
Firoz Alama, Rashid Sarkarb, Harun Chowdhurya,*
a
School of Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, 3000, Australia
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh

Abstract

Rapid expansion of nuclear technologies and nuclear energy for power generation in emerging (developing) countries necessitate
undertaking urgent skills development programs. Skilled human resource is a vital first step in ensuring a sustainable supply of
qualified/competent personnel for the safe, responsible and sustainable use of nuclear technologies. This paper highlights the
current trend of global nuclear power plant development in new comer countries. It also emphasis the need for skilled human
resource development programs that are required for sustainable management of nuclear power plants during construction,
operation, maintenance and repair for the safe and secure operation. The national skills development program of a nuclear
ambitious country must include human resource development, education and training, knowledge management, and knowledge
networks at the national, regional and international level.

© 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 2nd International Conference on Energy and
Power, ICEP2018.
Keywords: Nuclear energy; nuclear power plant; education; skills development; power generation;

1. Introduction

Fossil fuel energy is the primary contributor to greenhouse gas emissions responsible for the global warming and
climate change. Nuclear energy holds the key to transform our dependence on fossil fuel to a more equitable, cleaner

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +61399256103.

E-mail address: harun.chowdhury@rmit.edu.au

1876-6102 © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

4 Firoz Alam et al. / Energy Procedia 160 (2019) 3–10
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 2nd International Conference on Energy and Power,
ICEP2018. 10.1016/j.egypro.2019.02.111
and secure energy future [1]. On a life cycle basis, it is a low greenhouse gas emitting technology comparable to the
best performing renewables and essentially does not emit pollutants responsible for poor local air quality and
acidification [1-6]. The high energy concentration per unit of mass of nuclear fuel means low fuel requirements per
unit of electricity/power or heat, hence low waste volumes to be managed. Several years of fuel can be stored on-site
contributing to energy security. Nuclear power is a baseload electricity generator, a feature very much needed in fast
growing and industrialising countries [7].
Nuclear energy currently provides over 11% of the world’s electricity/power ranging from 24% in Europe, 19%
in USA to less than 1% in Africa. Nuclear power is a low-carbon, low-emission electricity source. It is already the
largest low-carbon source of power generation in OECD countries. The International Energy Agency also estimated
that the levelised cost of generating power (which includes construction, operation, waste and decommissioning
costs) using wind or solar photovoltaic was 22-40% higher than that from nuclear power [6-9]. Unless carbon
capture and storage become economically feasible and are implemented on a large scale in fossil fuel fired power
generation, nuclear power will be key to a clean-energy future [1,6, 24-25]

a) World's 1st Nuclear Power Plant at Obninsk, Russia b) World's 2nd Nuclear Power Plant at Calder Hall, UK c) World's 3rd Nuclear Power Plant at Shippingport,
(1954) (1956) USA (1957)

Fig. 1. First nuclear power plants are in Russia, UK and USA, adapted from [11, 13-15].
Coal (40%)
Gas (23%)
Hydro (16%)
Nuclear (11%)
Solar, Wind, Geothermal &
Tidal (5%)
Oil (4%)

a) Global power generation by energy type (2017) a) Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) b) Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor c) Light Water Graphite Moderated
(PHWR/Candu ) Reactor (LWGR/RBMK)
Pressurised Water Reactor
( PWR), 65%
Boiling Water Reactor
(BWR), 17%
Pressurised Heavy Water
Reactor (PHWR), 11%
Light Water Graphite
Reactor (LWGR), 3%
Graphite Cooling Reactor
(GCR), 3%
Fast Breeder Reactor
(FBR), 1%

b) Global nuclear power generation by reactor type (2017) d) Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) e) Advanced Gas -cooled Reactor (AGR) f) High Temperature Reactor (HTR)

Fig. 2. Power generation by energy type & nuclear power Fig. 3. Simplified schematics of various nuclear power reactors, adapted from
by reactor type, adapted from [16-17, 24-25] [18]

Historically, Soviet Russia is the pioneer of commercial nuclear power plant. The world’s first grid connected
nuclear power plant, designed by famous Soviet Russian scientist Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov, was commissioned
on 27 June 1954 in Obninsk, a 110 km south west of Moscow. It took just three and half years to build and
commission (construction started on 1 January 1951). It had 5 MW capacity. It was graphite moderated, light water-
cooled reactor. It was decommissioned on 23 April 2002 after completing incredible 48 years of flawless service.
Two years later in August 1956, the Great Britain’s first 50 MW graphite moderated and gas (carbon dioxide) cooled
reactor started to operate at Calder Hall, England. Three more 50 MW each unit were added at Calder Hall in 1957,
 Firoz Alam et al. / Energy Procedia 160 (2019) 3–10 5
1958 and 1959. All four units were shut down in 2003 after 47 years of service life. These four reactors were
primarily used to produce weapon grade plutonium and secondarily for power generation [12]. One year later, on 23
December 1957, the first power producing Pressurized Light Water Reactor (PWR) nuclear power plant with 68
MW began supplying power to the grid at Shippingport, Pennsylvania, USA. Its construction began on 9 September
1954. After nearly 27 years life, its power generation was ceased in October 1982. This initial phase was followed
by a rapid growth of nuclear energy production in developed countries mainly in Europe and North America.
At present, 31 nations with 448 reactors generate power from nuclear energy totaling over 391, 814 MW which is
more than the total power generation capacity in India. Nuclear power generation is the 2nd highest clean power
after hydropower in the world. Table 1 shows the major types of nuclear power reactors. Nearly 65% power reactors
are Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR), followed by 17% Boiling Water Reactors (BWR), 11% Pressurised Heavy
Water Reactors (PHWR), 3% each of Light Water Graphite Reactors (LWGR) and Graphite Cooling Reactors
(GCR), and 1% Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) (see Fig. 2. PWR and BWR are collectively known as Light Water
Reactor (LWR) and water (H2O) coolant is used as moderator. A simplified schematic of various nuclear power
reactors is shown in Fig. 3.
Table 1. Operational Nuclear Reactors as of 31 December 2017, adapted from [15-17].

2. Nuclear power reactors in developing countries

The rising power demand, economic prosperity and energy security force developing countries led by Asian
nations such as China, India, Pakistan, Turkey, Bangladesh to look for nuclear energy for power generation as an
alternative to fossil fuel. As mentioned in section 1, at present at least 15 developing nations are either constructing
nuclear power plants or in the final stage of planning for nuclear power plants. Power generation through nuclear
6 Firoz Alam et al. / Energy Procedia 160 (2019) 3–10
reactor/devices has some concerns about safety issues (accident prevention, radioactive waste management, nuclear
proliferation, skilled manpower, etc.). Developing nations are trying to address these concerns by initiating close
collaboration with nuclear reactor manufacturers/ countries/ authorities and the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) in achieving safety, security and stability during construction and operation phases of nuclear power plants
[12,19].
Asia’s developed nations Japan (42+2), South Korea (24+4), Taiwan (6+2) already have matured nuclear
technology/reactors for power generation. China is a global leader with over 17 new nuclear power plants under
construction in addition to its operational 39 nuclear reactors for power generation. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh,
Turkey, United Arab Emirates (UAE) – all have nuclear reactors under construction (see Table 2). Additionally,
several more countries from Asia, Africa and South America (Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Saudi
Arabia, Uzbekistan, Egypt, Jordan, Kenya, Nigeria, Bolivia) are planning to have nuclear reactors for power
generation. Due to limited availability of uranium and associated technologies, India and China are focusing on
thorium fuel for nuclear power plants. Thorium is abundant in the nature than Uranium and is available in India and
China. Today, China and India lead thorium-based nuclear reactors (Liquid fluoride thorium reactor) research and
development. As the greenhouse gas emission per kWh power produced by nuclear power plant is almost 14 times
less and relatively cheaper to produce compared to fossil fuel technologies, most developing nations desire to have
nuclear power plants to generate almost greenhouse gas emission free power. Table 2 shows the countries with
various power reactors that are currently under construction. Eighteen countries mainly from developing world are
constructing power plants with 64 nuclear reactors having installed capacity of 65,882 MW. Half of these countries
are from Asia.
Table 2. Operational Nuclear Reactors as of 31 December 2017, adapted from [15-17].

In addition to huge cost, highly skilled technical and managerial personnel are required to plan, design, construct
and operate the nuclear power plant. Ironically most developing counties are currently lacking in skilled human
resources for nuclear power plant except China and India. This compels nuclear aspirant developing countries to rely
heavily on nuclear reactor vendors for design, construction, operation and human resources training. This
dependency not only increases the cost but also compromises various compliance issues and overall plant warranty
and safety.

3. Human Resources Development for Nuclear Power Plant in Emerging Countries

One of the important issues with the rapid expansion of nuclear reactors in developing countries is the acute
shortage of competent technical and managerial human resources. Human resources selection and skills
development for nuclear power plant in any country especially new comer country is a challenge. The roadmap for
human resources development must be well planned in association with the nuclear reactor providing country and
 Firoz Alam et al. / Energy Procedia 160 (2019) 3–10 7
local educational institutions. The operational life of a 3rd generation plus nuclear power plant is over 80 years. This
is why a long term sustainable human resources development plan is paramount. It cannot be done adhoc basis. To
manage human resources efficiently and effectively, adequate preparations are needed to develop the necessary
expertise. Workforce planning should: a) assess the current workforce and the extent it can be effectively utilised for
the commissioning and operation of a nuclear power plant, b) provide a systematic structure to evaluate various
human resource development designs and progress, c) identify competency gaps between existing and future
manpower availability, d) develop long term merit based recruitment strategies, e) provide clear career pathways,
incentives and competitive remuneration packages for workforce retention [20-23].
For work functions such as operations, reactor engineering, radiological safety and training, the recruitment
process may have to begin several years prior to the individual being needed for the position [20-22]. Table 3
illustrates the selected nuclear work functions at a nuclear power plant with long lead time requirements for training.
This data was sampled from sixty-seven (67) nuclear power plants in the United States based on their training
requirements. Similar approach and training lead time are required as per Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation
“Rosatom” as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The vigour of training and strict certification process of job competence
depend on national regulations/laws, standard of engineering and technical education, vocational training, labor laws
and industry practices.
As per the developed country standards, the number of technically skilled staff required for a twin-unit nuclear
power plant is estimated to be around 700 to 1,000 strong [4]. Furthermore, these staff need to be very competent to
ensure that the plant is operated in a safe manner by highly qualified personnel. For a new comer country like
Bangladesh and its twin-unit Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Pabna, the number of technically skilled personnel
needs to be over 2,000. In order to meet these expectations and strict requirements, the workforce planning for a
nuclear power plant must be carefully considered and designed at the early stages of the human resource
development program. There are several approaches on human resource development that can be carried out with no
experience in nuclear power. These include conducting feasibility studies and benchmarking exercises, preparing
long term human resource development and workforce management plan, increasing the exposure on nuclear power
to company operational, mid and top level engineering/technical and general staff through attendance to nuclear
courses and technical visits to nuclear power plant sites, and engaging the assistance of relevant institutions that
provide nuclear engineering/nuclear science education locally and abroad especially in reactor providing country’s
nuclear facilities.
As per IAEA guidelines, a country with no experience on nuclear industry needs at least 15 years in four major
phases (see Fig. 4) from the initial decision on acquiring nuclear technology to full-fledged operation of a nuclear
power plant. The number of experts required for all four phases is at least 2,200 (relevant ministry -100 experts,
nuclear power plant – 1,900 experts, regulatory body – 200 experts).
According to Russian Rosatom skills development plan, the nuclear education and training should start from the
professional orientation school followed by high school/college, higher professional education (bachelor’s program
including internships, master’s program and PhD and continuous professional development). The continuous
professional development (CPD) includes theoretical training and on-job-training in three major categories: i)
category A (chief engineer), ii) category B (repair and modernization head), and iii) category C (engineers,
inspectors, supervisors, etc.). The Rosatom road map also includes a) Assessment centres for different categories of
personnel, b) Support services for development of HRD activities within the nuclear power plant company, c)
Knowledge management system customized to the requirements and legislation of the country. By analyzing both
Rosatom and IAEA recommendations, the human resources development must include new comer country’s
existing education system, i.e., specialized schools/colleges, polytechnic institutes/ TAFE/ Technikum and
universities in partnership with educational and training institutes of the nuclear technology providing country.
Table 3. Types of jobs and training lead time required for work functions at a nuclear power plant [20-22].
Nuclear work task Job responsibility Time required to train
Project Management • Responsible for bid process and award of contracts; 3 years
• Direct, control and monitor contractor and in-house design
packages; • Establish and monitor project milestones.
Maintenance/ Construction ➢ Perform maintenance and construction work within the power block; ➢ 3 years apprentice
Responsible for job package development and work documentation. training program
Planners: 5 years
Operations • On-shift staff, supervisors and shift managers responsible for operating Shift: 2–5 years
primary, secondary and liquid radwaste systems; Non-shift: 6–10
• Non-shift personnel support operations staff as procedure writers, scheduling years
8 Firoz Alam et al. / Energy Procedia 160 (2019) 3–10
coordinators, technical specialists and training coordinators.
Reactor Engineering ✓ Analyze fuel performance, monitor core performance; 2 years
✓ Provide technical direction to operations during refueling, startup and
shutdown.
Nuclear Fuels • Performs core analysis, reload safety evaluation, reload design analyses, and 5 years
thermal/ hydraulic/ transient analyses;
• Responsible for nuclear fuel management, licensing and acquisition.
Radiological ➢ Plan and control the radiation as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) 5 years
Engineering program;
➢ Calculate radiation dose and shielding and review radiation work permits.
Outage Management ▪ Plan and coordinate all outage activities; 5 years
▪ Central contact point for refueling, maintenance and forced outage
management.
Nuclear Safety • Responsible for off-site and on-site safety review activities, such as operating 5 years
Review abnormalities, license and technical specification changes, and human
performance program.
Quality Assurance ➢ Implement approved QA program through periodic audits and surveillances, 6 years
➢ Establish QA policy, develop QA procedures, and review organizational self-
assessments.
Training • Provide formal training for nuclear staff and instructors, 5 years on the job
• Coordinate training schedules and operate plant simulators. experience

Fig. 4. IAEA recommended human resources development model, adapted from [26].
 Firoz Alam et al. / Energy Procedia 160 (2019) 3–10 9

Fig. 5. Russian nuclear technical manpower development model, adapted from [26].

4. Concluding remarks

The nuclear energy contributes to generate electric power globally over 11% after coal, gas and hydro energy
resources. The emerging economies prefer nuclear energy to generate power with less greenhouse gas emission to
meet their higher power demand than other energy sources. However, the major constraint for nuclear technology
expansion is the acute shortage of skilled human resources. Nuclear ambitious country needs to have a national
human resources development program for nuclear technology encompassing all areas related to nuclear safety.
Major components of the program must include safe operation, emergency preparedness and response, and
regulatory effectiveness; and seek to build on existing national capacity building systems (schools/colleges,
polytechnic institutes/ TAFE/technikum and universities) instead of revamping a new. The national skills
development program should consist of four essential elements: human resource development; education and
training; knowledge management; and knowledge networks at the national, regional and international level. The
nuclear technology supplying country should maintain a national human resource base and, at the same time, is able
to transfer knowledge and training alongside the technology it exports to a new comer country. Considering the long
life of nuclear power plant, stable national policies are important for maintaining the integrity and functionality of
nuclear program.

Acknowledgement

The first and second authors are highly indebted to Rosatom Technical Academy for invitation to attend the Train
the Trainers Course on Nuclear Power Plant for academics in Obninsk, Russia in July-August 2018. They also
express their sincere gratitude to Novovoronezh Nuclear Power Plant, Russia for granting permission to visit the
plant and its training facilities.

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