Nuclear Workforce Demand Varies 'By Sector'

Ministry of Science and ICT Holds First Meeting of Nuclear Policy Development Team on 19th Afternoon
1st Vice Minister Oh Tae-seok Reviews Status and Discusses Measures with Experts

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] The domestic nuclear power sector shows differing manpower demands by segment, with mechanical and electronic engineering personnel needed in construction and operation, and nuclear and energy majors required in safety and decommissioning fields.

According to the Ministry of Science and ICT on the 19th, Oh Tae-seok, the first vice minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, held the first meeting of the Nuclear Policy Discovery Group formed under the Yoon Seok-yeol administration this afternoon to discuss various nuclear support policies and directions for research and development investment.

At this meeting, the shortage of specialized personnel related to nuclear power was a central topic of discussion. In particular, the Ministry of Science and ICT diagnosed the current manpower shortage in the nuclear industry through an interim analysis of a survey conducted by the Korea Nuclear Industry Association. According to the Ministry, the Korea Nuclear Industry Association has been surveying the demand for specialized personnel by field among 756 nuclear industry companies from last month to this month. Currently, 101 companies have responded. Regarding the demand for specialized personnel by field over the next five years, these 101 companies stated that the nuclear power plant design and construction sector will require a total of 695 personnel over the next five years, with mechanical/design fields accounting for 159 and electrical/electronic fields 208, making up the majority. They also responded that 240 personnel are needed in the nuclear field and 88 in energy and other fields, respectively.

In the nuclear power plant operation and maintenance sector, mechanical/design requires 403 personnel and electrical/electronic 256, totaling 659 out of 780, making it the largest demand. In contrast, the nuclear field requires 46 personnel and energy and other fields 75.

The future nuclear system development and nuclear/radiation safety, decommissioning, and waste management sectors showed the opposite trend. In the future nuclear system development sector, nuclear requires 38 personnel and energy 77, totaling 115 out of 207, the largest share. Conversely, mechanical design requires 51 and electrical/electronic 41, showing relatively lower demand. In the nuclear safety and decommissioning sector, energy and other fields require 302 personnel and nuclear 188, totaling 490 out of 682, the largest share. However, mechanical/design requires 122 and electrical/electronic 70, totaling only 192 out of 682 in other fields.

Regarding this, the Ministry of Science and ICT explained, "The private sector must lead nuclear research and development to flexibly respond to the expanding demand for nuclear utilization beyond power generation," adding, "Experts agree that it is necessary to accurately understand the field situation to determine whether companies' desired talents are sufficiently supplied and to develop customized manpower training strategies to fill the gaps."

Meanwhile, at this meeting, the Ministry of Science and ICT briefly reported on the preparation status for completing the establishment of the Innovative Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Development Project Group and the selection of the project leader within this year and collected opinions from attendees.

At this occasion, Vice Minister Oh said, “While we have achieved results such as nuclear technology independence through government-led capacity consolidation so far, it is now time to reorganize into a flexible, private-sector-led research and development system to respond to diverse nuclear utilization demands,” adding, “Please consider what is needed for nuclear power to become a safe and sustainable energy supply means not only on land but also at sea, underwater, and in space, covering all human activity areas, turning this vision into reality.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.