Nordic Committee: Increase knowledge sharing regarding nuclear decommissioning
According to the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) there are currently around 420 nuclear reactors worldwide, with around half needing to be shut down by 2050. This requires knowledge, and the committee believes that this presents an opportunity for skills development among both civil servants and workers in the Nordic Region.
“We need to boost our skillset in the Nordic countries when it comes to decommissioning nuclear power plants and utilising the resources that arise. The different countries in the region have their own strengths and knowledge in this field, but now we need to pull together and turn this into a pan-Nordic skill, and step up both our knowledge and research,” says Camilla Gunell, chair of the Nordic Council Committee for Knowledge and Culture.
Nordics can take leading role
The proposal suggests supplementing academic and vocational training with practical skills development in order to be able to safely dismantle nuclear power plants and develope new fields of usages, such as within the welfare sector and the pharmaceutical industry.
A Nordic centre would be able to assist with a trained workforce in the nuclear sector, with the better coordination and utilisation of skills for the benefit of all the Nordic countries, and with the strengthening of Nordic resources so that the region can take a leading role in nuclear skills development.
Matter to be resolved at the Session
Since being discussed at the committee’s meeting earlier this year, the proposal has been referred to both the Committee for a Sustainable Nordic Region, Committee for Welfare in the Nordic Region, and the Committee for Growth and Development in the Nordic Region. On the basis of this, at its meeting in Copenhagen in September, the committee decided to proceed with the proposal, which will next be debated in plenary during the Session of the Nordic Council in Oslo in week 44.
*nucleardecomissioning.pdf (iaea.org)
