Education key to Jordan nuclear future - experts

By Taylor Luck

AMMAN - Despite the talk of technology, uranium and finances, the Kingdom’s nuclear power program hinges on one area, according to experts: education.

With the average nuclear reactor requiring a staff of 700, man- and woman power will be crucial to the country’s quest to harness atomic energy and end its reliance on energy imports, nuclear engineering education is needed officials said.

If the country is to proceed with its eventual goal of three reactors to transform the Kingdom into an electricity exporter, 2,100 specialized and experienced staff are required, according to officials.

“The greatest challenge we will face in our efforts to introduce nuclear power will be having a strong cadre of nuclear engineers and experts,” Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) Commissioner for Nuclear Fuel Cycle Ned Xoubi said during a nuclear power public information seminar on Wednesday.

The Kingdom is just part of a wider regional lack of nuclear engineers, with the Arab Atomic Energy Agency estimating that hundreds of nuclear engineers in the region left to work as civil and electrical engineers following the decline in demand for nuclear power in the 1980s and 1990s.

In order to address the shortfall in nuclear engineers, the JAEC assisted in the establishment of a nuclear engineering department at the Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST) in 2007.

According to Salaheddin Malkawi, director of the JUST nuclear engineering department, university administration has set the bar high; students must attain a minimum Tawjihi (General Secondary Certificate Examination) score of 95 to be considered for admission.

Even with the strict standards, the faculty has ballooned from an initial class of 18 to 145, he said.

A key to the university’s department is a 5-megawatt nuclear research reactor, currently being constructed by a South Korean consortium, which will be the focal point of a nuclear center at JUST.

The center is also to include a sub critical assembly, radioisotope production facility, education and training, and a fuel fabrication plant, according to Xoubi, who also serves as research reactor project manager.

In the meantime, JUST has sent students abroad to Russia and China thanks to scholarships extended by the host countries and have utilized a virtual reactor linking Jordanian students with North Carolina State University’s 1MW PULSTAR research reactor.

“The virtual experience has become very important; the students feel that they are in the reactor room,” Malkawi told The Jordan Times.

‘On track to a Jordanian program’

Kenneth Peddicord, director of the Nuclear Power Institute and professor at the Texas A&M Department of Nuclear Engineering, said the country is “on the right timeline” to have Jordanian staff in place ahead of the reactor.

“To launch a nuclear engineering program and have 140 students in three years, this is an incredible accomplishment,” he stressed, highlighting the importance of experienced engineers to man various managerial aspects of the program.

As nuclear engineers account for some 5 per cent of the average reactor staff, Peddicord stressed that the next task for the country is preparing future cadres of mechanical, environmental and electrical engineers.

“You have to ensure you have staff with diverse backgrounds in order to fully run a plant,” he said.

In order to meet the challenge, JUST is to introduce an MA program in project management in 2011, Malkawi said, adding that plans are in place for an MA in nuclear safety and regulation.

Another center of excellence, a joint venture comprising JAEC, the University of Jordan, Balqaa Applied University, German-Jordanian University, and the ministries of labor, public sector reform and higher education, will be established.

The center is to develop programs to prepare staff for nuclear and mega-projects not provided by existing educational institutions, Malkawi said, adding that the center will likely utilize community colleges and focus on virtual learning, such as JUST’s reactor link with the North Carolina State University.

The push for nuclear education could transform the country into a destination for countries such as the UAE, which are relying heavily on international staff to man its nuclear power program.

Even established nuclear states such as the US may send students to Jordan to learn about the field and a new culture, according Peddicord.

“Nuclear energy is increasingly international and our students need to learn about work in other areas. We would be very interested to enable students to spend time in Jordan,” Peddicord said.

With the focus on localizing the Jordanian nuclear program, energy officials are cautious when projecting a completely nationalized staff. Reaching a point where Jordanians are involved in every aspect of a nuclear power plant from top to bottom will likely take an entire generation, according to Xoubi.

Hans-Holger Rogner, section head of the IAEA planning and economic studies, said a generation is a fair assessment, pointing out that China relied on international operators before developing its own nuclear industry.

“When you decide to go for nuclear power, it’s not a passing fancy, it is a 100-year commitment,” he said.

The country’s nuclear power program entails the establishment of a 1,000-megawatt Generation III reactor within the next decade, with tentative plans for a second reactor devoted to water desalination some two years later.

17 December 2010

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://jordantimes.com/?news=32723.