ANS certificate and certification courses continue to improve
The American Nuclear Society launched its inaugural Nuclear 101 certificate course at the 2024 ANS Winter Conference and Expo in November. The five-day program, which is designed to provide participants with a robust understanding of nuclear energy and engineering, was the talk of the conference, with nearly 50 attendees from different nuclear organizations participating in the course.
Nuclear 101 is tailored to a diverse audience, including new professionals in the nuclear industry, executives, managers, industry veterans, and especially individuals transitioning from other sectors or those beginning their careers in nuclear energy. The course is a great way to quickly gain foundational knowledge of nuclear concepts, but it does require some background in engineering and math.
The program’s 32 hours of hands-on learning immersed attendees in the world of nuclear and covered a wide range of topics, including the history and legacy of nuclear energy, nuclear fundamentals, the nuclear fuel cycle, nuclear reactors and power generation, licensing and regulatory concepts, radiation detection and measurement, health physics and radiation safety, nonpower applications of nuclear energy, nuclear safety culture, and industry codes and standards.
After the inaugural session, course participants and instructors alike provided nearly 30 pages of comments to help ANS improve future iterations to best serve the nuclear community. Overall, the students found the breadth of the content valuable, particularly the coverage of different types of reactors and how they operate. The modules on health physics and radiation detection were also among the most valuable topics, according to attendees. Many struggled with the math, equations, and what some described as “assumed knowledge” of the students. That didn’t hold them back from passing the final exam, however, as 90 percent of participants passed the test at the end of the 5-day course.
The Nuclear 101 course isn’t the only program ANS is working on. A certificate course on nuclear regulations and licensing is nearly ready for release as an online module course. Also in the works is the Certified Nuclear Professional (CNP), ANS’s comprehensive professional certification. The CNP is geared toward working professionals lacking in-depth nuclear industry knowledge, such as professionals with a degree in something other than nuclear engineering or workers new to the nuclear industry who want to shore up their knowledge of concepts and terminology. It is also intended for professionals who have degrees in nuclear engineering but who wish to continue their education or refresh their skills. Taking the CNP will provide professionals a means for learning and/or demonstrating their knowledge of the fundamentals of nuclear science and technology to assist in their professional and career development. It can also be a benefit to employers in the nuclear industry as a means for helping to qualify candidates by establishing a benchmark level of expertise and experience in the nuclear science and technology field.
Following these recent changes to the Nuclear 101 certificate course, along with the new courses in development, ANS will continue to improve this new and integral workforce development program to best serve and help grow the nuclear community.