From Knoxville, TN station WBIR and the Associated Press:
As nuclear power returns to the energy agenda, universities scramble to train workersHat tip Instapundit. This is incredibly good news. There have been wonderful advances in the design of reactors. Considering that it used to take 10-20 years from the initial design to coming online, a lot of the old "scary" designs were literally sketched out on cocktail napkins back in the early 1950's -- a lot of good solid engineering has happened since then. Add to that the fact that we have several hundred years of fuel in the USA and Canada (this presumes the use of breeder technologies) and that there are zero greenhouse gasses emitted, this makes it a no-brainer when it comes to our socially engineered energy 'crisis'.
Nuclear engineering programs at universities nationwide are brimming with students eager to break into what they see as a growth industry.
This rebirth of learning comes after a decades-long slump that prompted many schools to scale back nuclear engineering programs and some to close altogether. Some experts worry whether enough new workers can be trained in time to support the potential growth.
There are now 65 nuclear power plants operating in the country, most built during a flurry of construction in the 1960s and '70s. There have been no new plants built since 1996.
Jackie Young, a junior at the University of Tennessee, says professors there briefed her and other undeclared freshman about what they call a "nuclear renaissance" in the country. Young says she's counting on many career opportunities in the field.
A work force study this summer by the American Physical Society found that the number of students enrolled in undergraduate nuclear engineering degree programs in the U.S. rose to more than 1,900 in 2007 from a low of about 500 in 1999.
