Education and Training in Radiochemistry: The NAMP Initiative

In 2009, the nuclear industry employed approximately 120,000 people. Nearly 38 percent of this work force will be eligible to retire within the next five years. To maintain current levels, the industry will need to hire approximately 25,000 more workers by 2015 [1]. Given that the current radiochemistry workforce is approaching the age for retirement and that a limited number of universities in the United States (U.S.) provides radiochemistry curriculum, this country is faced with a growing demand for the education and training of scientists in the radiochemistry arena. Furthermore, it is critical for the U.S. to maintain global leadership in the next generation of safe nuclear energy technology from both a national security and an environmental perspective. This will require a robust program that focuses entirely on educating and training the next generation of radiochemists in subjects such as radioanalysis of actinides and radioelements not only in the environment, but also in medium pertinent to the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle; speciation of radionuclides; detection methods; safeguards, etc. Therefore, the National Analytical Management Program (NAMP) has organized a subcommittee focused on training and education in radiochemistry [1]. Through the efforts of this subcommittee, NAMP has established collaborative associations to foster the exchange of scientific and technical information with professors in radiochemistry programs at different universities. This paper presents our accomplishments and highlights our plans for the development of a curriculum for an intermediate radiochemistry course in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Short (2-hour) webinar presentations on specific radiochemistry topics have been developed and will be offered as interactive on-line conferences. The webinars will be recorded and archived to become a library or collection of seminars for on-line access from the NAMP website.