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Interesting engineering news and general interest to get you through the week.

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British Energy forced to cut training times in half
Clipped to the Drawing Board by John William  

British Energy has halved the time required to complete some of its basic training and engineering programmes amid an acute shortage of experienced nuclear staff.

Documents show that some of the group’s programmes to train staff to “Suitably Qualified and Experienced Personnel” level (SQEP) – a benchmark industry training standard set by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate – have been trimmed from 18 to nine months.

Currently, British Energy has drawn up plans for four new reactors at sites in the South of England

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bill (73) Senior board member | 2007-12-05 14:15:54
is it just me - or is there a big push on with nuclear reactors -a bit like a head of steam building
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/05/business/05nuke.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin
this article covers a move to restart building in the US
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DesD () Newbie | 2007-12-05 14:19:14
what does the world do ? we need energy and coal fired energy is pretty dirty - wind, solar - its there, but not in the quantity that the world needs - I don't know what the answers are - damned if you do and damned if you don't
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May () Newbie | 2007-12-06 04:27:55
Alternatively we look at the problem the other way round. Can we change our lifestyles to reduce our energy needs. People are already starting to do it and I'm sure we can go a lot further. Maybe we need an entire culture change. Simplify your lives and not only save on energy but also stress, money too as well as countless other benefits
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Ghentie () Newbie | 2007-12-05 14:25:11
from engineering standpoint - its got to be nuclear - get all controls in place - clean - cost efficient - what more you want - battery powered cars charged from nuclear powr station - get away from oil and Arabs with all troubles, pollution etc politics muslim problems = perfect world
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Gerry () Newbie | 2007-12-05 14:34:29
I've got to say that it terrifies me to think of the countries which have nuclear plants and capability - yeah from an engineering perspective - all controllable and doable but can you trust the political and religious elements in a lot of these overseas places plus how good is the engineering and control measures - I have enough trouble being confident that the Western politicians and their business cronies can be trusted - (too many opportunities for"sweet" deals and cost cutting to make a few extra bucks on the side) Good in theory - but in Practise - Gee I don't know - but what is the alternative?
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Omar () Newbie | 2007-12-06 04:19:16
Nuclear is pretty safe nowadays. We have quite a few nuclear plants all over the world and when was the last time you heard anything about any problems with any of them? I can't remember any showing up in the news personally.
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bill (73) Senior board member | 2007-12-05 19:41:17
I get worried when I read that training in critical industries is going to be halved - I hope that these guys know what they are doing because you don't get a second chance with a nuclear reactor - I'm getting visions of Homer Simpson and the plant he worked in.
In my view the training is critical and there should be no way it should be compromised - it should be a case of "whatever it takes" to get a foolproof system in place.
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Terry () Newbie | 2007-12-06 04:23:31
Yeah, you do have to get just a little worried don't you. But then again, without knowing all the facts it's hard to judge. Possibly the existing training was sloppy and inneficient and outdated and after cleaning and polishing you really can cut 1/2 the time and not lose any quality.
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Trevor () Newbie | 2007-12-06 04:25:27
You could be right on that, but we'll never know.

Another point to consider is that many other industries include on the job training and it could be just as applicable here. Get them started with safe tasks (even in a plant there have to be a fair number of these) and they'll learn much quicker on the job than in the classroom.
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bill (73) Senior board member | 2007-12-06 20:26:48
what's wrong with a plant being run by Homer Simpson - he does OK in Springfield
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DesD () Newbie | 2007-12-05 19:49:56
Bill, I'm with you on the training side - I've seen too many instances where the bean counters go into a good team and chop it about to save a few bucks - get rid of experienced people and replace them with about half the number of inexperienced people on half the money. - it never works - but the bean counters move on and nobody is left who knows how a good system should work so everyone struggles and the company is far worse off - thats bad enough in a regular engineering and manufacturing company - cos theres no room for error in the nuclear industry
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Jack () Newbie | 2007-12-06 15:06:10
I note the attached article from the UK
http://www.builderandengineer.co.uk/news/general/nuclear-reactors-should-use-british-labour-1201.html
it looks like there is going to be more built in the UK- on the one hand they are complaining that they can not get enough skilled labor (see above) and on the other hand there is a demand for 70% local UK content - how about they try and get the story straight
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Stan () Newbie | 2007-12-06 20:19:39
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml;jsessionid=OWHFSLYJHCMBXQFIQMFSFGGAVCBQ0IV0?xml=/opinion/2007/12/06/do0602.xml

I read this sort of stuff and get very nervous about the path the UK is taking - no wonder they struggle to get good technical people if this article is anywhere near accurate and they are going to build and run Nuclear Power plants ?? -
But seriously, I guess it's a sign of the times across most Western countries - my gut feel is that there will be 2 distinct educational standards - the high and very skilled achievers and the lower end, who are out of it - the danger is - what percentage end up at the lower end ?
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Tess () Newbie | 2007-12-06 20:23:48
lets stick to business and engineering -if we start trying to change the socio economic order of the UK and then the world who knows where we could end up
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Tess () Newbie | 2007-12-12 03:22:19
maybe the UK isn't the only country which needs to sharpen up when it comes to nuclear power and standards
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2007-12-11-nuclear-plant-safety_N.htm?csp=34

it's very easy to get complacent as this news article shows -
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Wednesday 5 December, 2007 02:03 PM
 
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