The urgency of the demand for new nuclear capacity means that leadership will need to embrace change and look outside the sector for ideas and personnel, an IAEA General Conference panel discussion heard.

The USA's nuclear workforce continued to grow in 2023 - but with over 60% of nuclear employees aged between 30 and 60, employers across the industry are reporting at least some difficulty in hiring workers, according to a newly released annual report from the Department of Energy.

The UK Fusion Skills Council - created by a partnership between the UK Atomic Energy Authority and 19 companies and academic institutions - aims to boost apprentices, graduates and post-graduate training opportunities.

Kristine Madden, president of the International Youth Nuclear Congress, discusses the key challenges and opportunities for young nuclear professionals in the near future.

A cooperation agreement has been signed between Edison, Framatome and Politecnico di Milano for scientific and technological research and training in the field of nuclear energy. The move comes amid growing support in Italy to reintroduce nuclear energy.

A new nuclear industry skills 'roadmap' - based on sector collaboration, investment in training, leadership development and improving diversity - has been launched in the UK aimed at attracting and retaining the sector's workforce of the future.

Framatome has broken ground on a USD50 million expansion of its Operational Center of Excellence in Lynchburg, Virginia, which provides specialised training and tooling to service and maintain North America's nuclear power plant fleet and develops solutions for advanced and small modular reactors.

The industry must seize the opportunities arising from a global change in the perception of nuclear energy, a panel session agreed during a side event at the World Energy Congress 2024. However, wide-scale collaboration is needed to ensure the industry can meet the expected growth in demand for nuclear power technology.

The nuclear power construction project in the UK has led to 8000 people being trained at specialist centres, and prompted a 25% increase in younger adults living in the area, according to the Hinkley Point C Socio-Economic Impact Report 2024.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced a package of public and private investment to reinforce the country's nuclear workforce and support 40,000 expected new jobs in its defence and civil nuclear industry.

The centre includes a full-scale plant control room simulator, Reactor Protection System prototype, and virtual reality experience as well as offices and classrooms, and will be used to train future operators of X-energy's Xe-100 advanced small modular reactors.

The International Atomic Energy Agency's Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi has said that gender equality "is not just right - it is imperative for net zero, battling cancer, and ending global hunger".