NESTet 2008: Interview of EMSNE graduate

by Helin Sanna, Finnish Young Generation

The topic of the NESTet conference held on 4 - 8 May 2008 in Budapest, Hungary, was Education and Training. The main theme discussed under this topic was the challenge that the nuclear business is facing at the moment: the need to preserve and transfer the nuclear knowledge. This challenge is even more current today as the world is going through a nuclear renaissance - several new nuclear power plants are being built at the moment and even more are planned to be built in the near future. Therefore, the need for competent and experienced workforce is growing not only due to ageing of the people working in the nuclear business today, but also because numerous new people must be recruited in the nuclear-related fields in the becoming years.

One step forward in facing this challenge is the training program provided by the European Nuclear Education Network (ENEN), the European Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering (EMSNE). In the opening session of NESTet, the graduates who had taken their EMSNE degree in year 2007, received their diplomas. The EMSNE programme can be attended by students who have obtained a master degree in nuclear engineering or equivalent, from an ENEN member institution, on the condition that their master program fulfils certain requirements.

As ENS Young Generation reporter, I interviewed one of the graduates, Moustapha El Hachmi.

Prior to applying for the EMSNE program, Mr. El Hachmi had a Master's degree in Physics Engineering (Ingénieur Civil Physicien) from Université Libre de Bruxelles and thanks to a special agreement with his home university, he carried out his last academic year in Institut National des sciences et techniques nucléaires in Cadarache (France). Therefore, in addition to his Master's degree, he also has a specialisation certificate in Nuclear Engineering from INSTN. As for his End Study Thesis, Mr. El Hachmi finished it in the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA).

Mr. El Hachmi applied for the program as he considered it a significant advantage for his employment and his possibilities as a PhD. Now that Mr. El Hachmi has taken the degree, he has received a lot of job offers from different organizations and enterprises involved in the nuclear sector. He thinks that his future prospects are very good, especially in the current situation of nuclear renaissance all over the world.

According to Mr. El Hachmi, the EMSNE program taught him the scientific and technical aspects of nuclear installations from the design until the construction, as well as the operation and the decommissioning of those installations. The lessons were exempted by researchers and/or engineers working in the research centers or other institutions and companies of the nuclear industrial sector. The lecturers were selected, each one in their field, on the basis of their competence and their professional experience, in order to ensure the "transfer of the knowledge". "The lecturers were internationally known experts from leading universities and research institutes in the nuclear field", Mr. El Hachmi pointed out.

Attending the program was full time work for Mr. El Hachmi. At the time of taking the degree, he was still a student. In Mr. El Hachmi's opinion, the quality and the multidisciplinary of the program made him a specialist who will be able to improve the performance and the safety of the existing nuclear plants, to build and operate new nuclear reactors, and to develop tomorrow's technologies. As there are many challenges in prospect for engineers who have this kind of specialization and as everything has be done in an international environment with people from different places, Mr. El Hachmi truly appreciated the opportunity to carry out an internship of 5 months for the

End Study Thesis in order to apply all that was inculcated to him in a theoretical way during the first six months of the training.

Helin Sanna
TVO OL3 Project
Teollisuuden Voima Oyj
27160 Eurajoki
Finland
sanna.helin@tvo.fi

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