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Higher Level Skills Partnership: Sustainable Provision Workshop

17 February 2011

Dr Jonathan Francis

Head of John Tyndall Institute

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Aims of Workshop

• Report briefly on JTi HLSP projects since 2007

• Consider drivers and strategic priorities for additional provision

• Consider hazards to sustainable provision

• Discuss tactics for sustainability in skills provision

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JTi Projects

• L7 Certificate in Science & Technology of Nuclear Waste

• L4/5 FD Nuclear Related Technology

• L4/5 FD Nuclear Project Management & Control

• L7 PGCert Nuclear Safety Case

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Vision

The University’s overall vision is to be the leading UK university for nuclear skills, operating regionally, nationally and internationally, supported by research excellence and enterprise in specialist areas.

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Why FDs?

• Reviews in the wider context– Nuclear and Radiological Skills Study (2002)– Skills needs Assessment for the Nuclear industry (Cogent,

2006)– Regional Economic Strategy (2006)

• Education to underpin skills training

• Localised West Cumbrian needs

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What is the nuclear agenda and why is it important ?

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What is the nuclear agenda and why is it important ?

Nuclear Industry

• Important industry for the UK

• 23% of all electricity

• Sector contributes £3.3bn to the UK economy

• Employs 40,000 people

• 20,000 in the North West

• .............in 2007!

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Global Energy Demand

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UK Nuclear Sites

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The ‘complex’ legacy

• Some nuclear plants do not have detailed inventories of waste.

• Some lack reliable design drawings. • Many were one-off projects, built as experiments to

test new approaches and ideas. • Decommissioning was not designed in.• “Therefore the challenge is often not how to tackle a

particular task, but rather deciding what the task is”. – NDA

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Geological Disposal of Radioactive Nuclear Waste

• Depth of up to 1000 metres underground

• Cost around £15bn

• Will take 40 years to develop and operate

• … and we are late.

• Volume of waste is around 470,000 cubic metres

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Sustainable decommissioning

• Reuse and recycling• Metals and rubble

• Decontamination and exemption / free release

• Offsets cost of decommissioning for NDA

• Massive LCR advantages to LLWR needs

– ..... All needs Higher Level Skills!

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New Build

Westinghouse AP1000

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Challenges and Opportunities

• Major impact of decommissioning on communities Workforce profile is changing– 8,000 job losses in Sellafield– 1 in 4 local jobs dependent on Sellafield– New technical and project management jobs at Sellafield– Retirement looming for many

• The UK has a skills deficit in all these areas• Industry restructure affects the supply chain• Nuclear industry is a global industry

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What makes a course sustainable?

• What is ‘sustainability’ in HE provision?

• For who must it be sustainable? Whose benefit?

• Ebb and flow of need and desire• Life cycle of the course• Evolution or re-inventing?

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What makes a course sustainable?

• CHAMPIONS, CHAMPIONS, CHAMPIONS• Partnership with industry• HE understanding the shifting client need

– Evolution of provision

• Client understanding the role of HE related to training, the personal needs and sensitivity of learners and value for money– Feedback / metrics from line managers

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Developing threats

• Funding issues– Small cohorts for bespoke courses less attractive to HE– Co-funding difficult to implement as a ‘in-kind’ arrangement– Co-funding across different providers nationally

• More aggressive market forces within HE and CPD market; and public funding cuts (e.g. NDA)– Less confidence in investment – impermanent posts

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The End

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Possible Discussion 1

Assuming higher fees leads to fewer students entering HE………

• Could HE funding cuts lead to an increasing interest in STEM subjects and support for vocational courses?

• Or will we see fewer students across the range of HE provision?

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Possible Discussion 2

• Is it possible for full-time students to be taught alongside part-time students?

• Is there likely to be a shift toward part-time study?

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Possible Discussion 3

UCLan is engaged in the Working Higher project – a blended learning FD development for the COGENT sector

• Is blended learning suitable for industrial need?• Is blended learning able to enhance sustainability of

a course at foundation degree level?