Industry lays out workforce plan to support nuclear expansion, urges demand signals from states
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Summary
The Nuclear Energy Institute told North Dakota legislators that a national effort to recruit and train workers for new nuclear deployment is underway, recommending demand-driven timing, modernization of training and local supply‑demand analyses to avoid exporting trained workers.
The Advanced Nuclear Energy Committee was told that workforce capacity will be a central constraint in any nuclear buildout and that states should prepare demand signals to align education and training programs.
"The DOE suggests that we might need up to 376,000 new workers," Laurie Brady, Senior Director of Human Resources and Workforce Development at the Nuclear Energy Institute, told the committee as she reviewed the industry's strategic workforce plan. Brady described six pillars the industry is pursuing—career awareness, pipelines, training and qualification, policy and legislation, employee engagement and retention, and nontraditional pipelines—and highlighted tools such as the NuclearWorks career website and a revised Nuclear Uniform Curriculum Program for community colleges.
Her presentation included early metrics: NuclearWorks has recorded more than 80,000 active users and roughly 320,000 clicks since launch, and NEI has developed a short credential aimed at placing workers into plants in less than six months.
Brady urged states to avoid a mismatch between training ramp‑ups and actual local demand: if programs are expanded too early without confirmed local jobs, trained graduates may move to other states. She recommended regional supply‑demand analyses and collaboration with industry to time program starts so education investments align with expected plant staffing plans.
Committee members asked about the role of AI and advanced manufacturing in reducing workforce needs; Brady said industry discussions suggest AI will automate some administrative tasks but is not expected to replace core roles. She said advanced manufacturing and modular construction can create efficiencies but are unlikely in the near term to materially cut the overall number of skilled craft workers needed for construction.
The committee heard that different reactor technologies have distinct staffing and training needs—some require multiyear degrees for specialized roles while other positions can be filled via shorter, stackable credentials—and that states should tailor planning accordingly.
Brady closed by encouraging legislators to work with the NEI’s state and regional consortia to pilot local workforce analyses and to adopt career cluster curricula at the K‑12 and community college levels to grow the pipeline.