Nuclear Science Week begins Monday

The South Carolina-Georgia region will take part in the observance of National Nuclear Science Week through activities intended to recognize nuclear industry professionals and raise awareness about the uses of nuclear power.

National Nuclear Science Week, sponsored locally by the Savannah River Site Community Reuse Organization and the Nuclear Workforce Initiative, is celebrated Jan. 23 through Jan. 27 with the theme "Get to Know Nuclear."

The week long celebration began nationally three years ago, but the observance locally is in its first year, Nuclear Workforce Initiative program manager for the SRSCRO Mindy Mets said.

"The expertise in this region is incredible, and so we're trying to help celebrate that as part of National Nuclear Science Week," Mets said. "It kind of opens people's eyes, hopefully, to the fact that nuclear technology is used in many, many ways in our daily lives and they may not realize it."

Throughout the week, the NWI website, www.nwinitiative.org, will feature frequently changing information on different topics each day, geared toward all ages and levels of education.

New animation will be released to help explain concepts to an elementary school crowd, and two movie-type trailers will be released providing information about new Virtual Job Shadowing technology intended to be launched in the near future.

Four virtual shadowing modules - nuclear technicians, nuclear medicine, nuclear construction and nuclear technology research - will allow middle and high school students to virtually shadow those working in the nuclear industry.

Mets said that the nuclear industry, which is expected to need 10,000 new workers in the region in the next decade, is a difficult industry for young people to see firsthand, mostly because of safety concerns.

"Especially in nuclear, you can't really go and view something in the field. This gives students a chance to hear from people in the field," Mets said. "It is one more tool that's out there that helps students get a feel for the different careers. It is very valuable in our area."

Local organizers have distributed more than 900 educational posters to eight different school districts through the college level with information about nuclear topics, as well as Op-Ed pieces in area newspapers.

The week will wrap up Friday with a Community Leaders forum to be held at Aiken Technical College that includes the officials from the Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, Savannah River Remediation, Shaw Areva MOX Services, Parsons, Ameresco, the Department of Energy-Savannah River office, Savannah River National Laboratory and the National Nuclear Security Administration.

Because of space constraints, the forum is not open to the general public.

National Nuclear Science Week is a platform for nationwide discuss on the need to recruit the next generation of students to studies and careers in the science, technology engineering and math fields, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu said in a statement.

"Despite the enormous technological advances we've made in the last six decades, America's nuclear future remains a vitally important field for research and scientific discovery. The challenges and opportunities that lie ahead - in both the civilian and defense sectors - will require the talents of our best and brightest scientists," Chu stated.

For more information about National Nuclear Science Week, visit www.nwinitaitive.org.

Anna Dolianitis is a reporter for the Aiken Standard. She covers the Department of Energy's Savannah River Site, as well as court and legal matters affecting Aiken County. She has been with the Aiken Standard since August 2010.

Nuclear focus areas by day to be featured on NWI website:

-- Monday, Jan. 23 -- National Nuclear Science Week

-- Tuesday, Jan. 24 -- Local Nuclear Presence

-- Wednesday, Jan. 25 -- Careers and Jobs

-- Thursday, Jan. 26 -- Understanding SRS

-- Friday, Jan. 27 -- Education Initiatives