On 2 March 2026, the Skills4Nuclear (S4N) project was discussed at the Brussels-held NESTet conference, organised by the European Nuclear Society (ENS) and the European Nuclear Education Network (ENEN). The conference focused on nuclear education and training, bringing together policymakers, academics, training providers, and other nuclear stakeholders.
S4N was presented by nucleareurope’s Jessica Johnson, leader of the project’s Work Package 3 (Communications and Attractiveness) and SCK CEN’s Jakob Luyten, leader of Work Package 2 (European Forum for Nuclear Workforce & Skills), as part of a parallel session on capacity building, skills, competences and qualifications.
Jessica and Jakob specifically highlighted the role of the S4N project in bringing together partners from varied backgrounds, including industry, research as well as education & training (E&T) organisations, to develop a collaborative framework addressing skills and workforce shortages in the nuclear industry, and formulate a skills strategy. They added that workforce shortages affect all skillsets, and are not limited to nuclear specific activities: some shortages, in construction or welding for example, affect multiple other sectors.
Following the introduction to the S4N project, Jakob gave an overview of the workforce assessments analysis conducted within Work Package 2. He presented the results and highlighted the weaknesses and best practices from the studies analysed, and added that the outcome of the analysis will inform result in a guideline document for conducting national nuclear workforce assessments, as well as contribute to a nuclear skills strategy.
Jessica then presented the communications, engagement & attractiveness activities conducted in Work Package 3. She detailed the content of recently published communications deliverables, such as the project’s Communications Toolkit, Communications and Dissemination Plan and Stakeholder Engagement Action Plan, before outlining future events organised by S4N. Watch this space for our upcoming webinar in May dedicated to the workforce assessment guidelines!