UAE: Five Years To Create a Nuclear Workforce

As the UAE gets ready to launch its Nuclear programme, qualified Emirati technicians are now becoming a hot commodity. The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp (ENEC) which is the organization that is responsible for establishing and running the UAE’s power plants, wants to train a a generation of Emirati nationals to take up employment in the nuclear sector.

In fact, ENEC estimate that they will need to train 2,100 technicians, operators, engineers and scientists by 2020 — and they will need 500 of these employees trained and ready by 2017 which is when the first plant is due to come on-line.

The government is hoping that 60 percent of the workers wll be UAE nationals.

This means that that there is a massive opportunity over the next few years for Dubai inhabitants to start training to become nuclear technicians so they can have a long career in the growing nuclear sector in the UAE.

So, what steps must be taken by Dubai inhabitants looking to develop a career in the nuclear sector?

Currently, ENEC relies on a pool of foreign expertise to work on the nuclear reactor installation.  But, it has made connections with several universities and nuclear power companies to train nuclear Emirati undergraduates and graduates.

Attend Khalifa University to become a qualified nuclear engineer

ENEC has currently partnered with Khalifa University in order to provide full and partial scholarships along with bachelors and master’s programmes for both UAE nationals and expatriates. This programme will train students so they can enter the nuclear industry as a qualified nuclear engineer. If they wish, engineering and physics graduates can take their training even further with an advanced degree.

Train Overseas at MIT in the US

But, Khalifa University is not the only univerity, ENEC has partnered with Universities in South Korea and in the US so  Emirati can go and train to be a nuclear engineers in some of the top universities in the world. For example, in the US students can attend any one of the following unversities: Georgia Institute of Technology; University of Wisconsin; University of Michigan; North Carolina State University; Pennsylvania State University; and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Generous scholarship

What is especially good about training to be a nuclear engineer is that there are generous scholarships on offer. One of the most generous and popular scholarships is that on offer by Abu Dhabi Polytechnic where nuclear students can receive a monthly grant of up to $1,089 (Dh4,000), depending on their grades and levels of attendance.

However, if students miss 10% or more of their classes, they will receive a monthly deduction of $136 (Dh500) from their monthly scholarship payment.

Annual student bonus

As well as this, ENEC also provides students with a generous annual bonus while studying of up to $16,335 (Dh 60,000), and this is linked to grades.

Guaranteed job and great perks

Also, don’t forget that at the end of this well paid 3-5 year study period, nuclear graduates will be offered guaranteed, well paid jobs.

But, it doesn’t stop there, sponsored students receive additional benefits such as marriage and children allowance, medical insurance, book allowance and bi-annual air tickets for those studying abroad.

So, there is no doubt about it, with over 2,000 nuclear jobs to be created in the next 8 years, now is a great time for Dubai residents to start a career in the nuclear sector.