Energy security

US report identifies nuclear workforce trends

The 2020 US Energy & Employment Report (USEER), prepared under a Memorandum of Understanding between NASEO and the EFI clean energy think-tank, identifies important trends and skill sets for the USA's energy workforce. The report was first published in 2016 and 2017 by the US Department of Energy. EFI and NASEO have since 2018 organised and implemented USEERs to provide continuity with the previous editions and to provide year-to-year comparisons.

The report is intended to inform policymakers, academic decision-makers and the private sector in developing integrated energy, security, economic development and workforce plans.

"This kind of integration is key to maximising the benefits of the nation’s abundant energy resources, rapid pace of energy innovation, and dynamic energy markets … Creating a single and consistent measure of employment across the entire US energy system is critical to that understanding," the two organisations said.

The 2020 USEER analyses five sectors of the US economy: fuels; energy efficiency; motor vehicles; electric power generation; and transmission, distribution and storage. Nuclear industry employment falls into two of those sectors - electric power generation (EPG) and fuels. EPG covers all utility and non-utility employment across electric generating technologies, including fossil fuels, nuclear, and renewable energy technologies. Also included in the employment totals for EPG are firms engaged in facility construction, turbine and other generation equipment manufacturing, operations and maintenance, and wholesale parts distribution for all generation technologies.