The Nuclear Innovation Institute is announcing plans to create a state-of-the-art training and applied research hub in Kincardine.
The facility would be built in an existing building in the Bruce Energy Centre and is expected to deliver high-quality educational programs in skilled trades.
“The training is really on two levels. Some of it is for skilled trades, and people may think of that as more conventional ways in terms of welding, or that type of application of skill,” says Bruce Wallace, the President and CEO of the Nuclear Innovation Institute, adding, “But others are living in a workplace that’s increasingly digital and increasingly automated, and where people and workers find themselves working alongside robots, perhaps, or working with more data in a digital space, working in virtual reality and training that way. And this facility will be state-of-the-art sooner rather than later, so this can accommodate that and meet those modern needs.”
He says that having a facility that could train and research was a part of the NII’s plan from its inception.
“One of the challenges is that there are always tremendous pressures on our workforce everywhere now, for a variety of reasons. But there’s a real need for skilled trades, and to get people certified and able to work both at the nuclear plant and beyond that, also in construction across the region.”
NII purchased their 33,000-square-foot facility in April, located in an industrial park across from the Bruce Power Visitors’ Centre.
They say the building’s classrooms and open industrial space will be converted into a top-flight facility that’s outfitted to teach skills required in electric generation and construction.
Wallace says that this facility would be part of a long-term investment for the future of the region, more immediately with training builders to work in the construction field, as well as to train new people to replace aging workers when they retire in the energy sector.
“One of the challenges is that as that Baby Boomer gap does retire, there aren’t as many people coming behind them and that’s not unique to here, it’s a bit of a wide industrial world phenomenon. So, as someone that’s a part of that Baby Boomer generation, I’m pretty eager that we have a strong, strong group of people coming in behind who have the skills, who are able to deliver on these projects, and can work and take care of me in my old age.”
The Nuclear Innovation Institute will partner with Bruce Power, the Power Workers Union, and post-secondary educational institutions to deliver training programs that meet the highest educational standards.
The organization expects they can begin offering courses as early as the Fall of 2023.