Australia’s Open Pool Australian Lightwater (OPAL) reactor
By Robert Guilfoyle
On 10 March 2017, the Australian Young Generation in Nuclear (AusYGN) held their inaugural Annual General Meeting. At this meeting the AusYGN was relaunched with a mission to ensure all Australians continue to gain the maximum benefit from nuclear science and technology in the future, by engaging and supporting young Australians today. Nine members were elected to the executive committee to advance the goals of AusYGN. It has also been exciting to welcome members to the committee and to the broader network from other states within Australia and from diverse disciplines such as mining to regulatory. This has been achieved in parallel with a rapid expansion in interested members with now over 100 young Australian’s signed up to AusYGN and receiving regular updates and information on our industry.
With a growing member base in Australia, AusYGN is excited by the opportunity to engage with the global nuclear youth community at ENYGF2017 in Manchester, UK and IYNC2018 in Bariloche, Argentina where we hope to have strong representation. AusYGN is pleased to announce that it has already secured sponsorship to aid in providing grants for young professionals within our network to assist in ensuring they can gain access to these unique opportunities. A plan is in place to develop a formal grant process for these events.
Australia is also making ground towards bidding to host the IYNC2020 in Sydney, Australia. Following representation at the past five Congresses, the committee is enthusiastic about the prospect of showcasing Australia’s nuclear industry and expertise to our international colleagues. Great progress has been made in sourcing preliminary sponsorship and operating support for AusYGN’s goals in the coming two years.
AusYGN aims to:
- Develop and expand a network of young nuclear professionals within Australia and around the world
- Promote the peaceful uses and benefits of nuclear science and technology
- Promote transfer of knowledge between different generations of nuclear professionals
- Promote transfer of knowledge between young nuclear professionals
- Create professional development opportunities for young Australians in the nuclear industry
- Encourage young Australians to take up a career in the nuclear industry
- Be a voice for young professionals to the rest of the nuclear industry
More information about AusYGN can be found on our website: www.ausygn.org.
