Analysis of the specialization requirements will be divided into different phases according to the important activities to be accomplished in the nuclear programme from the preparation phase until the commissioning and the initial commercial operation.

Engineering and procurement

To be prepared to issue a bid request for the first nuclear power plant, the staff need to be in place with a basic knowledge of the specific technologies chosen to prepare the bid specification and to establish the evaluation cri­teria. Staff should be available to evaluate and select a winning candidate from a technical, management, business and economic perspective.

Although operators and maintenance technicians do not have to be in place for the moment, some knowledge of operational and maintenance requirements needs to exist within the team. Initial education and training for the remaining resources to fully support plant operation should begin at this time.

The IAEA (2007b) identify the specific human resource needs at this stage including:

• Business and technical expertise for site qualification and preparation of the construction permit request

• Political and social expertise for public communication

• Technical and regulatory expertise to develop and implement regula­tions, codes and standards for plant licensing, site approval, operator licensing, radiation protection, safeguards, physical protection, emer­gency planning, waste management and decommissioning

• Business and technical expertise for fuel cycle procurement and management

• Expertise to conduct training programmes for construction and project management

• Plans to fully staff and train the regulatory body for operational oversight

• Plans to fully staff and train operating, maintenance and support organizations

• Plans to develop future expertise in all relevant areas, including any needed enhancements to the national educational institutions.

Professionals during design periods are needed primarily for project management and engineering. In addition, manpower is required to perform the supporting activities: NPP project planning and coordination, regulatory and licensing activities and fuel cycle activities, among others.

The conceptual design task will involve experienced engineers and tech­nicians. At the end of the conceptual design task all major characteristics of the plant should be defined. The results take the form of systems descrip­tions, conceptual drawings, data compilation and preliminary licensing information. These results should be subjected to an independent review by experienced engineers who are senior professionals not previously involved in the conceptual design development. Consultants who have pre­vious experience on other similar projects may also be utilized.

For basic and detailed design a high level of engineering practice is required. The preparation and review of equipment and component speci­fications constitute an important part of the detailed engineering task. The result of the design work will ultimately be passed on to sub-contractors in the form of equipment and plant specifications and drawings. The produc­tion of these documents is a major effort involving not only the design engineers but also other technical personnel knowledgeable in the areas of manufacturing, materials, engineering, licensing and quality assurance. For specifications work, in particular, there should be engineers with prior expe­rience of writing specifications to lead the task of specifications development.

Table 6.3 summarizes the specialization requirements during the engi­neering and procurement stages.