WNU SI Programme Overview

The WNU Summer Institute (WNUSI) is a unique six-week leadership development programme featuring instruction from some of the world's foremost leaders in science, engineering and the global environment, team-building exercises, and technical tours to nuclear and other facilities.

Instruction

The WNUSI curriculum is designed to provide cutting-edge presentations on the full range of topics relevant to the future of nuclear technology. Presentations generally take place in the mornings, with topics falling into the following categories:

• Global Setting, including energy supply and demand, global warming and climate change, nuclear technology
  in sustainable development, lessons in public acceptance, and key political issues and trends;
• International Regimes, including safety, radiological protection, non-proliferation and security, waste management, transport, nuclear law, and global greenhouse emissions control;
• Technology Innovation, including next-generation reactors, advanced fuel cycle, waste management, hydrogen production, desalination, advanced battery power;
• Nuclear Industry Operations, including industry economics, knowledge management, fuel market, comparative risk assessment, and operational excellence.

Team-building and Leadership Development

In the afternoons, the selected participants or "Fellows" break into working groups composed of around ten people. A Fellow is likely to be assigned to three of these groups during the WNUSI, allowing him/her to work closely with a large number of people. Each group is overseen by a Mentor, one of a number of experienced academic or industry leaders that participate throughout the WNUSI. 

During working group sessions, Fellows engage in:

• Review of the morning's presentations
• Preparation of responses to challenging case studies assigned by faculty during the morning lectures
• Presenting information about themselves, and nuclear programmes in their countries
• Preparation of an in-depth presentation on a topic key to the future of the nuclear industry. Topics convered include: reprocessing, final repositories, international fuel banks, public perception. Presentations are delivered at a Plenary session during the last week of the programme
  

Besides the leadership development activities, the Summer Institute also consists of presentations from "Invited Leaders", people who have made notable contributions to the nuclear industry. Unlike the faculty members responsible for implementing the curriculum, Invited Leaders have the freedom to choose their message. In practice, they are likely to discuss: 

• Their organization’s current and future work
• The major challenges they see unfolding in their area of interest and experience and in the field as a whole
• What they think will be required of future leaders
• Describing the personal characteristics and skills one would look for in a future leader and how to prepare for assuming  responsibility
  

Technical Tour

Fellows engage in a one-week field trip to a variety of nuclear and industrial facilities. The types of facility visited during a technical tour include:

• Power reactor
• Reprocessing plant
• Research reactor
• PWR primary circuit manufacturing plant
• Fast breeder reactor
• R&D facilities
• Fuel manufacturing plant
• Enrichment facility
• Nuclear fusion facility
• Interim and final waste storage facilities

Assessment and Graduation

Fellows are required to help the organizers make the WNUSI a better experience the next year by participating in two assessments. All the Fellows and Mentors must provide comments electronically about:

• Each lecture & lecturer
• The overall organization and programme of the Summer Institute

WNU Fellows graduate in a final ceremony presided over by WNU Chancellor & IAEA Director-General Emeritus Hans Blix. Each WNU Fellow receives a certificate. This certificate may be used as credit towards a degree by certain academic institutions.