Nuclear Summer School in the Low Countries sets the bar high
SCK CEN Academy and Nuclear Academy get talented young people interested in a nuclear career
29/08/2025 – Belgium and the Netherlands are both relying on new nuclear plants for their future energy supply. But if you want new reactors tomorrow, you are well advised to recruit a new generation of nuclear experts today. That message is clear to both the SCK CEN Academy and their Dutch counterpart, Nuclear Academy. It is why they teamed up to organise a Nuclear Summer School, with the baseline ‘Your gateway to a career in nuclear’.
Five days, two countries
The summer school – which was held between 25 and 29 August – targeted new graduates, final-year students and young professionals with a scientific education, such as engineering, physics, chemistry or maths. There were 152 candidates for 40 places, which already indicates the interest in the nuclear renaissance among those in their early twenties.
The summer-school participants visited nuclear facilities, research centres and industrial sites in Mol (SCK CEN), Borssele (EPZ and COVRA) and Delft (TU Delft Reactor Institute). They also attended lectures from experts, researchers and policymakers in the nuclear world. They described the workings of a reactor and the diversity in reactor types, and summarised the Belgian and Dutch nuclear landscape – including the associated societal challenges, such as managing nuclear waste. Two productive job fairs took place too, one in each country.
Happy students, happy tutors
“With the summer school, we aim to encourage talented young people to pursue further specialist studies or take up a career in the nuclear sector,” says Michèle Coeck, Director of the SCK CEN Academy. Did the school succeed in this mission?
Lore Vinken: “I am about to embark on my final year in mechanical engineering at KU Leuven and was delighted to discover the career opportunities in the nuclear sector at the summer school. I can see myself working on cooling systems or rectors in the near future. And thanks to the company of other ambitious and pleasant students, and interesting stories from experts in the nuclear field, it was a wonderful week.”
Lucas Vastenhoud: “The summer school was recommended by my professors at TU Delft. And rightly so, because the school showed me the diverse angles of the nuclear sector, and helped me to explore my future employment direction. I found the talk about ethics and nuclear energy enlightening. After all, it is sometimes easy to lose yourself in theory and technology, without realising the impact on society.”
“It is pretty likely that I will soon step into the nuclear world,” continues Lucas. “For me, designing modern reactors and neutron dispersion are both so fascinating. At summer school, I met professionals from both domains. And I also enjoyed meeting Belgian and Dutch contemporaries with common interests.”
Not only the summer school students were enthusiastic, the lecturers were too. Irina-Georgiana Sanda, Reactor Pre-licensing Project Leader at SCK CEN: “Above all, I was keen to get a new generation of students excited about the nuclear world. Our Academy here and the one in the Netherlands both have so much know-how, that we are keen to share with the younger generations. Europe is once again counting on nuclear plants to generate energy in a sustainable, carbon-neutral manner. Therefore, we also need a new generation of nuclear experts to build the nuclear plants of the future.”
