"A World of Opportunities," was the theme of the second International Youth Nuclear Congress (IYNC 2002) held in Daejeon, South Korea, April 16-20, 2002. The conference theme reflects the viewpoint of the young generation that changes in the nuclear industry have led to exciting opportunities for those that wish to seize them. The congress addressed the transfer of information from one generation to the next; generating knowledge in the young; public communication; economic challenges to the development of nuclear power; and understanding regulatory needs and relationships with the regulator. Technical topics included opportunities for environmental protection; research and innovation in reactor technology; advances in safety, reliability and human management; challenges to the nuclear fuel cycle; and non-power applications of nuclear technology. These topics were presented through plenary and parallel sessions, poster presentations, and workshops.

As was the case for the first IYNC in Bratislava, Slovakia the congress was organized by and for the younger generation, but a number of established professionals from the nuclear world took part, as panelists during the opening sessions, in workshops, and as keynote speakers throughout the conference. The congress had approximately 300 participants from over 40 countries, indeed a "World of Opportunities".

Opening Sessions

During the Opening Session, Mr. Young Bok Chae (Korean Minister of Science and Technology) representing Mr. Kim Dae-Jung, President of the Republic of Korea, welcomed the participants to Korea and to IYNC 2002. Dr. Werner Burkart (Deputy Director General, Department of Nuclear Science and Applications, IAEA) representing Dr. Mohammed AlBaradei (Director General of the IAEA), Dr. Luis Echavarri (Director General of the OECD/NEA), and Ambassador John B. Ritch (Director General of the World Nuclear Association - WNA) introduced their respective organizations and presented their organizations' goals and objectives. Mr. Ritch provided insight into the new role of the WNA and its worldwide role as a representative of the nuclear industry, thereby providing a triumvirate of nuclear agencies along with World Association of Nuclear Operators and the IAEA. All presenters emphasized the importance of nuclear energy as a sustainable development energy source.

The Opening Session was followed by the "Nuclear Society Panel". The Presidents of the Korean Nuclear Society (Dr. Jae In Shin), the American Nuclear Society (Dr. Gail Marcus), the European Nuclear Society (Dr. Andrej Stritar), the Russian Nuclear Society (Dr. Anatoli Zrodnikov), and the Atomic Energy Society of Japan (Toshiki Miyamoto) presented their societies and the role these societies play in developing opportunities for the young generation. Gail Marcus talked about how a professional society can be a "stepping stone" in a career, how working on committees on a voluntary basis, can give a person the job training he or she will need later professionally. Andrej Stritar entertained the audience with a little quiz to illustrate that the nuclear industry is doing much better than many of us think - it is in fact blooming. He pointed out that part of the problem might be ourselves in not spreading the word on nuclear positively enough to the general public. Dr. Stritar concluded that spreading the words "yes for nuclear" is in our hands.

The speakers of the session on "Parameters Affecting Nuclear Opportunities in the Pacific Basin Nations" presented the status of nuclear science and technology in the USA (Dr. Shelby T. Brewer, Chairman and CEO Commodore Applied Technologies, Inc and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Energy, presented by John Graham (ETCetera Assessments LLP, USA), Japan (Dr. Kunihiko Uematsu, Senior Advisor, Japan Atomic Industrial Forum and Research Advisor, Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry), Korea (Dr. Byong Whi Lee, Professor Emeritus, Department of Nuclear Engineering, KAIST), Russia (Dr. Valentin Ivanov, Chief Scientist at the State Scientific Center of the Russian Federation), and Australia (John Graham and Ian Hore-Lacey, General Manager of the Uranium Information Center). The speakers explained what factors in history influenced the current status of nuclear science and technology and the lessons learned that the young generation should take note of. Dr. Brewer had three messages for the young generation: (1) technology excellence is not enough; (2) government and central planning are often the core of the problem: (3) and standardization is the key to success. John Graham, Past President of the ANS, noted that changes in the government have determined both the extent of Australian mining and the clients who may be served by the industry -- France for example being not favored for the receipt of uranium. Also he pointed out that several mines had simply been mined out. Thus, "despite there being large reserves of uranium in Australia an assured supply is by no means certain at all times. This is something the next generation should be aware of."

Technical Sessions

During session "Generating Knowledge in the Young", keynote speaker Dr. Toshi Konishi of the IAEA presented the IAEA's objectives in knowledge maintenance. The IAEA has taken up the challenge of preserving fast breeder reactor design and operating information which is fast disappearing as experts retire or die. Building upon the success of the OECD/NEA's program for preserving verified data from criticals around the world, a collaboration has been built of fast reactor technologists from all the involved nations to consider what information should be identified and preserved and how it should be done. In addition steps are being taken to preserve the ability of future generations through innovative university courses.

Keynote speaker Mr. Ratislav Petrech, Head of Foreign Affairs and PR of the Mohovce nuclear power plant, stressed the importance of the young generation in creating public acceptance for nuclear energy and the need to make nuclear "attractive and sexy". Ignacia Sebastian Luppi Berlanga (Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica, Argentina) gave the audience an update on the World Wide Young Nuclear Generation project, one of the active projects that the IYNC launched for work between meetings. The goal of this project is to gather people from different countries to exchange their experiences in different areas using a common email address. Kiza Francis (Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, Canada) presented the CNSC intern program where 8 engineering graduates were introduced into the nuclear world through a 2-year training program, in an attempt to attract young generation to the nuclear industry.

The session further contained presentations about the status of young generation groups in different countries. In particular, Claire Galley-Strong (BNFL, UK), brought some good news for IYNC by explaining that the IYNC 2000 meeting in Bratislava, Slovakia, had been the main reason for a very successful young generation revival in the UK.

Two sessions on Research and Innovation in Reactor Technology demonstrated, as the title of the sessions suggest, that the young generation has an enthusiastic interest in continuing to develop advances in reactor technology.

Dr. Leon Walters (former Director of Engineering of Argonne National Laboratory-West, USA), noted that although early on the nuclear community did not inform the public well-enough, the period from 1978 - 2000 was necessary for the nuclear industry to inform the world, and restore confidence following TMI and Chernbobyl.

He also set a challenge for the future. Typically energy is used 34% for process heat, 33% for transportation and 33% for grid electricity. Presently, nuclear power contributes 22% of grid electrical capacity of this country, but, therefore, only 7% of the total power capacity, since most of the non-generating capacity, transportation, is generated from oil. However, nuclear power could be used to generate hydrogen to be used in for future clean transportation, and could be used to desalinate water to compensate for our future decreasing water supplies. With these entries into other markets for nuclear power, calculations showed that the use of nuclear power could approach 50% or more of all power capacity need by the United States by mid-century. It simply takes innovation and will to enter the business of hydrogen generation and desalination.

There was a diversity and depth in the technical presentations. Kanthi Dasika (University of Las Vegas, USA) outlines his modeling work on oxygen controlled corrosion in lead-bismuth eutectics. Colin Elcoate (Frazer-Nash Consultancy Ltd., UK) described modeling of UK graphite cores in Magnox reactors. Li Jie (Nuclear Power Institute of China, China) described passive safety systems. Miguel Embid (CIEMAT, Spain) discussed the transmutation of nuclear wastes. Igor Kravitski (IPPE, Russia) re-emphasized this theme in his presentation on lead cooled fast reactors by saying that "the most important future strategy is composed of two strata - the first involving normal reactors and a second strata to transmute nuclear waste." Sergey Grachev (ENTEK S.A., Russia) closed this session by returning to the issue of modeling - this time of impurities in the BWR coolant.

The site of the International Tokomak Experimental Reactor (ITER), the next international experiment aiming at producing a viable power source, has not been selected. Canada is one possible site. Adam McLean (University of Toronto, Canada) presented a technical discussion of the ITER and the energy potential of fusion with the intriguing by-line of "Fusion will be the Energy of the Future -- Always."

In a session on Economic Challenges to the Development of Nuclear Power, economic and political conditions that favor the use of nuclear power were presented, as well as the challenges brought on by deregulation in different countries. The recurring comment which was introduced by keynote speaker Emmy Roos and confirmed by a number of speakers in this session was that nuclear can compete with other forms of energy and should advertise its low fuel cost and market independence to do so. This is especially the case in competing with gas.

Marjo Mustonen (Teollisuuden Voima Oy, Finland) brought a positive message from Finland. In addition to a renewal of the nuclear power plant operating licenses to 2018, a new nuclear power plant will be built. The reasoning behind this decision is that nuclear power partly covers the growing demand for electricity and replaces the old power plants but also it delivers clean energy and for the fulfillment of the Kyoto commitment combined with a small amount of "renewables"; it secures stable and predictable electricity prices; and it reduces the dependency on the import of electricity. In addition, Finland has also solved the politically difficult question concerning waste management with the decision that Finnish spent nuclear will be finally disposed of in the Finnish bedrock.

Two sessions on Non Power Applications of Nuclear Technology contained presentations on how the medical and food industries use nuclear know-how. A presentation by R.S. Faibish (IAEA, Austria) touched on a popular topic that came up on numerous occasions throughout the congress: nuclear desalination, or using nuclear energy for the production of potable water. The paper presented the support activities that the IAEA offers to its member states in this area and discussed the importance of economic competitiveness with alternative energy supply options, especially in developing countries. The viability of nuclear desalination has been demonstrated by extensive use in Kazakhstan (using a Liquid-Metal Reactor) and Japan (using Pressurized Water Reactors). He stated that design efforts of advanced Small and Medium Reactors with greater safety and low cost could potentially establish nuclear desalination as a feasible and competitive technology for water desalination in many developing countries that are experiencing severe water shortage.

The sessions on Developing Trust and Transparency with the Public. Keynote speaker Chang Sun Kang (Professor, Nuclear Engineering Department, Seoul National University, Korea) talked about the need to involve the public early on in the decision-making process instead of presenting them with a fixed decision. He pointed out that previous communication efforts have often failed, because a decision was made based upon the opinion proposed by a group of selected professionals using the cost-benefit analysis. Then, it was thought that the public could be persuaded and convinced AFTER the decision had been made. This is now recognized to be wrong.

Anthony Hechenova, (University of Nevada, USA) gave an update on the progress of the Waste Management Research Project (WMRP). This is another IYNC project launched after the IYNC 2000 congress. The goal of this project is to collect waste management information as well as public opinion information about nuclear waste from all IYNC member countries. More information on this project can be found on the WMRP web site at www.wmrp.nevada.edu.

A presentation by Hans-Wilhelm Boloni (Framatome ANP GmbH, Germany) about "Nuclear Power in Germany: Policy and Public Opinion" stirred up the audience. He talked about how in Germany, a Green government has taken drastic political decisions against nuclear energy, and it trying to make this decision final by approving a "Phase Out Law", even though recently, there does not seem to be a strong public support for those decisions. The law, which would have to be rescinded, would make it difficult for succeeding governments to provide sensible guidance. His story was definitely a lessons-learned and it will be interesting to follow further developments in this country, especially since, as Mr. Bolloni stated, for the Green parties throughout Europe, the situation in Germany is considered a pattern for many countries to follow to phase out the nuclear option.

Gabor Petofi (Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority, Hungary) impressed the audience with a presentation about the Hungarian young generation public information activities, in particular their participation in the Pepsi Island Festival, the biggest musical and cultural festival in Central Europe, where they used innovative tools to present the advantages of nuclear science and technology in a relaxed atmosphere. Among the examples were a photo of the Danube at night with lots of lights with the words "40% Nuclear Energy" superimposed upon it, and a T-shirt with the words "9000 radioactive atoms decay in a second IN YOU TOO".

Workshops and Media Forum

In addition to the technical sessions, IYNC 2002 offered 2 workshops. The Knowledge Preservation Workshop, organized by John Graham and Dr. Leon Walters, gathered a number of participants from different countries to find an answer to the question "How can knowledge be transferred across two generations when the intervening generation may not work in that field, nor use the information?"

The workshop participants concluded that in order to keep the new generation(s) aware of the value of the information and to maintain the ability to use it, the preservation of knowledge will take more than simply a gathering of quality data on the latest storage medium - it will take a continuum of people or ambassadors to transfer knowledge, to create an awareness of both the knowledge and its value. The workshop participants agreed with the existing IAEA recommended process (a Consultancy meeting on April 2-4, 2002 at Argonne National Laboratory.) That process recommended that the actual gathering and preserving information, knowledge, and wisdom, be the responsibility of individual nations, thus preserving knowledge rights. It was also recommended that individual nations appoint guardians of the information.

Pierre-Louis Chometon (SFEN Young Members Activities Program Manager) headed a New Management Skills Workshop. The small but enthusiastic group of participants was introduced to management skills by an expert presentation by Dr. Ernst C. Glauser (E.F.Q.M., Switzerland).

Emmy Roos (Washington Group International, USA) chaired a Media Forum. The panelists, John Shepherd (NucNet, Switzerland), Robert Holy (Mohovche NPP, Slovakia), Florence Avezou (Areva, France), John Chung (KAERI, Korea), and John Graham, started off by sharing some of their personal experiences in dealing with the media. Florence Avezou explained how she, as a young professional working in the nuclear industry, was asked by a local newspaper to talk about nuclear energy. The media saw an interesting story here, not because of the nuclear part of her story, but more because of her, being a young person working in the nuclear industry, she is someone who sees a future in this industry. A very positive article appeared in the newspaper the next day with the headline: "Nuclear is born again at La Hague". She concluded by pointing out the constructive role the young generation can play for the nuclear industry in cases like this. John Shepherd of NucNet gave some insight from the side of the media. He joked that journalists often frighten more people than radioactive waste does. He continued by stressing the importance of sending out information quickly, concise and accurately, using the example of the David Besse incident, where an article reported on a hole in the reactor. NRC sent out a press release immediately explaining the situation in as much detail as possible. This quick response reduced the impact of the first article a lot.

In a second round, they all presented their do's and don'ts in dealing with the media:

• DO'S: be open; respond immediately; keep your information simple, human and friendly; prepare your interview carefully (make sure you know the representative of the media you will be talking to and find out in advance what he/she wants to know); make sure your company shares your views; design the information for immediate use.
• DONT'S: Don't let your first contact with a journalist be with an incident; don't ignore questions; avoid acronyms, technical jargon; be careful with personal opinions; avoid hesitation; don't give too much information.

In a final round, the Chair submitted the panelists to a challenging media interview. Their performances were later discussed with the participants.

International Meeting

The last day of the congress, just before the closing session, an international meeting was held at which a representative from all 40 countries present at this congress, gathered to express their views of this congress and their suggestions for the next one. The request to stay active and work between meetings was very important to the representatives.

Closing Session

During the closing session, Dr. Leon Walters presented the IYNC Chair, Dr. Alexandre Tsiboulia (IPPE, Russia), the Congress Chair, Dr. Han Seong Son (KAERI, Korea), and the Technical Program Chair Adele Hollick (BNFL, UK) with an award commemorating the 50th anniversary of the startup of EBR 1 thereby passing on the torch of innovation.

Dr. In Soon Chang referred to Eisenhower's words "Atoms for Peace" (1954) and said that that statement opened up a world of opportunities for the nuclear industry at that time. He wished the young generation a similar world of opportunities with his concluding statement "Atoms for the Young Generation".

Adam McClean announced that the North American Young Generation in Nuclear will be the host for IYNC 2004 in Toronto, Canada, with support from the Canadian Nuclear Society.

We hope to see you there, eh!