Teacher: Walks briskly into the class
Students: Good morning Sir
Teacher: Good morning students… How are you doing?
Students: We are doing well and you?
Teacher: Great! Today, we shall be learning an important chemistry topic called periodic table. Mendeleev, a Russian scientist in 1969 was the first to construct it. He arranged the elements in order of increasing relative atomic mass. As one moves down the table, the presence of Uranium and Plutonium is noticed. Well, these are the most common nuclear fuels used in nuclear plants. Everyone is exposed to low levels of Uranium in our environment but exposure to large concentrations can cause kidney damage or lung, liver and bone cancer.
Students: This is terrifying Sir. That means pursuing a career in the nuclear sector is a no-no for us
Teacher: Emmm Emmm… Trying to win over the students
Bell rings as the lesson ends rhethoritically.
The above is an illustration of the conversation that takes place within the classrooms of many educational institutions around the world globally.
Given the growing importance of decommissioning due to increase in the rate of permanent shutdown of spent plants coupled with the repel of the young generation of workers , there is an urgent need to bridge the nuclear divide ; On boarding youths unto an app to train, enlighten, and collate multidisciplinary innovative decommissioning ideas.
When teachers fail to balance their lessons, students generate negative mind-sets towards the nuclear sector. Hazards exist though but there is need for awareness to be made with regular updates regarding safety measures, faster techniques and more effective measures currently in use for decommissioning nuclear facilities.