19
April
2021
|
09:38
Europe/Berlin

The heroes of nuclear power – looking to the future

Summary

Just when the pandemic was really starting to take hold back in March 2020, Malin Klintefjord and Veronika Ljungfelt were beginning their trainee posts in the nuclear power industry at Uniper. This has presented not only challenges, but also unique opportunities for two budding nuclear power specialists. 

As part of the efforts being made to safeguard the development of expertise within nuclear power, the nuclear power industry in the Nordic region – Uniper, Vattenfall, Fortum and TVO – launched a joint trainee program earlier this spring under the name Nordic Nuclear Trainee Program. Through this program, 15 recent graduates, or previously qualified engineers/technicians, will have the chance to receive highly qualified mentoring over a period of 15 months at one of the nuclear power companies’ various installations in Sweden. The program period will include two rotations, one internally at the trainee’s own employer and one at one of the other companies.

The idea was to hold joint meetings within the group right from the very start, but the COVID-19 pandemic put a stop to that. Malin Klintefjord, who is employed by Uniper and works on dismantling and final storage issues from a technical perspective, explains:

“I started on 9 March and managed a week at the office before we were sent home. Our first meeting under the trainee program was actually scheduled for 16 March, but it was put back to August. But it simply wasn’t possible to meet in person then either, so we started online meetings. The plan now is to meet in May, but it remains to be seen whether this will be possible.

 

Starting your trainee post right in the middle of a pandemic has been a challenge, but it has also offered a number of advantages, according to Malin. 

“It’s been challenging to familiarize myself with the operation without getting to see the plants themselves, but I’ve also been able to attend more online meetings and so “meet” colleagues who I might not otherwise have had the chance to meet. But I’m looking forward to being able to go out and meet my colleagues for real around the various sites.

Veronika Ljungfelt joined OKG in March and works on reactor safety in the Department for Reactor Safety and Cross-Technology. For her, the soft start was not entirely negative, as it offered her some unique opportunities to familiarize herself with the operation.

“I was really looking forward to the trainee program and getting to meet everyone else. But I was pretty fresh out of university and in a way it’s been good that I have quietly been able to familiarize myself with the operation from scratch. Despite the pandemic, I’ve spent a lot of time out around the plant and gained a broad understanding of it. I think I will benefit greatly from that over the rest of the trainee program. I think I’ll be able to contribute in a different way through exchanging experiences with the others on the program now that I’ve gained a much deeper knowledge than might otherwise have been possible had I not had this time to learn about everything from scratch.

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Malin_Klintefjord

Malin has an MEng in Engineering Physics from Chalmers University of Technology. Following a summer job at CERN in experimental particle physics, she was contacted by a group of researchers at the University of Oslo and took her doctorate there in experimental nuclear physics. After Malin completed her doctorate, she wanted to apply her knowledge to something that would be of benefit to society, and she started a postdoctoral position in applied nuclear physics at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, where she looked at methods for detecting uranium and plutonium for non-proliferation purposes. After that, she moved to Skåne and Uniper, where Malin saw a unique opportunity to apply her specialist expertise to issues relating to nuclear physics on a socially beneficial level. In her spare time, Malin is a keen runner and has completed the Disney World Marathon dressed in a Minnie Mouse costume.

Veronika_Ljungfelt (1)

Veronika has an MEng in Engineering Physics, having graduated from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. During her course, she first decided to do her master’s specialization in nuclear energy engineering, but was unsure whether she was ready to move to one of the sites in Sweden where the nuclear power industry was offering jobs. In the end, she chose mathematics for her master’s specialization. However, fate would have it that she would move to Kalmar after all, and Veronika then decided to apply to OKG and to the then recently launched trainee program. In her spare time, Veronika spends a lot of time down at the stables. She has five Icelandic horses and, working together with her mother, breeds these wonderful animals.

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