Sure, nuclear energy has been on the nose with many since the meltdown at the Fukushima reactor in Japan. Germany has been leading the charge to do away with its reactors.

However, a report by energy analyst GlobalData shows that the growing ranks of nuclear energy generating countries in Asia are in the hunt for workers.

Emerging nuclear countries there such as China, India and even Japan are demanding a flood of staff to ensure safe and efficient operations.

GlobalData reports a significant gap between the number of nuclear engineers being produced and those retiring.

This needs to be addressed in order to keep the world’s nuclear reactors reacting safely.

Developed nuclear nations have the ability to develop the training programs required. They can simply tap their educational institutions. For some of the developing countries it is not so easy.

These developing countries may need to seek out collaborations with more experienced counterparts to introduce effective programs.

GlobalData head consultant Jennifer Santos said the problem of skills shortage was becoming a global phenomenon.

“There is growing consensus among several countries for the need to invest in educating a workforce that meets the requirements of the nuclear power sector,” she said.

“Developing the right skills base is a key priority for the industry.”

China’s rapidly growing economy and burgeoning population is energy deprived.

To meet its power demand and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the country plans to build 57 commercial nuclear reactors.

China’s existing nuclear fleet has 103,193 gigawatt hours of generating capacity. It plans to expand this to 384,614GWh by 2020.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has calculated that about 20,400 additional nuclear staff would be needed to support these expansion plans.

India also is looking to the atom for its energy needs. It too faces an energy constrained economy and, therefore, plans to build 36 reactors.

The IAEA estimates India will need 3700 nuclear engineers by 2017.

In an effort to meet this need there are 25 schools specialising in nuclear energy tipped to be built.

The Indian Department of Atomic Energy has devised various educational programs to support its large scale expansion plans.

Japan, surprisingly, plans to continue with its nuclear generation despite the Fukushima disaster.

It developed the Nuclear Energy Human Resource Development Council in 2007, drawing members from academic, industrial and government backgrounds.

The council analysed the supply of qualified people to the Japanese nuclear industry, aiming to avoid any manpower issues.

The NEHRDC concluded that of the 700-800 students majoring every year in various nuclear education courses, 500 would find employment in the nuclear energy industry.