OREANDA-NEWS. Hitachi, Ltd. started the first European training course aimed at assisting with human resource development for the nuclear industry in the Republic of Lithuania today.

The course is being run jointly with the Tokyo Institute of Technology and includes instructors from both organizations being posted to Lithuania. Although being held at Kaunas University of Technology, one of Lithuania's leading universities, the training is not restricted only to students of that institution. Rather, the approximately 50 participants will also include students in the entire Baltic States specializing in nuclear power, and researchers from other institutions involved in the nuclear industry.

At the opening ceremony, which was held this morning, Rector Professor Petras Barsauskas at Kaunas University of Technology said, "We highly believe in University's cooperation with nuclear power professionals of Hitachi and Tokyo Institute of Technology and mutual benefits of nuclear energy human resource development program. Our country requires nuclear engineering specialists not only in the nuclear power plant management but also in the state institutions."

Akira Maru, Senior Corporate Officer of Hitachi, Ltd. said, "A wide range of technologies and specialization is required to construct, operate and maintain nuclear power facilities and personnel who specialize in such technologies are essential. I understand that training nuclear energy personnel remains a major issue here in Lithuania, so I hope this training scheme will provide some assistance to the budding engineers of this country."

Hitachi, Ltd. and Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy, Ltd. have previously established "the Global Nuclear Human Resource Development (Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy) sponsored course" in the Department of Nuclear Engineering, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology. This course has fostered human resources in the international nuclear industry, primarily in Asia (Vietnam and Malaysia), through measures such as the internship arrangement at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for nuclear engineering students at Tokyo Institute of Technology.

The new course in Lithuania will be the first under this program to be held in Europe. It is intended to provide active assistance for the development of the skilled engineers that Baltic States will need in the future.