b'NUCLEARPOWERan engaging project that will enableEveryone wants to be a millwright, Indigenous participants to developWHAT IS A MILLWRIGHT? says Rozella Johnston, member of the in-demand skills. [Participants will] haveIndigenous employment team at Bruce meaningful employment, and theyll findMillwright is a broad term referringPower and a key figure in the energy careers, he notes.to a specialized tradesperson whocompanys program for millwrights. maintains, repairs and reassemblesThe numbers back up Johnstons claim. OPENING THE INDUSTRY machinery in power plants, factories,According to federal figures, over 37,000 Combined, nuclear power plants inand other industrial settings. people were employed as millwrights in Canada produce enough electricity toOntario in 2019, and 95 per cent of mill-power 10 million homes, and they arewrights worked full-time jobs compared 15 times more efficient than other clean2018. But the current nuclear programto just 79 per cent for all occupations energy sources like wind and solar. Inis narrower in focus, involving womenin Canada. 2020, nuclear power generated 14.9 perand Indigenous peoples, and encom-cent of Canadas electricity from just sixpassing six initiatives that each target aSTRONG DEMANDpower stations, and five are in Ontario:specific aspect of the nuclear industryParticipants in the program could not two Bruce Power plants, two Ontariobe entering the nuclear power industry Power Generation (OPG) Pickeringin Southern Ontario. at a better time. With climate targets plants, and one OPG Darlington plant.and shifting attention to greener energy Canadian commercial reactors have aThe first initiative, called the Womensources, the nuclear industry will be even combined net capacity of 13.5 gigawattsin Skilled Trades Readiness Program,more in-demand and more in need of and produced a total of 95.47 terawatt- had seven women participants, one oftradespeople. The Canadian govern-hours of electricity in 2019, makingwhom was Indigenous. It provided themment announced its Net Zero Canada Canadian nuclear power generation thewith an opportunity to enter the trades2050 plan in November 2020, aiming sixth largest in the world. According tothrough a three-week course and five- to achieve net-zero emissions by the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters,week job placement. Other initiativesyear 2050. the refurbishment of these reactors willwithin the project include Electrician provide over 10,000 jobs and $1.24Apprenticeship, Project Coordinator,The increased focus on the importance million in labour income per year.and Construction programs, all tailoredof green and renewable energy is global. to the growing demand for qualifiedA recent report by the United Nations The OCNI/FNPA program opens uplabour to fill jobs in the nuclear sector.EconomicCommissionforEurope this industry to a wider group of partic- (UNECE) suggests that nuclear power ipants, ensuring that the economicThe largest part of the project consistsgenerates less carbon dioxide emis-boon is shared by Indigenous peoplesof Millwright Apprenticeship programs sions over its lifecycle than any other as much as the rest of Canada. Beingone with Bruce Power and one with OPG.electricity source. UNECE stated that proactive with a group like OCNI [repre- The work in this category is coordinatednuclear power is essential to achieving sents] a fantastic opportunity to build realglobal climate goals. Canada will need capacity around supply chain manage- with Millwright Union Local 1592 andto ensure its nuclear plants have their ment and development, says FNPAthe federal governments Indigenouslifespan extended by modernizing and president and CEO Guy Lonechild. Skills and Employment Training (ISET)enhancing their equipment, systems and program. Participants are provided withsupporting technology. This ambitious TheinitiativebuildsonOCNIstraining that meets industry standards,goal will require trained tradespeople previous success with its Skilled Tradesand if they pass the millwright entrancefor decades to come.Employment Pathway to the Cleanexam upon completion they are invited Energy Sector, which it rolled out into join Local 1592. The demand for skilled tradespeople in the nuclear industry is a large order to fill and requires a well-developed road map. Those interested in a career in the DID YOU KNOW? nuclear sector need the right training and certification. Millwrights are one of the oldest trades on earth, with millwrights in AncientFor24-year-oldSamiJewer,an AnishinaabefromtheChippewas Greece inventing, building and maintaining components for watermills. of Nawash Unceded First Nation inThe Bruce Nuclear Generating Station is the largest nuclear power facilitySouthern Ontario, working in the nuclearin the world. It produces 48.4 billion kilowatt-hours, enough to powersector represents a radically different life five million Ontario homes. path than what she went to school for. 20 grams of uranium fuel produces the same amount of energy as But the career prospects available in the 400 kilograms of coal, 410 litres of oil, or 350 cubic metres of natural gas. industry, combined with the support and training offered by the OPGs Millwright initiative, prompted her to do a rethink. 24A CCAB PUBLICATION2022'