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N.D.

PRESS RELEASE

5

GROWING DEMAND EOR INSTRUCTION IN ATOMIC ENERGY

Statement by the Minister for National Development,   The Honourable R.W. Swartz, M.B.E., E.D., M.P,

"There is an increasing number and variety of demands

for technical instruction in the atomic energy field," the

Minister for National Development, Mr. Swartz, said today.

This was plainly brought out in the five years of operation of

the Australian School of Nuclear Technology, at Lucas Heights,

where intensive training courses are held on nuclear technology,

radioisotopes and several other topics.

Government departments, hospitals, industry, Colombo

Plan Fellows, universities and technical colleges are among

those taking advantage of the courses.

The School was set up jointly by the Atomic Energy

Commission and the University of New South Wales in 1964. The

principal, Mr. C.L.W. Berglin, is a member of the Commission's

staff, but the School employs no permanent lecturers. For a

particular course, lecturers are selected from staff of the

Commission, the universities, Government establishments, and

industry, and they are acknowledged experts in their own fields.

A trial course of four months, in nuclear technology,

was given in 1965 and the fifth regular course in this was

completed in May 1970. Eleven radioisotope courses of about

three weeks each have been held for graduates, and seven for

non-graduates - about two courses being held each year. More

recently the School has broken new ground with courses in

Nuclear Facilities - Siting and Safety, attended by guest

lecturers from Britain, Canada and the United States, .  ahid 'in

Neutron Activation Analysis.

The First Quinquennial Report of the School, Mr. Swartz

said, showed that twenty-six regular courses had been held up

to June 30, 1970 and, in addition, three special courses had

been arranged by request for staff members of the State Electricity

Commission of Victoria. The total attendance had been 535Â» of

whom some 60 came from other countries - the majority Colombo-

Plan Fellows.

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Many different organisations had been represented,

including Government departments, electricity generating

authorities, industrial companies, hospitals, universities,

and technical colleges. The field of work of participants

had also been varied and included agriculture, veterinary

science,  .  dairying, engineering, chemistry*, physics and forestry.

This showed how widely atomic energy was being

employed in the community, Mr* Swartz concluded, and there

was every indication that requirements for this kind Of

training would continue to ghow. More humerous courses were

likely to be required in the fields already dealt with, and

special courses were likely to be needed in nuclear medicine.

CANBERRA.

January 28, 1971.

