Great Britain opens its market for Bulgarian atomic specialists

Bulgarian atomic specialists will be able to work in Great Britain without work permits after the authorities in London included power engineers in the list of occupations which are considered to be in acute shortage within the UK.

The high prices of fuels have unexpectedly created new job opportunities for foreigners in the UK. Pressured by drivers' protests and the concern among voters over the lowering standard of living, the British government announced that it will seek alternative energy sources. The decision of Gordon Brown is in favor of the construction of new nuclear power plants:

„It is pretty clear that we will have to not only renovate the existing nuclear facilities in the UK. We will be more ambitious in our future nuclear plans", the British Prime Minister announced last week after a meeting in Scotland with heads of energy companies.

Particular attention is paid within the plans to foreign nuclear experts. The last nuclear power plant was built in the UK 14 years ago and power engineer is not among the most popular occupations on the Island.

This explains the amendment to the shortage occupation list. The authorities in London have updated it by adding 27 new specialties to it. Most of them are in the energy sector and include positions like nuclear physicians and nuclear engineers engaged in reactor design. According to British government sources nearly 60 000 new workplaces are expected to be opened in the sector, DW reported.

The government's decision immediately provoked the sharp reaction of trade unions. They declared that they will oppose every attempt to bring foreign cheap qualified workforce to the country.

The inclusion of energy specialties in the shortage occupation list creates such risk because it allows British companies to hire specialists directly from any country in the world without applying for work permits from the British government.

These changes may benefit also Bulgarian nuclear specialists who have so far fallen under the labor limitations imposed by the UK.

But the opening of the British nuclear sector may create new problems to the government in Sofia which complains that the country is beginning to feel acute workforce shortage. Bulgaria is expected to launch its own nuclear project within months - the Belene nuclear power plant. The Russian companies which will participate in its construction announced that only half of the four thousand necessary specialists can come from Bulgaria.