Secondments

The purpose with the dispatch of secondments is to enable international networking between organisations in the nuclear waste management business and to give professionals an opportunity to engage in a foreign programme in order to broaden their experiences and competence.

We are interested in allowing our own experts to travel abroad in their professional capacity and engage in foreign programmes. In the same manner, SKB welcomes professionals to be seconded into our organisation to give insights into the Swedish programme and to acquire contributions from external experts in return. In addition to increasing the knowledge base of the cooperating organisations, it provides an opportunity for cultural exchanges, both professionally and socially.

Over the past 15 years, SKB has had the opportunity to welcome experts from abroad to participate in our work on a full-time basis for briefer or longer (up to 2 years) periods of time. Examples of areas of previous secondments are assignments within the development of engineered barrier systems in a repository, such as backfill/buffer modelling, methods for buffer installation, observing specific experiments at the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory or general observation of the planning, preparation and installation of full-scale tests etc.

The general scope of a secondment is to allow a secondee to obtain knowledge of the SKB work programme and give the opportunity for specific engagement in a project of interest. The secondee’s organisation remains the employer and continues to pay his/her salary and all benefits in kind throughout the period of the secondment. The detailed scope is tailored to the specific competence of the secondee and, to some extent, to the ongoing projects and activities in SKB’s programme at the time of the attachment.

The framework for the secondment is always outlined according to a specific agreement between SKB and the organisation of the secondee, and typically includes:

• An introductory course – to learn the “SKB way of working” as well as safety and security regulations for work at SKB’s facilities, as applicable.
• Initial administration to provide the necessary support for the secondee to make living and working arrangements.
• SKB provides the secondee with office facilities.
• Mentoring and management by SKB staff during the attachment of the secondee.
• Access for observing and gaining experience from the agreed projects at SKB.
• During the secondment period SKB fulfils all duties relating to the secondee’s health, safety and welfare from an employer’s position.
• The secondee takes parts in SKB’s normal working environment, e.g. working hours, staff events, department meetings etc. as relevant for the performance of the tasks.