UK initiative to expand nuclear workforce

12 February 2024

The UK civil and defence nuclear sectors have launched a "first-of-its kind collaborative cross-sector initiative" - known as Destination Nuclear - aimed at boosting the workforce to help deliver the country's nuclear expansion ambitions.

(Image: Nuclear AMRC)

The sector is launching the initiative to attract and recruit people over the next two decades, as it enters a new era of government-backed expansion. The civil and defence nuclear workforce will need to double over the next 20 years - supporting around 80,000 additional skilled jobs across the UK.

The new initiative - which brings together government, private sector organisations and their supply chains, education institutions - aims to deliver against the UK's nuclear ambition by attracting and recruiting more people into the industry to help fill critical skills gaps.

The Destination Nuclear campaign will target those considering a career change with transferrable skills, as well as supporting a commitment to apprenticeships and graduate schemes and increasing the opportunity for PhD students across industry-leading organisations. The nuclear sector will work with other sectors and develop training programmes to re-skill people who may be transferring from other industries.

Techniques already being used by those working in other sectors including construction and manufacturing – digital, robotics and artificial intelligence - will also be harnessed to fill nuclear roles such as welding, systems engineers, project planning and civil and structural engineers.

The campaign will also benefit national and regional employment, as well as supporting broader EDI (equality, diversity and inclusion) and social mobility goals through reaching a much broader audience.

"Destination Nuclear has provided a focal point where the sector has come together to deliver this vital campaign programme," said Lynne Matthews, Head of Destination Nuclear. "To deliver our nuclear ambition we need to significantly grow the workforce. Many potential candidates may have not considered nuclear as a career. Destination Nuclear will help show the wealth of opportunities the sector has to offer and help a broader range of people explore and venture into a career that is challenging, rewarding and sustainable."

"For those of us who have been in the industry for a while and passionate about its future contribution to society, Destination Nuclear is a game changer," added Great British Nuclear Chairman Simon Bowen. "It demonstrates how a united effort can result in delivering huge benefit with everyone collaborating for the future success of the industry."

EDF Energy CEO Simone Rossi commented: "EDF's nuclear businesses aim to hire more than 1000 people this year, to work at power stations, new build projects and in technical and support roles. It is an exciting time to be working in the sector but finding enough of the right people is challenging. That is why we are supporting Destination Nuclear to help more people realise the wealth of opportunities in this vital sector."

In January, the British government launched a roadmap for reaching its ambition for the UK to have 24 GWe of nuclear generating capacity by 2050, representing about 25% of the country's projected electricity demand. It said the Civil Nuclear Roadmap "outlines plans for the biggest expansion of nuclear power for 70 years to reduce electricity bills, support thousands of jobs and improve UK energy security - including exploring building a major new power station and investing in advanced nuclear fuel production". Nuclear's share of energy in the UK is currently about 16%, however all but one of its existing reactors are due to retire by 2030. The nuclear workforce will expand further following the AUKUS nuclear submarine partnership.

"The UK has begun the biggest nuclear power expansion in 70 years, with our world leading SMR competition and plans for a new mega nuclear plant similar in scale to Sizewell or Hinkley," said Minister for Nuclear Andrew Bowie. "To meet our ambitions, we need to rapidly ramp up recruitment in the sector, making sure we have enough people from engineers to welders to design and build new nuclear. Nuclear has fantastic career opportunities, and we want people of all ages to consider joining a key industry of the future."

Westinghouse begins UK licensing process for AP300

13 February 2024

The company has formally submitted an application to the UK Department of Energy Security and Net Zero for approval to enter the Generic Design Assessment (GDA) for the AP300 small modular reactor.

Westinghouse's vision of an AP300 plant (Image: Westinghouse)

Westinghouse is one of six small modular reactor (SMR) suppliers shortlisted in October 2023 to bid for support from the UK government as part of plans to quadruple the country's nuclear energy capacity to 24 GW by 2050, and earlier this month announced it has signed an agreement with Community Nuclear Power Limited to build four AP300s in northeast England. This would be the UK's first privately-financed SMR fleet.

The 300 MWe reactor design is based on Westinghouse's AP1000 technology, a design which is already licensed in the UK. AP1000 units have regulatory approval - and are in operation - in China and the USA and the design is also compliant with European Utility Requirements standards for nuclear power plants. Westinghouse says this brings licensing advantages and substantially reduces delivery risk for customers.

"The AP300 SMR builds on the pedigree of the already approved AP1000, and we are very optimistic that the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero will approve our GDA application," Westinghouse Energy Systems President David Durham said. "The UK regulators are already very familiar with the AP300 SMR's underpinning technology, so we look forward to working with them to progress the timely development and deployment of this advanced, proven technology in the UK."

Utilising the AP1000 engineering, components and supply chain enables streamlined licensing and leverages available technical skills, the company says. The projects will also leverage Westinghouse's 75-year history of nuclear manufacturing operations in the UK at its facility in Springfields, Lancashire.

The GDA process is carried out by two UK regulators - the Office for Nuclear Regulation and the Environment Agency - to assess the safety, security, and environmental protection aspects of a nuclear power plant designs. It allows the regulators to assess the safety, security and environmental implications of new reactor designs, separately from applications to build them at specific sites.

Generic Design Assessments have previously been completed for the EDF/AREVA UK EPR, the Westinghouse AP1000, the Hitachi-GE UK ABWR and the CGN/EDF/GNI UK HPR1000 designs. A GDA assessment is currently ongoing for Rolls-Royce SMR Limited's Small Modular Reactor design, and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy in January announced that its BWRX-300 SMR design is to enter the GDA process.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News