Nuclear skills – upskilling the nation for secure future
With nuclear power currently accounting for 15% of the UK’s electricity generation, the Government’s roadmap outlines increasing nuclear electricity generation by up to 4 times by 2050 – the most significant expansion in 70 years. This will be enough to provide a quarter of the UK’s electricity needs, reducing electricity bills and creating thousands of jobs. Reaching such ambitious targets requires an extreme expansion and a dedicated nuclear workforce, from technical and scientific roles to project management, logistics and finance. Additionally, nuclear security and defence are of utmost importance for keeping our nation safe. This requires scientists and engineers to develop world-class test monitoring and support threat reduction.
AWE is playing a role in several initiatives to help upskill the nation to ensure we have enough, high quality skills in the sector to support the needs of the UK, building on a long history of upskilling and supporting a taskforce of 7,000 including 3,500 scientists and engineers who work at the extremities of science and engineering. The Nuclear Skills Taskforce is an initiative from the Ministry of Defence and Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to accelerate skills upskilling in the nuclear sector.
This brings together the government, employers and academia to identify and meet growth opportunities. AWE is collaborating with this taskforce, which will see a total investment of over £1 billion to multiple initiatives all with the aim of supporting the UK’s energy security ambitions and net zero targets. This portion of investment into AWE’s infrastructure will not only allow us to provide more opportunities, but also to upgrade our facilities – such as the Future Materials Campus (FMC) – for the manufacture and storage of nuclear materials.
AWE is partnered with the Destination Nuclear Campaign, the first sector wide initiative to attract and recruit talent for jobs in nuclear and help fill critical skill gaps. Our part includes recruiting 1000 candidates over the next three years, including those considering a career change, and supporting apprenticeships and graduate schemes in the industry. We always aim to reach a broad audience to support our equality, diversity and inclusion and social mobility goals which benefits both national and regional employment. This ensures people of all ages and backgrounds are represented and considered in the nuclear defence industry.
Prioritising the development of a skilled workforce is essential for tackling the scientific and engineering challenges that help drive the prosperity and resilience of the UK. By modernising processes with leading edge industry collaborations, we can create an environment that will nurture and retain future talent, who together will pioneer the future of the UK’s nuclear defence.
