Volume 9 issue 1 Nuclear Future


Gateway for nuclear skills


The UK’s nuclear energy industry will soon see the launch of a new skills development initiative – the National Nuclear Gateway project – after the approval of funds from a non-governmental commission. The National Skills Academy for Nuclear has gained approval via


the Growth and Innovation Fund for the project, funded by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills and matched against nuclear employer investment. The National Nuclear Gateway project aims to help employers


understand what level of skills and experience already exists in their business and in their contractors. It will also provide the relevant training and resources where skills gaps are identified. The two-year funded project “will ultimately result in an enhanced


offer of skills-related products and services to the nuclear industry in the UK.” It aims to develop a “standardized approach to workforce competence and capability assessment” and accreditation of apprenticeship and professional development courses. The project also aims to establish an online skills and education portal to enable nuclear training and learning resources to be shared and made accessible to a wider network of companies. Longer-term impacts from the project include the creation of 3,000


additional apprenticeships in the supply chain by 2016 and increased productivity of nuclear companies by £50 million by 2017 through targeted training spend. The project will also contribute towards the forecasted 10,000 jobs required for nuclear new build by 2015.


Nuvia Limited and the UK’s Nuclear Heritage


As the UK continues to gather pace on its journey to construct the next generation of nuclear power plant, what should not be forgotten is the country’s strong heritage and experience in developing and operating ground breaking reactor designs. Since the Queen opened the


world’s first civil nuclear reactor at Calder Hall, Cumbria in 1956 the UK has continued to innovate and demonstrate new technologies. Whilst the reactor designs currently accepted for construction in the UK are offered by overseas vendors, there remains a wealth of expertise in the UK supply chain. An example of this is seen within Nuvia Limited which traces


Harwell land released for re-use


Some 27 hectares of land at Harwell nuclear research site has been released from the last remaining nuclear regulations by the UK parliament. Most of the nuclear reactors and research facilities on the site were built between 1946 and 1960. Operations continued until the early 1990s, at


which time it was decided there was no further need for research and development at Harwell. The parliamentary ‘de-designation’ of the land follows its gradual de-licensing by the UK Office of Nuclear Regulation in three separate tranches over the past six years. Land representing about 20% of the total site will now be


released to the partnership that is developing the wider Harwell Oxford campus, which houses a range of high-tech businesses and research organisations. Clean-up work began on the land in the 1990s with the


decommissioning and demolition of redundant facilities, the management of radioactive waste and ground restoration. Tony Wratten, managing director of site operator Research Sites


Restoration Ltd (RSRL), said: “De-licensing and de-designation demonstrates that our work is done on this part of the site. The land can now be re-used without any concern about its previous history.”


its roots back to the early days of the nuclear industry. Over the past 50 years, Nuvia and its former organisations have been heavily involved in developing nuclear technologies, systems and processes both in the UK and internationally. As a result of the company’s evolution from UKAEA, initial work focused on the development of reactor technologies at the company’s bases in Winfrith, Harwell, Windscale and Dounreay (pictured). Nuvia worked on the development of the Steam Generating


Heavy Water Reactor (SGHWR) at Winfrith, the Dounreay Fast Reactor (DFR) and Prototype Fast Reactor (PFR) at Dounreay as well as the wide range of experimental reactors located at Winfrith and Harwell. Throughout its lifetime Nuvia has supported reactor testing and development and has gained knowledge and understanding which has been incorporated into today’s modern designs. Having been involved in the operation of many of these early


nuclear power plants, Nuvia is now providing on-going support to the UK’s existing operational fleet. Furthermore, Nuvia has been able to transfer its experience and knowledge to support reactor decommissioning and remediation and currently supports the work now being undertaken at many of the Magnox sites. As the UK industry moves into its next phase the company is


again supporting all phases of the reactor programme through design, construction and into operation. Nuvia will be attending the Nuclear New Build conference in


London in March, you can visit the stand to discuss how Nuvia has used the lessons learnt from its reactor experience and is now supporting the nuclear new build programme in the UK and internationally.


UK news 09


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