SUPPLY CHAIN | TALENT PIPELINE


Educating Educators is key to the


talent pipeline Much has been written about the need for a healthy talent pipeline if the nuclear industry is to meet its projected growth. The key,


Kate Houlden, Managing Director of Like Technologies tells NEi, is to educate the educators that there is more to the industry than they might think.


Below: A coordinated commitment to giving teachers and parents the confidence, language and practical insight to recommend nuclear careers with authority is needed Source: OECD


AS IT EXPANDS WORLDWIDE, the nuclear industry’s biggest challenge is attracting the engaged workforce it needs. But, for all the attention paid to skills shortages in the nuclear sector, one part of the talent pipeline remains surprisingly under-examined: the people who shape young people’s career choices long before they ever consider any particular route in life, never mind a specific college course. In the UK specifically, that would likely mean a T-Level,


apprenticeship, or engineering degree. But whatever the exact education route, across the globe, teachers, tutors, pastoral staff, careers advisers, and – crucially – parents, play an outsized role in steering the next generation toward or away from the nuclear industry. But


the industry cannot meaningfully expand its workforce if the adults guiding young people don’t themselves understand what nuclear careers look like today. This ‘knowledge gap’ is becoming a strategic risk.


Across global markets, nuclear operators and their supply chains are accelerating plans for new build, life-extension programmes, and advanced-reactor deployment. Large organisations and tier-one companies have established outreach programmes, university partnerships, and increasingly structured pathways into the sector. But small and medium enterprises (SMEs) – which are often the firms doing some of the most innovative, hands-on engineering work – remain an under-used asset.


38 | January 2026 | www.neimagazine.com


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45