Above: EDF is a member of the Energy & Utility Skills Group which is helping to develop a skilled workforce for the UK nuclear sector Source: EDF
assessing competency standards within the energy sector and other utilities industries, offering guidance as well as consultancy. Membership brings companies together to collectively identify and address the unique workforce renewal and skills challenges the sector faces, while engaging governments, regulators and other senior stakeholders to help them develop an informed and supportive policy and regulatory environment. BBarrett explains the importance of working with the
nuclear industry to achieve those goals: “A lot of the collaboration with government has been through the Green Jobs Delivery Group working alongside industry, including EDF Energy.” He continues: “the National Skills Academy for Nuclear
was initiated in close collaboration with the NDA, focussing on the decommissioning side. On the power generation side we’ve engaged with EDF and Rolls Royce SMR to support their needs in the space of everything which sits outside of the nuclear island. We know on a nuclear power station somewhere in the region of about 30% of the skills are associated with nuclear. Everything else outside of that is in the more traditional space, such as turbines and motors and mechanical, civil, and electrical engineering, C&I and so on, so there’s quite a big piece to go at”. The National Skills Academy for Nuclear (NSAN) is a similar skills-focused membership organisation led by nuclear sector employers, from both civil and defence, to provide practical nuclear skills to organisations. “There’s a really good crossover that goes across the nuclear skills side of things, but very much sat alongside our National Skills Academy for Nuclear. We’re definitely not trying to get involved in that area of the nuclear skills landscape,” says Barrett.
Looking to the future Alongside industry, the Energy & Utility Skills group works with central and devolved governments as well as regulators in calling for explicit recognition of skills and workforce renewal in regulatory and policy documents to ensure that a sustainable workforce is in place to deliver the clean energy agenda development programmes. One
positive aspect is the shift in perception of an industry that has long been associated with managed decline and largely focused on decommissioning. This attitude has been turned on his head in the last couple of years, especially with headline-grabbing breakthroughs in areas such as fusion and growing awareness of climate change which has attracted more STEM graduates to the nuclear sector.
“I think the green skills agenda is really interesting
because if you want to be part of decarbonising the UK, then you need to be involved in this industry. It will ultimately be the industry for a greener world. We need to be building more nuclear, considering how to create that generation capacity that’s not susceptible to weather conditions. It’s got to be a real energy mix right the way across the board. I call it industry for a greener world, nuclear is part of that future economy and all studies show that young people today want a future and a future for their children. They are invested. But we can’t stand by, we owe it to ourselves and to the next generation to make sure that we are fulfilling that vision.” Here Barrett sounds a warning, saying: “The worst case
scenario is someone comes into our industry thinking that it’s the green future only to find that it’s not diverse, and we’re not really investing in a green future or in digital technologies, which really would be a bit of a disappointment.” Nonetheless, he also points to the fact that the industry is on the right trajectory: “We do know that industry is changing if you look at things like cybersecurity, AI and other technology changes. I think where we’ll also win and start to attract those brighter young future leaders that would have perhaps gone away from us is through new build across nuclear and making sure that people do understand that there is a requirement. Then I think we will start to bring those people in.” It is clear that attracting, retaining and developing a
productive workforce is key for sustaining the nuclear sector. In a world where the transition to net zero is of critical importance, the focus on green skills by the Power Generation Group within the National Skills Academy for Power is a significant step forward. ■
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