FOR THE LATEST JOBS BY EMAIL GO TO www.theengineerjobs.co.uk/jobalert
Nuclear future
While the UK debates its energy strategy most in the industry are confident the nuclear
sector is set to expand, bringing new career opportunities. Julia Pierce reports
WITH THE twin problems of climate
change and rising energy prices
looming large, nuclear power is
once again at the forefront of the
UK’s energy agenda.
Nuclear accounts for about 20
per cent of generation and it is
unclear what will be able to cover
this shortfall once existing facilities
are retired.
Many nuclear plants are reaching
the end of their lives. Five of the
nine first-generation Magnox power
stations, most of which were built in
the 1960s, have already closed after
operating safely beyond their
expected lives.
The rest of the country’s 12
plants, which use mainly second-
‘We are having to increase our numbers
as we have to meet growing demand for
regulatory services’ Ian Britten, HSE
generation advanced gas-cooled
reactors, will all have closed by
2023. The last plant to come online,
in 1990, was the UK’s single pressurised
water reactor Sizewell B.
Although this might suggest a
sector in decline, in truth, the reality
is different. Following the positive
signals in the government’s Energy
White Paper last year, most within
the industry are confident that
the country’s nuclear generation
60 the EnGIneeR 21 APRIL–4 MAY 2008
capacity is soon to expand, provided
the thorny issue of dealing
with waste is dealt with.
The UK is committed to reducing
carbon dioxide emissions, and
many are uncomfortable with projections
that the UK will be importing
about 75 per cent of its primary
energy by 2020. But there is more
to the nuclear industry than energy
generation — even if this is what is
stealing the headlines.
Anyone who still believes the
industry may be in decline is sorely
mistaken. ‘This is an exciting time,’
said Ian Britten, who heads the
HSE’s nuclear strategy development
function, but also has responsibility
for overseeing learning and
development matters.
‘There are many things going on
besides new-build, including the
building of four nuclear submarines
at Barrow-in-Furness and the possibility
that we may need more.
There is also a huge and very
sophisticated decommissioning
process for old nuclear stations
and, although not within our remit,
the nuclear fusion research taking
place at Culham. Nuclear sub-
To view a Ceros magazine you need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser and have the flash player 8 or higher installed. To install the latest flash player, click the icon above, install the flash plugin and then click here to refresh this page.