The Nuclear Sector Skills Team (NSST) (on behalf of the Nuclear Skills Delivery Board) and the Nuclear Institute (NI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to explore closer collaboration in support of the Nuclear Skills Plan.
The agreement was signed during Back Nuclear Energy Week in the Houses of Parliament, reflecting the national importance of growing the skilled nuclear workforce, with demand expected to reach around 119,000 workers by the early 2030s and continue rising into the 2040s.
The agreement responds directly to the Nuclear Regulatory Review, which highlighted potential synergy between the Nuclear Skills Plan’s objectives and work already undertaken by the Nuclear Institute. It provides a practical framework for the organisations to coordinate action to strengthen workforce retention, mobility, professional development and sector-wide alignment across civil and defence nuclear.
A major driver of the agreement is the shared desire to improve awareness and understanding of nuclear professionalism across the sector, where there is currently no consistently applied sector-wide baseline.
The NI’s Nuclear Professionalism Standard®, which was developed collaboratively between employers, academia, regulators, skills organisations and the wider nuclear sector, offers an established shared reference framework to support onboarding, transferability and retention.
Therefore, initial priorities will include mapping employer and membership participation, clarifying how employers engage in professional standards, exploring career-switcher and workforce-mobility pathways, and identifying links with existing skills and development programmes.
Through its membership, communities and outreach activity, the NI will also work with the NSST to explore support for attraction, early-career development, career transition and retention. This includes opportunities for stronger collaboration between the NI Young Generation Network, regional networks and sector programmes through events, seminars and professional communities.
Professor Adrian Bull MBE HonFNucI, President of the Nuclear Institute, commented:
“The Nuclear Regulatory Review specifically identified that the Nuclear Institute is already delivering required skills development initiatives across the sector, including our Nuclear Professionalism Standard, our Sector Connected Leaders Programme and the brilliant Young Generation Network, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.
As the professional membership body for the sector, we help to ensure that members across the sector consistently uphold the highest standards of nuclear safety culture, professional ethics, and personal responsibility, all of which will be key to delivering these recommendations.
This agreement gives us a formal way to work together to understand how to grow that opportunity, engage employers and practitioners, and focus on actions that can help people enter, move within and build lasting careers in nuclear.”
Mark Rouse, Skills Director at the Nuclear Sector Skills Team, said:
"Our agreement with the Nuclear Institute is a fantastic step forward. As two organisations working across both the civil and defence parts of the nuclear sector, it makes sense for us to work even more closely together, combining our expertise to achieve outcomes greater than the sum of our individual efforts.
This MOU identifies where we can be mutually supportive and puts into practice recommendations from John Fingleton’s Nuclear Regulatory Review to build stronger relationships across the sector. Together, we can strengthen professional development, support greater movement across the sector and help build the skilled and resilient workforce nuclear needs for the future.”
To learn more about how the Nuclear Institute and the Nuclear Skills Sector Team are working together, Register for Professionalism That Powers Nuclear webinar as part of Back Nuclear Energy Week on Thursday 15 October at 10:00.
Notes to editors
This Memorandum of Understanding is exploratory and intended to identify practical areas of mutual benefit. It is a voluntary and non-regulatory framework for collaboration and does not mandate adoption of any specific framework, standard or system.
For more information and interview opportunities, please contact Distinctive Communications:
Arianne Smart: arianne.smart@distinctivecomms.co.uk / 07435 763384
Heather McKay: heather.mckay@distinctivecomms.co.uk / 07353 960 832.
Pictures show: Nuclear Institute President Adrian Bull and Nuclear Skills Director Mark Rouse signing the agreement at Back Nuclear Energy week in Westminster Palace, UK Houses of Parliament.
Credits: Nuclear Institute