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With growing interest in the nuclear new build (NNB) market, our Woking Director Dan Redmayne takes a look at how candidates can benefit from this growing sector even if they are not a nuclear engineer.
What types of opportunities does the nuclear new build sector have to offer?
The NNB sector has a lot more to offer than just nuclear engineering roles. In the current NNB market there are lots of projects to deliver on, so within that comes construction, groundwork, logistics and planning – providing a wide variety of opportunities not limited to nuclear engineering skills.
What kind of skills do you need to get involved in NNB projects?
It’s very important to know that when you’re looking at a NNB project it’s been many years since a new nuclear power plant was last delivered in the UK, meaning for many of the development phases there is a shortage of industry specific skills.
So when building contractors are looking for engineers to support these crucial development phases they are looking outside the nuclear skills market for candidates with transferable skills. Many of the early development phases will be civil engineering focused, so clients will look for contractors with experience on large infrastructure projects such as bridge builds, airports and highway developments.
These wider skills searches opens the door to many diverse opportunities to work within the expanding nuclear new build market.
How safe is the nuclear industry?
Nuclear power plants hold some of the highest safety records within the energy industry. If you look at the Hinkley Point C new build project in Somerset for example, development is just getting underway with construction expecting to take eight years before it is complete. This demonstrates the high safety measures and precautions that are taken on these builds before plants are allowed to start producing nuclear power – and with no nuclear fuel held on site during the construction works you can be sure of a safe working environment.
Please don’t let the old stigmas put you off exploring career opportunities within the NNB sector, there’s a lot to get involved with.
Interested in exploring opportunities in NNB?
NRL’s Woking office is working with NNB contractors to support permanent and contract roles.
If you’d like to register your interest you can do so by reaching out to our branch.