Our mission to attract thousands of new workers to nuclear waste industry: Simon Hughes

It will be an opportunity to explain more about our work as well as the innovation that is taking place in the industry.

Nuclear Waste Services brings together the UK’s leading nuclear waste management capabilities. We’re here to make nuclear waste permanently safe, sooner, and our mission is to be the ‘one stop shop’ for the management of nuclear waste in the UK.

We’re here to provide solutions for a challenge that affects us all.

Nuclear energy has been part of our lives for over 70 years.

It provides around 15 per cent of the UK’s electricity and is used in industry, medicine, and defence.

Today, nuclear power is viewed by the UK Government as essential to the green energy mix and securing our energy supply in the future.

So, safely and securely managing nuclear waste now and for the future is crucial.

More and different types of wastes are being generated, meaning the decommissioning landscape is constantly evolving.

Here at NWS we are leaders in ensuring the right waste form goes into the right package and is disposed of in the right facility.

Increasing efficiencies and saving money for the UK taxpayer.

Our commitment is to recycle 50 per cent of waste from decommissioning and reduce secondary wastes by around 70 per cent by 2030.

To do this, we will need to constantly innovate to support accelerated decommissioning.

Our 900-strong skilled workforce, alongside our trusted supply chain, will manage waste streams in the most sustainable and efficient way, utilising newly developed technology to bring waste to final disposal sooner.

To deliver these programmes, the nuclear industry needs to attract 10,000 people a year in the UK alone.

And to do that, we’ve got to change the way we talk to young people – particularly women, who remain underrepresented at around 25 to 50 per cent across the sector (though NWS now has 40 per cent female staff) - but also other diverse groups that we’ve not been able to historically attract to our sector.

The fact that nuclear energy is cleaner is essential as part of our net zero ambitions in the UK, and means we’re starting to attract a younger and more vibrant group of individuals.

It’s an exciting time to join the nuclear sector, with an opportunity to play a part in building a more sustainable future.

Our apprenticeships programmes, training programmes and all the laboratories are essential to bringing young people into the sector – hopefully from this region - to train them and to get them out into the workforce as efficiently possible.

Simon Hughes is the Siting & Communities Director at Nuclear Waste Services (NWS). He will be attending the upcoming Great Northern Conference at Bradford City Hall on September 11, which is being arranged by The Yorkshire Post and NWS is sponsoring.

He will be sharing his views about innovation in nuclear, the need to attract more people into the industry, and the opportunities this presents for our region.