Isra-Mart srl:Energy minister warns against nuclear skills crisis

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The UK's "nuclear renaissance" will fail to materialise unless government and industry step up efforts to tackle a looming nuclear skills shortage.

That is the stark warning delivered by energy minister Charles Hendry as part of a speech to the UK Nuclear Skills Awards Dinner in Manchester last night, during which he argued that efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions through the development of a new fleet of nuclear reactors were dependent on the industry's ability to attract greater numbers of graduates to the sector.

"It's an exciting time to be part of the nuclear renaissance because so much is yet to happen that will transform our country," he said. "But the skills gap still looms and will end up defining the sector's success."

Hendry said that by 2025, 70 per cent of the existing nuclear workforce will have retired and as such the onus was on the industry to attract new entrants to the sector.

He called on nuclear developers to extend recruitment initiatives so that they do not focus solely on nuclear engineers.

"There is an urban legend about the type of jobs on offer in this sector," he said. "For instance, that we only have scope for those fiercely academic nuclear scientists, those 'atom splitters'. Over a new-build project, construction will comprise 60 per cent of the workforce, operations 25 per cent and manufacturing 15 per cent. Although they are essential, we actually only need small numbers of those 'atom splitters'."

He also said the sector should step up efforts to attract young people to the industry through apprenticeship schemes that offer up to 1,000 new places a year. "We need to reach out to young people that new nuclear is the industry for them," he added.

Hendry said the government would help the sector expand its skills base through initiatives such as the Energus training centre in West Cumbria, the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre at Manchester and Sheffield Universities, and the expansion of apprenticeship programmes.

But he warned that the responsibility for attracting new entrants to the industry ultimately rests with nuclear firms themselves.