Building a nuclear workforce for a modern economy

The APM Project Management Conference Manchester is pleased to announce that one of our speakers is Jean Llewellyn, chief executive of National Skills Academy for Nuclear & Nuclear Manufacturing (NSAN). Through the conference, to be held on 5 December 2017, APM hopes to set the context for the future by looking at emerging trends and outlining plans and priorities for future action, development and research. 

Jean Llewellyn was appointed as the first chief executive of the National Skills Academy for Nuclear (NSAN) in November 2007. This exciting and challenging role builds on her breadth of experience and knowledge from her career involving senior management and leadership positions in the private sector, skills policy development roles in the public sector and lecturing in both higher and further education.

She was awarded an OBE in June 2011 in recognition of her services to the energy industry and was appointed as an Honorary Fellow of the Nuclear Institute in March 2010. She has, and continues to be, a member of a wide range of Industry and Government Boards and Committees working to address the nuclear skills challenge.

Jean will be addressing the need for developing skills – helping individuals and businesses to thrive through ensuring everyone has the basic skills needed in a modern economy; building a new system of technical education to benefit the half of young people who do not go to university; boosting STEM - science, technology, engineering and maths - skills, digital skills and numeracy; and by raising skill levels in lagging areas.

According to Jean, the nuclear sector has an ambitious programme over the coming decades including: continuing operations; extensive decommissioning; nuclear new build; the defence Dreadnought and Astute programmes; potential Small Modular Reactors (SMR) and other Gen IV reactors and in the future the Geological Disposal Facility. This, combined with a significantly ageing workforce and a lack of workforce diversity, is creating both significant career opportunities and skills challenges across the sector. It is predicted in the Nuclear Workforce Assessment 2017 that the sector will require an in-flow of circa 7,000 FTEs per annum.

To address this employers from across the sector are working together via organisations such as NSAN to encourage the uptake of STEM subjects in schools and universities and also to collectively promote the broad range of career opportunities and skills needs in the sector. This includes transferable skills areas such as: Project management; HR; Financial management, etc, for example where skills and expertise developed in sectors such as oil and gas or engineering can be utilised in nuclear. NSAN are working to support and help the supply chain to develop the skills and capabilities required to successfully support this growing UK nuclear programme.

To help with this growing skills demand new innovative ways of learning and development are required and it is interesting to note how the nuclear industry’s On Line Learning Portal – www.nucleartrainingnetwork.com is being increasingly used across the sector and now has over 22,500 registered users. By using technology the sector is facilitating broader access to skills development and training.

We invite you to join us at the APM Project Management Conference Manchester - the early bird rate ends on 22 August, so book your place now and save up to £180.

Book now