The announcement was made by Carwyn Chamberlain, YGN Chair 2023 at a Nuclear Industry Association (NIA) event on Thursday 7 December, with the organisations pledging to continue working closely to maximise learning opportunities for NDA group staff, increase awareness of joining the Nuclear Institute, and most importantly, support early careers within the nuclear industry.
David Peattie, NDA CEO, said:
We are delighted to announce an extension to this partnership.
We've been working together since 2020 and it's now even more essential that the NDA group focuses on our early-stage careers offer and delivering on our ambition to be a great place to work.
Through this partnership, we have been able to reach more early career nuclear professionals and hear from them directly, to understand better how we can support and develop them as the future pioneers of our sector.
Sarah D'Lima, YGN Incoming Chair 2024 and Senior Customer Portfolio and Relationship Manager at Nuclear Waste Services (NWS), said:
The YGN are proud to extend the partnership with the NDA and continue working with young people from across the NDA estate.
We have built strong relationships with young people from each of the NDA group companies and developed a joint steering committee who collaborate cross-estate, to ensure their voice is heard in shaping the future of the industry.
The YGN look forward to working closely with the NDA over the next year and building on the strong foundation to continue encouraging and inspiring young people to support NDA's mission.
Since the partnership, there have been a specific number of highlights, including:
- Delivery of a four-part Decommissioning Spotlights webinar series, which attracted over 600 young nuclear professionals from across the industry.
- A week-long YGN festival, which saw participation from David Peattie, NDA CEO, Corhyn Parr, Nuclear Waste Services' (NWS) CEO and then CEO of Magnox (now Nuclear Restoration Services), Gwen Parry-Jones.
- Winning 'Most Collaborative' at the NDA group Employee Awards in 2022, highlighting the success of working across the NDA group.
- Each NDA group operating company developing their own internal Young Persons network/shadow board.
- Supporting a variety of key NDA stakeholder events, including the 2022 summit in Edinburgh and regional roadshows across the UK in 2023.
The NDA is tasked by government with decommissioning the UK's earliest nuclear sites safely, securely, and sustainably. It has a proven track record in investing in early career development, each year investing over £45 million in apprentice and graduate development, with over 1,000 people currently following their early careers programmes.
The NDA is also playing its part in addressing national acute skills shortages, and collaborating with the Nuclear Skills Strategy Group (NSSG) on attracting the next generation of talent into nuclear, through projects like Developing Experts, a digital learning platform for schools linking the science curriculum with the STEM workplace.
The Nuclear Institute (NI) is the Professional Body and Learned Society for the Nuclear Sector in the UK, offering routes to professional registration with the Engineering and Science Councils and the Society for the Environment. Membership of the NI also allows becoming part of the YGN.
The YGN has been in existence for over 20 years and currently consists of approximately 2000 members. The YGN benefits individuals and the wider industry through promoting communication, collaboration, and professional development in the UK and around the world.
