The Nuclear Option

There are huge opportunities for chemical engineers in the UK nuclear sector, but Luke Crampton says more must be done to raise awareness and create the apprenticeships and case studies needed to attract new blood

THE NUCLEAR sector is buoyant and offers great opportunities for you, as a chemical engineer, to enter it. There are 83,000 jobs currently in the nuclear sector within the UK. If expectations pan out, there will be 123,000 jobs by the end of the decade and 150,000 by 2050 – that’s 2,000 new jobs a year.

The UK government recognised the strategic importance of growing skills for the nuclear sector when they set up the Nuclear Skills Taskforce in 2023, but demand doesn’t just apply to the UK. The Council of the EU and the European Parliament has labelled nuclear power as a strategic technology for the EU’s decarbonisation, and the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA) aims to speed up the deployment of technologies that can contribute to meeting the EU’s net zero emissions target. The US has now introduced green and nuclear energy policies to support the path to net zero, which has led to an increase in interest for nuclear new build, for both fission and fusion.

This has also been reflected in countries that are new to nuclear power generation, such as the UAE which has traditionally been aligned to other energy sources. The UAE has completed a build for the Bakarah nuclear plant and is now pursuing 25% of their energy mix to be provided by nuclear technology. Emerging African countries like Ghana and Nigeria may also offer future opportunities.

The nuclear sector is much wider than just energy generation. Growth will include the provision of life-saving medicines, medical processes, and wider applications the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) promotes. The sector includes processing for fuel and medical isotope manufacture, cleanup, storage and reprocessing of legacy wastes, future advanced fuel and new era applications for future generations, as well as the regulatory oversight for all nuclear applications to ensure the highest health and safety standards are achieved and maintained to protect society and the environment.

What does it mean for you?

These roles are spread across both large and small organisations and include having to address and develop solutions for some of the most technically challenging and rewarding issues that exist for society and the industry.

Below are some of the topics that have been, and are being, addressed in IChemE’s Nuclear Technology Special Interest Group’s (NTSIG) webinar series:

• How do you produce radioisotopes (used to treat people with stage 4 cancers) that were produced by old nuclear reactors, when we are running out of old nuclear reactors?
• How do you detect and troubleshoot the fault when you can’t see what’s hidden behind a wall in a room you cannot enter?
• How do you remove sludge from a pond without constantly being able to go and fix equipment?
• How do you design a nuclear reactor where every component has to fit on the back of a lorry?
• How would you control the power generated from something hotter than the temperature of the sun?

These are day-to-day problems that chemical engineers (from undergraduates to experienced professionals) are being asked to deliver solutions for.

The nuclear sector needs that chemical engineering mindset to coordinate other professions to meet the many challenges presented in the technical, strategic, construction, operational and shutdown phases. And Elisabeth Cooke, chief process engineer at Sellafield Ltd, says that provides a wealth of employment opportunities.

“The project lifecycle skills that chemical engineers demonstrate mean that we will always have challenging and interesting roles for them across all aspects of environmental remediation, waste management, nuclear decommissioning, and future new build. Many of these challenges for Sellafield are one of a kind – you’ll only ever get one chance to work on this kind of mission.”

The project lifecycle skills that chemical engineers demonstrate mean that we will always have challenging and interesting roles for them across all aspects of environmental remediation, waste management, nuclear decommissioning, and future new build

Transitioning skills

Chemical engineers in the nuclear sector operate in a highly regulated environment, much the same as aerospace, submarine and shipbuilding, health treatments, pharmaceuticals and the oil and gas industries. The presence of radioactivity and some central technologies may be different, but many components are similar, as are the principles and techniques to design them. The core engineering skills of solving a problem haven’t changed, neither have sizing a valve, or using Bernoulli’s equation to size pumps, ejectors etc. Computational fluid dynamics and finite element analysis are also commonly used techniques.

Experience of other industries can also supply parallel lessons that provide a different way of looking at problems. This can only benefit the core competency of any nuclear professional – a questioning attitude.

The routes for chemical engineers to transition are available with appropriate training and guidance to achieve competency. It is hoped these will be roads more regularly travelled in the future with the decline of fossil energy sectors releasing valuable resource.

Growing skills

Apprentices

For nuclear chemical engineers the progression to chartership via higher education institutions is well known. However, there is currently no clear and visible route for apprentices. Historically, many of the engineers from the 1950s and 60s entered through an apprenticeship route. Harwell (home to the Atomic Energy Research Establishment) was a significant training location from which ZETA (Zero Energy Thermonuclear Assembly) and early fission reactors emerged. The challenge for IChemE’s nuclear members now is to develop a clear and well-advertised pathway through their company and in collaboration with IChemE. This should draw inspiration from the work that has been undertaken by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) and Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) with regards to apprenticeships.

In doing so, nuclear chemical engineering can then attract people from different backgrounds, particularly those that may not desire to, or be able to, attend university due to the growing costs of a degree and of living away from home. This will support diversity and inclusivity in the workplace, leading to the production of the best solutions.

This is a huge undertaking for the nuclear sector but one that is already taking place, with Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline, and AstraZeneca piloting an inflight scheme that provides a pathway for apprentices into chartered chemical engineering positions. This is carried out with the support of higher education institutions including Chester, Strathclyde, and Teesside, who have provided material and courses to help apprentices make the transition to chemical engineering. Hopefully this will trailblaze a path for firms in the nuclear sector to provide a route for their apprentices to becoming chartered chemical engineers.

Graduates

Sectors such as oil and gas have laid strong foundations for chemical and process engineers entering their industries by providing educational material within universities. This is reflected in the multiple volumes of Coulson and Richardson’s Chemical Engineering Design, as well as yearly engineering prizes and outreach. They have set the standard for engaging and inspiring students and providing a foundation for a chemical engineering skill set.

The challenge for the nuclear sector is to educate students on the opportunities that are available. Where this has been done, institutions and companies have reaped the rewards. Examples exist such as:

• Sellafield’s IChemE award-winning university lecturing project. This project provided system design descriptions and P&IDs on hypothetical waste treatment plants to give students exposure to the type of problems chemical engineers face at Sellafield, culminating in students conducting a HAZOP on the systems. As a result, it has increased application numbers to Sellafield’s industrial placement scheme
• university lecturers whose research is nuclear related and who use their knowledge and passion to create content and lectures on the subject, thereby exposing students to a sector often underrepresented on degree courses

There is more to do to develop access to the skills needed for nuclear technologies so they are found in every university undergraduate programme. Problem-solving within the contexts of nuclear applications is not a huge change, but it would demonstrate how applicable a chemical engineer’s skill set is to the nuclear industry.

This is something the NTSIG is particularly passionate about. My experience has shown that it is possible to grow up only 20 minutes away from one of the biggest design hubs in the world for the nuclear industry (Birchwood Park) but to have my first interaction with the sector from a fellow student, at university 100 miles from home. From such a chance meeting and with their support, I was able to enter an ever-evolving industry that continues to fascinate me. 

What next for chemical engineering in nuclear?

There is a need for the nuclear sector to engage with:

• higher education to produce a range of materials to inspire the next generation of chemical engineers, as other industries have done so well
• IChemE to develop pathways for nuclear apprentices which are as clear and readily available as the pathways through higher education
• employees in oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, water treatment etc to highlight the similarities with the nuclear sector and encourage applications from a wider range of people with industrial experience

How you can get involved

IChemE’s NTSIG provides webinars across a range of topics to highlight the pathways and range of work available to chemical engineers. There are also monthly news updates to keep you up to speed with the industry.

You can reach out to the NTSIG on the IChemE Connect forum. Could you produce and participate in pilot projects for apprentices and universities, help someone make the transition to nuclear, or be a mentor?Do you have a story to tell?

Please get involved and help drive the changes needed to bring even more talented chemical engineers into the nuclear sector. Only by developing talent from the largest pool available will nuclear be able to meet the numerous and exciting challenges that lay ahead.