Board of Trustees

 Dr Fiona Rayment OBE FNucI

Current President

Fiona is currently NNL's Special Advisor to the CEO. She has more than 25 years of nuclear industry experience working primarily within operations and strategic planning roles across several different nuclear sites, both in the UK and internationally.

Fiona is a Chartered Chemist and engineer with a PhD in chemistry from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow and is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering as well as the Royal Society of Chemistry. She has been a Fellow of the Nuclear Institute since 2014.

Also recently served as a member of Euratom’s Science and Technology Committee, the Idaho National Laboratory's Nuclear Science and Technology Advisory Committee, and the American Nuclear Society Board and is the immediate past chair of the UK’s Nuclear Skills Strategy Group. Her other roles across the sector include being an NI Trustee, a member of the Nuclear Industry Council and a member of the Office of Nuclear Regulation Chief Nuclear Inspector’s Independent Advisory Panel.

Email: president@nuclearinst.com

Jasbir Sidhu

Immediate Past President

Jasbir is one of the UK's leading Operational Risk Analysts, with over 30 years of experience developing quantified holistic risk/safety models taking the role of the human being into consideration.  He cut his teeth developing models for the UK civil nuclear power generation industry. 

Jasbir has a BEng (Hons) in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Manchester and an MBA from the University of Surrey where his final year dissertation covered valuing different base-load power generators, Coal, Gas and Nuclear taking financial (real) options theory into consideration.

He started his career as a Safety Engineer at Electrowatt International (3 years) and followed this with seven years at WS Atkins where his final role was Principal Risk Consultant.  In 2000 he set-up CRA which was the second company and first SME to join the NI’s Company Membership Scheme.  CRA have worked hard to encourage and develop the next generation of nuclear scientists and engineers through interactions with schools and universities.

Gwen Parry-Jones OBE HonFNucI

Member

Gwen is a highly experienced CEO and nuclear operations professional, with outstanding leadership, communication, engagement and influencing skills, with experience at a senior level in project development and delivery, governance, safety, security and nuclear oversight and assurance. 

Gwen is the interim CEO of Great British Nuclear. She was previously CEO of Magnox and has led teams and projects in Magnox, Advanced Gas Reactor, Candu, Pressurised Water Reactor and Advance Boiling Water Reactor technologies.

She has worked extensively with senior-level technical, scientific, professional, government, local community, unions and regulatory bodies. Gwen has both UK and international experience across the energy generation sector, including in nuclear, conventional, renewables and storage technologies.

Gwen is the only woman in the UK to have held the post of Station Director at a UK civil nuclear facility and was awarded the honour of Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2015 for her lifetime’s work in services to Science and Technology. 

She has a BSc(Hons) in Physics from the University of Manchester and an MA in Banking and Finance from the European Business Academy, University College of North Wales. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics and an Honorary Fellow of the Nuclear Institute.

Nicola O'Keefe

Honorary Treasurer 

Nicola is a Chartered Accountant with extensive knowledge and experience of leading and transforming finance teams.

An experienced auditor with foreign language skills, she began her career with Ernst & Young before working at Pilkington Plc and Independent Insurance in internal audit roles. 

She worked for Wood and Jacobs for over 17 years and during that time has led teams in both the business and in plc, driving change in the shared service centre, implementing systems and integrating teams following involvement in various acquisitions. She then worked as Finance Director at Bilfinger before her current role with Volkerstevin.

John Clarke CEng FNucI

Chair, Assurance Committee and Past President 

John has worked in the nuclear industry for over 35 years. His executive positions include Head of Environment, Health, Safety and Quality at the Sellafield plant, Cumbria; Director of Production, Sellafield Ltd; Managing Director of International Nuclear Services Ltd; and most recently, CEO of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

John has held a number of non-executive roles over the last 10 years as well as national and international advisory roles. He is a member of the International Atomic Energy Authority Standing Advisory Group on Nuclear Energy, which provides advice across the full nuclear spectrum to the IAEA Secretary-General. He is a graduate in Chemical Engineering from the University of Sheffield and is a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers and a Fellow of the Nuclear Institute where he was President from 2018-2019.

Mark Salisbury FNucI

Chair, Policy Committee 

Mark works for Rolls-Royce SMR and was previously an advisor to the Government with the Nuclear Innovation and Research Office. He graduated with a degree in chemistry from the University of Warwick in 2002 and is a Fellow of the World Nuclear University, Royal Society of Chemistry and Institute of Innovation and Knowledge Exchange. He is a Chartered Chemist and Scientist and sits on the Board of Trustees of the Nuclear Institute, of which he is also a Fellow.

Prior to his current role, Mark worked for Horizon Nuclear Power in numerous positions, latterly as the Operations Development Manager; responsible for developing plans for the operational utility intending to operate Horizon’s plants. This included Horizon’s Technical Apprentice Programme and Training Support Partner. Whilst at Horizon he was one of 7 people to successfully complete the initial operator training on the Japanese Advanced Boiling Water Reactor in Japan through consecutive translation! Prior to this, Mark has worked for British Energy at Sizewell B and for Powergen on nuclear, coal and gas-fuelled power stations in Chemistry and Operations.

Catherine Hedger CSci MNucl

Catherine's interest in nuclear is underpinned by a strong commitment to our environment and ending our dependency on fossil fuels. Starting her career as an Environmental Consultant at Sellafield, AWE and Bradwell, she witnessed first-hand the extensive work needed for decommissioning. She then worked for Rolls-Royce as a Safety Engineer on our nation’s submarines, progressing as an Operations Engineer and Integration Engineer, whilst gaining Chartered Scientist and MNucI status with the Nuclear Institute. 

Catherine supports the continuation of the Nuclear Institute’s work in advancing education and technological advancement to create a safe and secure nuclear future, through volunteering on the Nuclear Institute Membership Committee and via the National Skills Academy for Nuclear.

Richard Deakin FNucl

The son of a Coal Miner, Richard first entered the nuclear sector as a graduate trainee over 35 years ago in a technically focused role at what was then BNFL Springfields, with a degree in Metallurgy and Materials. He quickly moved towards operations and project management where he has spent most of his career trying to deliver progress. Richard has enjoyed leadership roles across a wide range of the UK nuclear landscape working at several sites in support of Civil and Defence programs and also in the USA. In his current role, he leads the Innovate UK team working with Rolls-Royce SMR. He previously worked directly in UK Government as a Policy Official in Nuclear.

Richard regularly supports the Institute and wider sector as a delegate, speaker and advocate at events and seeks to influence and educate in the widest sense. In recent years he has served as a member of the Nuclear Institute Midlands Branch committee and on the Institute Policy Committee. 

Jennifer Nugent

Jennifer Nugent is currently the Head of Technical Solutions at Nuclear Transport Solutions (NTS) (part of the NDA group) where she is a recognised leader.  NTS is the leading global provider of safe, secure, and reliable nuclear transport and logistics solutions that help make the world safer and more sustainable.

Jennifer started her nuclear career at BNFL Springfields in the research laboratories, moving into the Environmental department and then to her preferred area of Nuclear Transport. Having led teams working on Package Design, Safety Case development and Licensing through to consignment and delivery she is keen to ensure that the skills relating to the transport of nuclear material are maintained as without transport there is no nuclear industry. 

Sasha Wynn Davies

Sasha is an experienced and effective economic and community regeneration professional having worked in both the private and public sectors at a senior level across Wales, the UK and overseas. She has a particular passion for Wales’ potential in maximising and developing its economy, realising its energy and natural resources potential to the benefit of Wales (and its visitors) and the wider UK. This includes developing low-carbon energy, especially nuclear, and tourism sectors, and improving communications and engagement with the business and community sectors.

Sasha's wealth of experience includes holding the roles of Head of Commercial at Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and Head of Strategic Development Wales at Horizon Nuclear Power.

Saralyn Thomas MNucI

 Saralyn is a senior nuclear safety consultant working for Abbott Risk Consulting Ltd. She have worked for various clients across the sector in new build, waste management and decommissioning projects, writing various safety case documentation. This can include facilitating workshops to identify hazards from facilities and processes, assessing the doses and risks from such operations and justifying that these risks are As Low As Reasonably Practicable (ALARP).

Saralyn is a former Chair of the NI Young Generation Network (2022), and served on the YGN Strategic Committee 2019 – 2023. Her other YGN roles include:

• YGN Vice-Chair and International Liaison, 2021
• YGN Marketing and Comms Lead, 2020
• YGN Secretary, 2019
• YGN representative for the NI Central England Branch, 2016 – 2018

Linda Aylmore

Linda is an experienced finance professional, has a fellowship status with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and more than 25 years’ experience at senior board and executive roles within the Nuclear, Defence and Transport sectors. 

She began her early career working in various finance roles for commercial transport companies, including Volvo GB and Leyland DAF before joining the corporate finance team at British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL) HQ, in 1999. Linda led many projects through BNFL’s privatisation and following its liquidation remained in the nuclear sector, taking on a number of senior finance board appointments in multi-national organisations including Westinghouse, Toshiba, and Amentum.  

Linda is a commercially astute finance director with a solid understanding of the domestic and international nuclear sector. She has a strong track record of leading change, inspiring teams, and working effectively with internal and external stakeholders. She is passionate about developing the next generation and as a former executive of Women in Nuclear, continues as an ambassador to influence diversity and inclusion across the sector.

Linda joined Nuclear Transport Solutions as CFO in May 2023.