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Nuclear Safety Engineer for AtkinsRéalis
NI Volunteering roles:
- YGN Education, Attraction and Outreach Lead 2023-present
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Lacey-Jo Marsland MNucI
Tell us a bit about you and your role and what you do
I am a Safety Engineer at AtkinsRéalis, so I do lots of safety case work with various clients. At the minute that involves authoring Safety Case Sections, updating company procedures and guidance, and producing strategies to go through ONR Assessment processes. There are lots of different things going on, but ultimately it comes down to supporting our clients with their safety cases and ensuring they’re meeting regulator expectations.
What was your route into the nuclear industry?
I did a Masters in Biochemistry and kind of fell into nuclear. I was in my final year at University and was looking on Gradcracker, applying for lots and lots of different things. Then I saw the AWE graduate scheme advertised, and I thought it sounded quite exciting and that I had some skills that could be useful there, so why not apply? So I did, and I was successful. I've been in the industry since. After 2.5 years in the defence sector, I decided I was keen to learn more about civil nuclear and have spent the past year and a half using my nuclear safety knowledge to do exactly that! I've perhaps taken a slightly unconventional route, but I'm very glad for it.
Would you recommend working in the nuclear to others, particularly graduates, and if so, why?
100%. There are so many different projects going on at the minute in the defence space and in the civil space. We've got SMRs, we've got more new builds going up in the form of HPC and Sizewell C. There’s a lot of investment going into defence nuclear programmes too, so it's a really exciting time for the industry in terms of the variety of projects and the different stages of the life cycle that need supporting.
There's been lots of different opportunities for me to get involved in a massive array of different tasks and learn lots of different things that weren't necessarily related to my background, but I've been able to pick things up and run with them.
Why did you become a member of the Nuclear Institute? What did you feel like were the benefits to you would be?
With my background in Biochemistry, but now working as an engineer, I don't really fit in any one particular box when it comes to professional registration. So when I was looking for different professional institutes, I didn't quite meet the criteria for any of them. And then I found the Nuclear Institute as a home for anybody in the industry. I thought “OK, regardless of my background, I can get what I need here”.
The Nuclear Institute Young Generation Network (NI YGN), in particular, has been a great community and an opportunity to network, which I found particularly useful as I started in nuclear during COVID, having graduated in 2020. I've found it really useful having those communities within the NI too, as it's a relatively small institute so you can really get to know other players quite well and build a really strong network.
What do you see as the benefits of professional membership?
As a consultant there's definitely a benefit in having that acknowledgement of my professionalism and being able to put that on my CV. It also reassures potential clients when they can see that their team that are recognised as nuclear professionals.
I also think the access to other members of the Nuclear Institute and building that network is a big benefit, as well as having the respect and the acknowledgement of sort of the work that you do.
How did you find the application process? Any tips for aspiring Members or Fellows?
I found the process very straightforward. As a relatively early career professional, it was particularly useful to have a mentor to bounce some ideas around with and pick their brain about what sorts of things to include in the application.
I was also able to use the YGN community a little bit. I know some of my colleagues there have recently gone through the process so I got some advice there as well.
What's next for you? What's on the horizon? What are your next steps?
I'm hoping in the next year or two I'll be in a position to apply for Chartership, but obviously with my biochemistry background I know there's a little bit more work for me to do before being a Chartered Engineer.
I’ve also just taken on Line Management responsibility, so I'm excited to see where this new challenge takes me in terms of further responsibility and enhanced leadership skills generally.
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