Dr Jonathan Allen MEng PhD CEng FIMechE MNucI
WHAT DO YOU DO?
I work for Frazer-Nash Consultancy and I lead a safety case team working in particular with EDF in the civil nuclear generation market. We also provide work to other nuclear clients, including prospective new licensees. This means I get to do quite a diverse range of work, rather than being somebody working in a nuclear firm in one particular role, for example.
I've been with them for over 11 years now, of which I've been in the nuclear industry for over 10 of those years. I lead a team of 10 brilliant individuals of nuclear engineers from various backgrounds, genders, skills, and races; a quite diverse bunch actually.
In more recent years I've been working for the Hinkley Point C (HPC) and Sizewell C (SZC) projects in their design authority area, dealing with challenges they've encountered during the new build projects and looking forward to building them all, test commissioning them and getting them running.
I'm excited that HPC, the biggest construction project in Europe, is on my doorstep, and that I’m writing safety cases to justify turning on the first nuclear reactors to be built since I was in primary school.
WHAT WAS YOUR ROUTE INTO THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY?
I never considered working in the nuclear industry when I was young. I got into engineering because I loved aeroplanes, so I did an aerospace degree at Durham. It touched on energy and nuclear, but it was never my aspiration to do that. I then went on to do a PhD in mechanical engineering, again with an aerospace flavour.
I joined Frazer Nash, briefly working in aeroplanes but then had a bit of an accidental move into nuclear because in consultancy you have to be busy and there was no aerospace work at the time.
So that's when I started working with civil nuclear power stations, writing structural integrity-based safety cases and outage-related safety cases to justify the operation of EDF’s fleet of Advanced Gas-cooled Reactors (AGRs) and the Sizewell B Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR).
WHY DID YOU BECOME A MEMBER OF THE NUCLEAR INSTITUTE?
I was already a Chartered Engineer and, despite working most of my time in nuclear, the IMechE was the organisation I'd always affiliated myself with most. However, as I started working more and more in the nuclear industry, I started engaging a bit more with the Nuclear Institute and the YGN. I was working in EDF’s office in Gloucester and there were events there that I went to and I learned a bit more about the Nuclear Institute.
When I decided to apply to be a Fellow of the IMechE a couple of years ago, I thought this was a good opportunity to expand my involvement in the nuclear industry too by becoming a professional member of the Nuclear Institute as well. I thought it would be good for me to be involved with the Nuclear Institute because I wanted to boost my presence in the Institute and improve my knowledge of what it does.
WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE BENEFITS OF PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP?
I noticed as soon as I became Chartered, it was a good signal for people to understand that you are suitably qualified and experienced. It shows that you've got the education behind you, and also the experience to back it up. As a consultant I have to sell my skills based on CVs and maybe a short interview with a client.
I've heard the same thing from the clients, that they have chosen me for work because they saw that I had that experience and taken the time to get Chartered. I also feel more engaged with the engineering community and it has opened new paths for me to support the industry, such as mentoring other engineers towards Chartership and doing voluntary work for the industry.
WHAT DOES YOUR PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP/CHARTERSHIP/ACCREDITATION MEAN TO YOU?
It's one of these things that benefits everyone. From a commercial point of view, it's useful for the company to sell its people and capabilities. From a personal point of view, there's that self-sense of reward, but also it's helping the industry get other people up the curve, get them developed and fill that skills gap that we all know is there in the engineering sector, particularly in nuclear.
HOW DID YOU FIND THE APPLICATION PROCESS? ANY TIPS FOR ASPIRING MNucI/FNucI?
I would say that, even if you haven't been in a plant or working in nuclear for 10 years, you may still have those transferable skills and still have the knowledge required for the Nuclear Delta to make effective nuclear engineers.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU?
One of the key things that I see in my career, is we know there are going to be challenges when HPC and other new build projects start commissioning and they'll need to be resolved and justifications written. I’ve got to the point where I'm the Frazer-Nash company expert on nuclear safety cases, particularly for structural integrity, so I'm quite excited for these challenges. I think my next step is to build a capability within my team to respond to new exciting opportunities in the nuclear industry, like for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), to get us to that goal of Net Zero by 2050.
I'm also a STEM Climate Ambassador, whereby I go to schools as much as possible to inspire the next generation to take an interest in engineering and nuclear power. I recently delivered some lessons for British Science Week in three schools about climate change and the roles of renewables and clean energy and was delighted with the enthusiastic response I received from the students. My next ambition is to build a model of a nuclear power station using a kitchen kettle to demonstrate how a reactor works and why nuclear is so important to inspire kids to join the industry.
|