The 2018 YGN Annual Day Seminar was themed around 'The Nuclear Sector Deal: Planning for Success' and took place on 15th November at The Principal in York.
Our speakers provided an overview of the Nuclear Sector Deal, covering key topics including Innovation, Diversity, and a panel session on Implementation.
The day kicked off with an address from the 2018 YGN Chair, Michael Bray, Senior Associate, Burges Salmon, who introduced the Nuclear Sector Deal and the opportunities and future growth of our sector, setting the scene for the Seminar and putting the Industrial Strategy in context.
Andrew Storer, CEO of Nuclear AMRC, and his colleagues, next gave a presentation on why we need to close the innovation gap by creating a market and looking at real costs savings. Andrew and his colleagues also highlighted some of the positivity around decisions being taken in the nuclear sector at the moment.
Andrew and his colleagues were followed by Prof. Melanie Brownridge, Head of Technology, NDA, who explained the need to innovate and why it is a real need and not a choice.
We were then delighted to be joined by our keynote speaker, Stephen Speed, Director of Nuclear, BEIS, who addressed us all on our 60 year nuclear history and the relevance of nuclear power in our energy mix. Stephen explained the need for clean growth and how the UK is meeting our targets faster than any other Country in the G7. The nuclear sector is one of only five sectors in the UK to get its own Sector Deal, highlighting the importance of the industry. Stephen highlighted that one of our challenges is to keep pace with the declining costs of other competitive technologies.
The morning session was rounded off by the 2018 national YGN speaking competition winner Momchil Vasilev from the Centre for Ultrasonic Engineering, University of Strathclyde, who gave an extended version of his winning talk on 'Robotic & Sensing Enabled Welding: Inspect while you weld'.
After lunch, Jack Gritt, WiN President, gave an engaging presentation on her four ‘F’ words to promote diversity and inclusivity: Fairness; Frustration; Fatigue; and Family and what those mean to her and how we can use those principles to promote a fair and inclusive culture in our organisations.
Jack was followed by Miranda Kerschel, EY Advisory, who continued our Diversity session, talking about the shortage of nuclear skills and how other industries like the rail sector are competing for our workers. Miranda also presented her vision of a potential road map for success.
The Seminar concluded with an excellent, thought-provoking and interactive Panel session providing an 'Update on Implementation' of the Nuclear Sector Deal, chaired by Prof. John Fyfe, Government Advisor. John was joined by co-panellists, Jay Bhart, Business Development Director, Cavendish Nuclear, and Andrew Sherry, Chief Science and Technology Officer, NNL. The Panel gave an update on their involvement in discussion forums and workshops already taking place on how the Nuclear Sector Deal could be implemented, before opening up the floor to a very engaging debate taking ideas and comments from the delegates. The Panel presented on the scale of the huge opportunity that is now presented to us, whilst noting the lack of innovative technology in our sector (with technology not really changing since the 1970s). We heard about the output from the Nuclear Industry Council conference on the Nuclear Sector Deal and how various workstreams have been set up to implement the Deal. Achieving the ambitious Nuclear Sector Deal is just a gateway along the path to success; it is not the end goal.
Thank you to all of our excellent speakers for helping us to deliver such a fantastic event. It was remarkable that all of our speakers delivered a consistent message about the content and opportunities of the Nuclear Sector Deal. With the sector likely to grow by around 15% over the next 3 years alone, it really is an exciting time to be embarking on a career in the UK nuclear sector.
The 2018 YGN Annual Dinner was held after the Seminar at the National Railway Museum, York.
The evening commenced with a champagne reception, kindly sponsored by ARC.
The YGN Chair then introduced our evening keynote speaker, Aujay Mistry, Business Development Manager, Nuvia, who gave his personal insight and shared some of his experiences working in the nuclear sector.
We are delighted to have supported a very worthy charity The Island, raising £1,602 in our charity raffle and auction. A huge thank you to all of our attendees and raffle and auction prize sponsors for giving so generously. The money we raised will make a significant difference to the charity, which runs a mentoring service for vulnerable children, giving these children an "island of space and time" in which their needs and interests can be the primary focus.
After formal proceedings concluded, the YGN unveiled the vintage travel themed entertainment, including a live band, casino, caricaturist, travel games, and much much more. A fantastic night was had by all.
Thank you to everyone who attended and supported the event, and particular thanks to our Sponsors:
If you have any comments or queries or would like to find out more about this event, or any other YGN event, or even to register your interest for next year’s YGN Annual Seminar and Dinner, please do get in touch with us by email to chair.ygn@nuclearinst.com and/or via our usual social medial channels. And please sign up to our mailing list via the YGN website (https://www.nuclearinst.com/Communities/NI-Young-Generation-Network) - it's free and the regular newsletters are full of interesting goings on within the YGN community and details of forthcoming events.