Last updated at 11:04, Friday, 21 May 2010

DEVELOPING Britain’s Energy Coast has taken local, national and international expertise.

Forward thinking, strategic initiatives and visionary concepts have enabled the project to evolve into a world-leading, innovative revitalisation for West Cumbria and Furness.

But in order to maintain the pace of renaissance and allow a complete progression through the life of the project, there is the need for new skills and expertise across a host of sectors and industries.

So where do these come from and how are they adopted for Britain’s Energy Coast?

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s Nigel Couzens has, for some time now, hailed Britain’s nuclear, energy and renewables expertise as world class.

As head of people strategy for the organisation, he knows how the skills and capabilities developed on our doorstep will allow the area to become a hub for all things energy related – not only throughout Europe but on a global scale.

Nigel’s more recent task has been highlighting Britain’s nuclear skills and expertise on a world stage. The beginning of March saw him invited to Korea for the Summit of Honour for Atoms in a Peaceful Environment conference to share the UK’s initiatives in education and training in the industry.

He said: “I was invited to go to the Korea conference as a result of the previous work we have done oversees and the reputation we have with people around the world for the work that we are doing – particularly in skills and capability – but also with the various investments in the likes of the Energus facility in West Cumbria.

“Our approach is thought of as an exemplar and the US Department of Energy, which was involved in organising the Korea conference, asked me to attend on the basis of a presentation I gave about our capabilities in Morocco, which they were also attending.

“They wanted input from people who had experience in education and training in nuclear environments and knew the UK had the gold standard, as it were, in terms of skills and education in the nuclear industry – they wanted me there to share our achievements.”

The three-day event saw him share Britain’s training and education systems and capabilities in the nuclear industry via a presentation to university representatives, governments, employers, private sector companies and expert authorities from around the world, including the International Atomic Energy Authority and the Korean Prime Minister.

He also used the event as a networking opportunity.

“The UK is viewed, by the world's nuclear skills industry, as having the best facilities and training infrastructures available,” Nigel said. “Considering the UK is a small player in a pool of 439 reactors globally, that’s quite an achievement.

“We have been training people in the nuclear sector since the 1940s so our experience has been developed over many years. We also have a complete cycle for the nuclear programme here in the UK – we manufacture fuel, we operate reactor power plants, we reprocess fuel and we decommission. There are very places in the world that also do that or are at that stage of operations.

“Since the NDA came along, we’ve taken an holistic view of skills across the whole industry working collectively rather than individually. By doing that and working in partnership with the likes of the National Skills Academy for Nuclear and employers towards a common aim, we’ve got an infrastructure that supports us all.”

Nigel believes no other country has that collective approach, making the UK’s nuclear skills solution the envy of others.

Events such as the Korean conference provide an opportunity for other countries to take a look at how the UK, and in particular Britain’s Energy Coast, engages with the likes of schools to encourage young people into the industry and highlight science, technology, engineering and maths-related careers.

The importance of apprenticeships when it comes to filling the industry’s skills gaps, along with graduate schemes that work across the whole of the energy industry, were also in the spotlight.

Higher and further education was another topic on the agenda with numerous universities offering masters degrees and PhD programmes tailored for the industry. The National Nuclear Laboratory programme was an initiative that created a lot of interest.

Nigel said: “We can go from cradle to grave, if you like, in terms of education, training and skills that’s needed for the entire industry. Other countries don’t have anything even close to that.

“I spoke about Britain’s achievements such as the Energy Foresight programme which helps 14 to 16-year-olds look at science in a more fun and appealing way, the Energus facility and its world class capabilities particularly in terms of engineering equipment, and the Dalton Cumbria Facility that will be built on Westlakes Science Park. Judging by the feedback from the delegates I think we should be proud of our programmes.

“But the conference wasn’t just an opportunity for us to blow our own trumpets. There were a host of ideas used by other countries I was able to bring back for our benefit such as new scientific techniques we can consider adopting and university-delivered programmes that we could take notice of and learn by.

“One programme that attracted my attention was a safety and security focussed degree the US and China are running that we don’t currently have. So that’s a model that could be transferred back to us.”

And as for the Energy Coast, Nigel sees a bright future ahead.

“The combination of projects already under way with those planned for the future will enable us to create a virtual campus for the Energy Coast. One that is designed to meet both the skills and educational needs required here, but also act as a further world class example of what we in the UK and Cumbria can deliver.”

First published at 13:13, Monday, 17 May 2010
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk