10 years since graduating and starting work- a rewarding decade.

Back in Summer 2018, I wrote an article titled "10 years since leaving school where has that time gone!" Then in Summer 2020 I wrote, the very originally named “A follow on from my last blog- 10 years since leaving school”, so it seems fitting to now in 2022 write "10 years since graduating and starting work- a rewarding decade".

What a decade it has been, a taster of which is shared through these photos.

It has been an extremely rewarding and enjoyable 10 years and as I pause and reflect, my career to date fits into three distinct phases, each one allowing me to grow and develop new skills, experience and knowledge of the sector.

Phase 1, 2012 through to 2019, during this time I developed my early career with the National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) in a range of roles, that provided me with a broad exposure to the nuclear industry, my roles ranged from highly technical ones, such as chemical modelling and deputy technical lead for fuel post irradiation examination, to management and leadership roles, including managing the Sellafield Ltd Game Changers programme and leading the Impact of Prudence and Caution in Waste Management project with the university of Manchester. (This is mainly covered in my first blog)

Phase 2, 2019-2020 when I was seconded to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) as the Executive Assistant to Adrian Simper (NDA Group Strategy and Technology Director) an amazing opportunity to be immersed in the daily life of a senior Executive member. Through this role I worked closely with Adrian’s personal assistant and leadership team and embed several changes to the way Adrian’s Lead Team worked, as well as working closely with Adrian, the NDA Strategy and Technology team and wider business. (This phase was covered in my second blog)

Phase 3, 2020-2022. In July 2020 just a few months into the Covid pandemic, I started my last role as Senior Strategic and Economic Advisor within the Nuclear Innovation and Research Office (NIRO) also taking on the role of General Manager. As this role is not covered in previous articles, I will explain a bit more here. NIRO consists of ca. 15 individuals seconded in from industry for 2 years, who act as advisors to UK government (BEIS) predominately on policy, technical and regulatory matters related to nuclear. Over the last two years I have led an extremely broad range of topics, one of the main ones being developing an understanding and educating others in BEIS and wider government departments, on the range of uses of nuclear energy beyond electricity. Nuclear energy is seen primarily as a source of electricity, but electricity is less than 20% of our energy usage in the UK, the vast majority of energy and carbon emissions being heating and transportation.

When I started in NIRO, nuclear was not often discussed in government outside electricity, however the wider opportunities for nuclear in supporting the energy challenge, as shared in this figure I often present, is now starting to be better understood.

Other areas of work over the two years included being a panelist at the American Nuclear Society Creating Value from Waste: Recycling Valuable Isotopes & Surplus Energy webinar and supporting NIA as one of the key technical team in developing the NIA briefing on Synthetic fuels.

Another sizable task I did was championing the production of the first ever UK Fission R&D Catalogue working with industry and academia.

The traction and reach of the catalogue, led to request for over 50 new contributions to be included in future issues and in July 2022 I released Issue 2 as the link above takes you to. I also coordinated the Nuclear Innovation Programme (NIP) Brochure presenting details of all the projects funded under the ￡180M NIP. This brochure is forwarded by Greg Hands, Minister of State for BEIS-?I remember issuing this well! I was sat in London in BEIS about to issue the day of the many resignations from government came in, checking my phone every time BBC news pinged, thankfully Minister Hands did not resign, and the brochure was released as planned.

Covid and remote working has meant this role in NIRO was different to that planned but I had an excellent time and could not think of a better time to be working with government than the last two years, when the understanding on what nuclear energy can offer beyond electricity was understood and significant government investment in nuclear was committed for the first time in my working career.

During my time in NIRO in November 2021, I was extremely fortunate to be able to be involved in CoP26 in Glasgow through the Young Generation Network and had the pleasure of talking to a range of people within both the green and blue zones, from politicians of developing countries asking how nuclear energy can support them to the senior members of the UK Nuclear Industry to those who had misconceptions about nuclear energy a great opportunity. I also decided to write two blogs for school children sharing the energy challenge we face which can be found here and here. The second blog shares how to build a paper nuclear reactor....

I was also delighted in July 2022 to be awarded fellowship of the Nuclear Institute (NI). The NI is the professional body for the nuclear industry and fellowship is "The highest level of nuclear specific recognition, instantly demonstrating your commitment to the sector and status as a leading nuclear professional" something I am proud to have achieved just before my 10 year anniversary of working. Last week NNL published this on Linked in and I was shocked that within 12 hours there was 250 likes and over 70 comments, many personalised and very touching. The news article released by NNL can be read here and the Nuclear Institutes updated article here. I thank everyone who has allowed me to explore opportunities and supported me on the journey to achieve this award.

Out of work the last few years since my last article have also been busy, firstly I took to creating feature walls in my home, two example here- Kitchen and Bathroom. I started with my bedroom and then well had to much fun so moved to kitchen and then well the bathroom had a wall with noting on so.....

Then in 2021 I had a busy year swimming with sharks, "experiencing" roller coasters and off road driving along with lots of other fun as captured in last years Christmas video here. Then this year, 2022, I set myself a challenge of undertaking 10 forms of transport across land, sea and air including a non motorised one in each category, I have had great fun and am up to 12 videos so far from helicopter and concord flights, to driving a tractor to swimming in a pond and lots more- videos of each can be found here.

After my NIRO secondment, in August I also took a month off work during which I toured the UK from Somerset to Surry, Skye to Shipley and lots of places (not beginning with S) along the way. A great time to switch off and enjoy the UK and undertake some of my transport adventures.

So there we have it 10 years of amazing experiences and fun in work and 10 years of amazing experiences and fun outside of work- where will the next 10 years and Phase 4 onwards of my career take me....

I am very keen to support and encourage others as I have been over the last decade by colleagues and friends around me. The photo here is me chatting to 278 nuclear early career individuals last week about my journey and what an awesome time this is for them to be joining the sector. I don't think many people realise the scale of the challenge ahead of us, 2050 is only 28 years away and as shared above ca. 80% of our energy is consumed through heating and transportation with the vast majority being fossil fuel (gas and petroleum) decarbonising these sectors is an immense challenge and I am delighted to be starting the second decade of my career focused on the part nuclear can play in this challenge and, as importantly, educating and inspiring others on the journey ahead of us.

To close I want to say a huge Thank you to everyone who has supported, encouraged and enabled me to have such an amazing start to my career. The last decade from graduating to now will always be a time I remember not least because my 4th day back at NNL, was the day our dearly beloved Queen died and I now wear my Queen's award for voluntary service ever more proudly.

Thank you all! Hopefully this has been an enjoyable or at least an enlightening read and maybe even helpful (along with previous blogs) for those who have messaged me asking about my route to achieving fellowship.