The Next Generation: How Are We Equipping Our Young Generation for the Future

The nuclear industry until a few years ago was perceived to be a dying breed in the UK. As the lifetime of our operating station comes to a close younger engineers and scientists favoured other industries such as IT, manufacturing or banking. As we enter a nuclear renaissance in the UK it is becoming increasingly more important to attract and retain the best scientists and engineers to secure our energy requirements for the future as well as decommission the current liabilities. This paper discusses 3 groups focusing on graduate recruitment and retention, Companies, YGN and NDA. All three need to work together to not only promote the nuclear industry and encourage graduates but also to develop them for the future. Companies are continuously refocusing their schemes to the changing requirements of the industry, the YGN are a link between these companies assisting with career developing of new recruits and the NDA have launched a programme to encourage a national graduate programme. All three elements are discussed and required to evolve together to ensure the successful development of the industry on a national level.