Abstract for: Assessing the Future Workforce Supply for the UK Nuclear Sector

A highly skilled workforce of approximately 80,000 full time equivalents is currently employed within the UK nuclear sector in a range of occupations that includes scientists, engineers, project managers and other technical and executive staff. Projections of workforce demand are comparatively accessible since major projects are well defined and planned many years in advance. In the UK there is expected to be a rapid upturn in demand over the next decade, primarily driven by the plan to build five new power stations, with an estimated peak of around 100,000 in 2022. The future workforce supply is more difficult to determine as a result of the multiple workforce entry points (e.g. through apprenticeships and from other sectors), and the many attributes that define the workforce such as, occupation, training background, time to competence, and so forth. In order to handle this large parameter space and support the development of better supply projections, the UK Nuclear Skills Strategy Group (NSSG), which is accountable for developing a skills strategy to secure the supply of qualified and competent staff, has commissioned a System Dynamics based workforce model. The NSSG consists of key employers and government representatives, for both the civil and defence nuclear sectors. This paper describes the model and modelling process that has been developed for UK nuclear industry on their behalf.