Recommendation 13

The Department and the NDA pointed to the increasing importance of developing skills across the industry. The NDA is taking steps to increase training opportunities to further develop technical skills that are in short supply in the UK and which are in high demand from the private sector and from projects to build new nuclear power stations, such as Hinkley Point C. The NDA told us that it has introduced a nuclear graduate scheme involving placements across the industry, which has had over 200 graduates since its introduction and 40 entrants in its most recent cohort, 46% of whom were women. The Department and the NDA stressed the need to improve skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) across the UK more broadly and the Department emphasised the importance of working closely with the Department for Education to ensure the commitments on skills made by government and industry in the 2018 nuclear sector deal are met.24 Departmental oversight and the new delivery model