EAL apprentices help decommission Scottish nuclear reactor site
1 min read
The decommissioning of the UK's centrepiece for fast reactor nuclear research and development is providing local learners with jobs and skills for the future.
Twenty-two apprentices are working towards EAL qualifications at Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd (DSRL), near Thurso, Caithness, adding to the thousand or so people who have already undertaken apprenticeships at the facility since 1955.
The site employed some of the nation's leading scientists and engineers, who worked with plutonium, uranium and other metals to generate electricity for Britain from a more advanced type of nuclear reactor.
Now this work is complete, a new generation of engineers is working to decommission the site and restore the surrounding environment to its original condition. The majority of the apprentices at Dounreay are from the local area and are employed as maintenance technicians.
Supported by EAL, they are given the opportunity to complete an engineering apprenticeship and gain employment in northern Scotland – all apprentices over the past 12 years were offered permanent jobs. They also gain skills that are easily transferable to other renewable energy sectors, such as wind, tidal and wave energy.
Carol Robertson, apprenticeship programme coordinator at Dounreay, said: "In the last 12 years that I have been here, we have offered employment to every apprentice who has completed the programme...We only use EAL awards because EAL offered us everything we wanted. We want the apprentices to get involved as much as possible – also providing off-site placements, where the scale of operations is completely different to Dounreay."
Erin Thomson is a fourth year instrument apprentice. She said: "My apprenticeship has been a very positive experience and has equipped me with a range of transferable skills that will be useful for the remainder of my career here at Dounreay and beyond."
DSRL has been working with EAL for 13 years and has a dedicated external verifier (EV). Robertson added: "It is important to us that we have a dedicated EV who is employed by the awarding organisation. That way we have a partner who not only knows the industry inside out, but also has detailed knowledge of the awards."
