Thirty Engineering and Allied Trades students attended a presentation about employment opportunities associated with decommissioning the Research Sites Restoration Ltd (RSRL) Winfrith site. The presentation was held in the College’s new Enterprise Centre, as part of its aim to bridge the gap between training and employment.
Andy Haas, SGHWR Facility Manager at RSRL gave a talk to the enthusiastic students who were interested in the nuclear industry and how they could apply their skill-set to the opportunities available.
RSRL Winfrith’s aim is to decommission the site by 2021 safely, securely and in an environmentally responsible way. Students were interested to hear of the current developments with one saying: “I’m impressed at how safe the industry is, to work in.”
The site was first established in 1957 as a centre to offer additional space for the UK’s civil nuclear research programme.
RSRL Winfrith (formally UKAEA) operated nine experimental reactors from the 1960s onwards. The last reactor was shut down in 1995. Since then an extensive decommissioning programme and demolition programme has been underway. Only two reactors remain today, SGHWR and Dragon, the completion of this decommissioning task is expected to be done by 2021.
Vice Principal for Enterprise and Employability at the College, Rob Jones commented: “It’s been brilliant to welcome RSRL Winfrith to our new Enterprise Centre and for them to talk about the opportunities that our students could be a part of. There has been some ground-breaking work and so much more to come over next eight years. The College is very much looking forward to being a part of the journey, working with the team at RSRL Winfrith to ensure that local students have the skills to secure local jobs.
“This is exactly the kind of session that the College’s new Enterprise Centre was designed for and we’re looking forward to welcoming many more employers over the coming months”
RSRL holds the site licence and is owned and operated by Babcock International Group on behalf of the NDA (Nuclear Decommissioning Authority).They manage the Winfrith and Harwell in Oxfordshire sites The company offers fantastic employment packages and career development.
For more information about the work carried out at the site, please visit: research-sites.com for news and publications. Weymouth College offers a fantastic range of Engineering, Construction and Allied Trades with excellent links with industries. To find out more, please visit: study.weymouth.ac.uk.
