R&D Funding Opportunities
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Innovation

We are responsible for ensuring there is an appropriately skilled workforce available to

  • carry out decommissioning and clean up activities
  • ensure the continued operation of commercial plant to meet existing contracts

Both existing and new knowledge is needed for operations to progress.

We will encourage contractors to be innovative in order to deliver our mission more effectively, including improvements in safety, security, environmental and social-economic performance.

We also aim to ensure that good practice is shared between contractors for the benefit of the UK-wide decommissioning and clean-up mission.

Key Issues

NDA's Proposed Approach

Replenishing the nuclear industry’s ageing workforce and developing new skills.

Managing peaks and troughs in labour demand.

Knowledge management, transfer of good practice and how to promote a culture that constantly strives to improve the effectiveness of operations.

How to best encourage and reward innovative ideas.

Delivering value through sponsoring, funding and managing R&D.

The UK Government is considering the case and options for a National Nuclear Laboratory.

We plan to work with our contractors, regulators and the unions to find the best ways of retraining, reskilling or redeploying people in a way that encourages a more flexible workforce.

We plan to work with our contractors and the regulators to identify the skills and workforce requirements to deliver our mission.

We will work with others to evaluate the potential for a National Nuclear Skills Academy and a Nuclear Institute; a National Graduate Scheme that will work in partnership with agencies and providers across the UK to develop locally specific provision.

We will contribute to the Government's review of the case for a National Nuclear Laboratory and work with the Government and others to implement whatever decisions are made.

We have set up a Waste Management and Decommissioning Research Board to take an overview of UK and international developments and capabilities.

We recognise the contribution of the workforce and will look for better ways to reward them for accelerating decommissioning and clean-up.

We will establish an industry-wide pension scheme.