Britain’s nuclear revival has long been promised; now it may finally be underway. In her first Spending Review on June 11th, Rachel Reeves, the new chancellor, pledged £113 billion for capital projects, with nuclear energy emerging as a major beneficiary.
Some £30 billion will be channelled into the sector, including £14.2 billion for Sizewell C and £2.5 billion earmarked for small modular reactors (SMRs). To complement this, Ms Reeves committed to a £1.2 billion annual increase in post-16 education funding by 2028–29, with the explicit goal of closing skills gaps in priority sectors like energy.
That investment is timely. Britain’s nuclear ambitions depend not only on concrete and steel but on people - particularly those trained in instrumentation and control (I&C), the technical backbone of reactor safety and reliability. With an ageing workforce, a shallow talent pool and an insufficient academic pipeline, the sector risks stumbling before it has truly begun.
A Workforce in Decline
The demographic challenge is stark. More than half of Britain’s nuclear engineers are over 45, according to a white paper by Imperial College London. Many are expected to retire within a decade, taking with them legacy knowledge of analogue systems and regulatory frameworks such as IEC 61513 and the ONR’s Safety Assessment Principles. A 2022 parliamentary inquiry warned of a “cliff edge” in expertise, especially in disciplines that underpin reactor safety.
I&C engineers are among the hardest roles to fill. The Nuclear Skills Strategy Group (NSSG) has repeatedly flagged them as a priority shortage. As nuclear infrastructure becomes more digital and distributed, demand for specialists in control systems, condition monitoring and fault diagnostics is only increasing. Broader shortages in the UK engineering workforce - where vacancies in nuclear run at twice the national average - exacerbate the problem.
Training Shortfalls and Perception Problems
The trouble begins in the classroom. Few UK engineering degrees offer modules tailored to the needs of nuclear I&C. Graduates often emerge ill-equipped to handle the regulatory and technical rigour required by the industry. The Nuclear Industry Association has criticised this gap in multiple submissions to Parliament, urging closer alignment between academia and industry needs.
Perception is another barrier. To many students, nuclear still conjures images of bureaucracy and legacy infrastructure, not cutting-edge engineering. Sectors like renewables, AI and space are often seen as more exciting, more agile, and more future facing.
The Cost of Complacency
The consequences of inaction are potentially severe. Life-extension projects for Britain’s ageing AGR fleet depend on precise instrumentation upgrades. So do the construction timelines for SMRs and next-generation plants. Reactor protection, turbine overspeed detection and vibration monitoring are not optional features. Without the right personnel, delays and compliance failures are inevitable.
A 2023 report by Scientists for Global Responsibility projected that 7,000 new nuclear recruits will be needed annually until 2028. Unless the skills gap is addressed, many of these roles will go unfilled. That threatens not just project delivery but long-term energy resilience.
A Glimmer of Progress
Government and industry are not blind to the risks. In 2023, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero launched a Nuclear Skills Taskforce, chaired by Sir Simon Bollom, to coordinate workforce expansion across civil and defence projects. Universities such as Manchester and Birmingham are expanding nuclear pathways, while firms like EDF and Westinghouse are growing their apprentice intakes.
Some progress has already been made. The Nuclear Industrial Partnership has trained over 100 I&C engineers since 2016 through project-based schemes designed to meet real-world demands. Yet such initiatives remain modest relative to the scale of the challenge.
Knowledge Must Not Be Allowed to Decay
Bridging the skills gap will require more than fresh graduates. It demands deliberate knowledge transfer—through mentoring, documentation and secondment—from the engineers soon to retire. Industry, academia and government must collaborate to overhaul curricula, expand in-work training, and offer structured certification in areas like API 670 compliance and vibration diagnostics. OEMs and suppliers also have a role to play, helping to train end users in increasingly complex systems.
Britain’s nuclear aspirations are bold. But they will remain so unless matched by a serious and sustained investment in people. Without enough engineers to monitor and control the systems that keep reactors running safely, the country’s energy security—and its climate goals—will remain out of reach.
If your organisation is ready to be part of the solution, get in touch with us to explore how we can help build the expertise needed for a secure energy future.
