The Magnox Graduates Programe

What's a typical day like for you?

"Actually every day is varied, that's what I love about the job. Saying that, I am frequently involved in allocating Work Order Cards for craftsmen to go out and do jobs, as well as adjusting work specification, providing technical support and dealing with contractors on site. And there is always a rush job, when everything else takes a back seat!"

What's been the highlight of your job to date?

"Oh, definitely being involved in an 'Outage'. That’s where a reactor is shutdown for essential maintenance for a short period. The whole site comes alive; everybody has to put in that extra bit of effort to make sure the reactor comes back on safely and on time."

What do you think of the Graduate Scheme?

"It gives you a good framework in which to develop your skills in your chosen area, but also allows you the freedom to experience other areas of the business. You have the support of a Mentor, Line Manager and perhaps most importantly your colleagues – all are there to give you advice, encouragement and to develop responsibility. It is definitely a scheme that rewards you for the effort you are prepared to put in."

What advice would you give a new Graduate?

"Make the most of every opportunity. There are loads of invites to meetings, trips to other sites, and chances to work in other departments for a few weeks. Together they’ll boost your knowledge and understanding of life outside your normal area of work."

What are your hopes for the future?

"I want to become a fully qualified System Engineer for Site Electrical Systems. After that, I’d like to move around the business to get a wider appreciation of the company and industry as a whole."

Finally, what's your passion outside work?

"Travelling is my thing and I'm lucky that I get such a generous holiday allowance at Magnox. It gives me the opportunity to explore as much of the world as possible."

What's a typical day like for you?

“To be honest with you, typical days don't come along very often when you're working in the Safety Case Section. In the morning, I might be working on a large complex safety case for submission to the national regulators. Come the afternoon and I could be providing safety case advice to a team planning to replace an item of nuclear safety significance plant. The variety of the job certainly makes for a really interesting and very busy week!"

What's been the highlight of your job to date?

"I was given the opportunity to design a new decommissioning and deplanting training rig for the site. Seeing my design being put into actual use to benefit the company was hugely rewarding."

What do you think of the Graduate Scheme?

"It allows you the freedom to move between departments to get valuable experience. Since I’ve been here I’ve managed to get secondments to a variety of areas and different sites. It all really helps broaden your knowledge and understand how the business works."

What advice would you give a new Graduate?

"Act like a sponge! It may sound a bit daft, but you will be bombarded with new information every day. Absorb as much as you can. I am still learning new and interesting things nearly every day.”

What are your hopes for the future?

"Initially I want to become a Nominated Responsible Engineer on site and thereby being suitably qualified. Long term, I‘m working towards becoming a chartered member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. All in all, I must say the graduate scheme has been a great vehicle to set me on the road to chartership. Hopefully in two more years I will have gained enough evidence to begin my application to the Institution."

Finally, what's your passion outside work?

"The one thing I really look forward to is hitting the slopes, although not so much face-down with a mouthful of snow! I've skied for several years now and never got tired of it. I think it must be a combination of adrenaline, great scenery and of course the snow. A few beers afterwards always helps too!"

What's a typical day like for you?

“Working at a nuclear power station isn’t as gloomy as it may sound at first. I’m living in Bristol,a great city! It is just half an hour drive to Berkeley in the county side, which first thing in the morning can be really refreshing. My day generally starts catching up and networking with colleagues in the office, sharing information and advice on projects that we are working on.

I’ve been heavily involved in radioactive water treatment since starting last year. Water is used quite a lot to ‘wash’ radioactive contamination off certain components resulting in demand for new treatment plants to be designed and commissioned on most power stations. I’m currently involved in the commissioning of a radioactive water treatment plant in Hunterston. I’ve been travelling up to Scotland regularly - again, beautiful countryside and nearby Glasgow is also great place - carrying out tests on the plant, writing work instructions for operators and playing an active role in finding solutions to a number of challenges.

Chemical engineering is a well rounded profession and I’ve found that I’m able to involve myself in the ‘big picture’ of nuclear decommissioning strategy as well. I’ve recently participated in meetings where all the UK’s nuclear waste streams have been addressed and the processes and technologies needed to tackle them have been developed to come up with a cohesive, consistent plan. With such full and diverse days being the norm, the drive home is complemented with thoughts of a good pint of Bristolian cider!"

What's been the highlight of your job to date?

"The highlight so far has to be playing a big part in the commissioning of the new active effluent treatment plant. It’s given me real insight into the complexity of a technical project – all the different parties involved and all the opportunities that arise from dealing with so many people. It’s been great getting my hands dirty while at the same time realising the fruits of my efforts sat at a desk!"

What do you think of the Graduate Scheme?

"The Magnox graduate scheme is a real plus. The courses you get sent on are really useful and making new friends with all the other graduates that are in the same boat as you is self assuring. You get the feeling that the company cares about the early development of your career – I have a mentor and a detailed development plan - both leading me in the right direction."

What advice would you give a new Graduate?

"Being an engineer in the nuclear industry requires working to the highest standards of safety and reliability. Complying with all the regulations in place to ensure this happens gives you the chance to work as part of a meticulous design process. This offers a great foundation to build a career on. The job won’t be without it’s challenges, but facing them and finding solutions makes it all the more rewarding.”

What are your hopes for the future?

"I intend to build on the experience I’ve gained so far and become a chartered chemical engineer in the not too distant future. This will enable me to get involved in more interesting projects, take on more responsibility and offer more valuable technical input. Chemical engineering is so varied; you can design plant to process anything from chocolate biscuits and toilet roll to pharmaceuticals and radioactive sludges, and I’m really looking forward to the opportunities ahead."

What's a typical day like for you?

"Actually a typical day just doesn't exist in the engineering team. Although there is plenty of planned compliance work to keep me busy, with ad-hoc civil advice for projects and system engineers, without fail something will come up each day that will throw all my plans out and challenge me to react to the situation. Inspections, site visits, talking to and instructing contractors, submitting paperwork - I cram a lot in to my four day week which starts around 0715. But now Thursday is the new Friday!

I enjoy the diversity and challenge my job gives me and I work with a superb team at Dungeness. With their support and my hard work, I feel I can develop into a confident and valued member of staff."

What's been the highlight of your job to date?

"Part of decommissioning sites is removing redundant structures. I designed a sealing solution for our cooling water system and was able to see that design through to installation earlier this year. I have also performed inspections and specified ongoing maintenance work around the site as well as providing research for a seismic study which is a unique opportunity for a civil engineer working in this country."

What do you think of the Graduate Scheme?

"Well, it offers the support you need to gain Chartership with your accrediting body. The training ensures that you develop a good understanding of decommissioning and the challenges we face on the Magnox sites. You also get to know other graduates from a range of disciplines and from other sites across the company. But it's important to remember that, as with everything in life, you will only get out of the graduate scheme as much as you put in. You will get support, but you must drive your progress forward from the start if you want to reach your goals."

What advice would you give a new Graduate?

"The first few months will fly by so start your diary on day one and set up your file ready for your quarterly reviews. Be sure to write down everything, get out on site as soon as possible and take the opportunity to meet people. Although you have completed your degree, you will realise that there is still a lot more to learn."

What are your hopes for the future?

"I'm on track to go for my professional review in 2012 to become a Chartered Engineer. I would also like to gain the experience required to act as an intelligent customer for the company."

Finally, what's your passion outside work?

"I love to get on my bike whenever I can, the fabulous landscape and wonderful sweeping county roads here mean me and my Hornet are a regular sight on Kent’s roads."

What's a typical day like for you?

Although a cliché, there is no typical day as such. My work is divided between three activities:

• Helping deliver the generic research and development portfolio supporting decommissioning activities on sites;
• Co-ordinating the meetings to report this work to our customer (the NDA), the regulators and other nuclear site licence companies, and proposing future work through input from our sites; and
• Producing technical reports on chemical issues to support the sites in their decommissioning work.

Carrying out these roles often requires juggling lots of work and it’s great that I have the freedom to organise my working day as best fits the tasks at hand. So one morning I may be on site getting data for a report from the engineers on the job; whilst the next I may be organising a workshop for 30 people with good facilities, ample parking and gluten-free menu options; and on the third I may have a slightly more relaxing day reviewing a report from one of the Research & Development projects over a cup of coffee.

What's been the highlight of your job to date?

"The highlight of the last year as a Magnox graduate was the issue of my first report. I’ve previously written a number of technical reports, journal papers and even a 277 page thesis, but there was still something satisfying about producing my first report at Magnox and knowing that it would be used to help the work of decommissioning a part of the Magnox fleet."

What do you think of the Graduate Scheme?

"My first impression of the scheme was how quick my application was processed – from application to passing the assessment centre took less than 5 weeks! Since then the scheme has supported my development with the two year programme containing a number of courses aimed at providing a training package to satisfy the generic needs of a graduate new to the industry as well as those identified by my line manager as being particularly useful to my role.

Another plus point has been the appointment of a mentor with a similar background to help me through the chartership process and progression as a chemist within the nuclear industry."

What advice would you give a new Graduate?

"The best piece of advice I could give a new graduate is to look for a future employer that cares about the personal development of its staff. Magnox have been very supportive in me getting full membership of my professional institute (the Royal Society of Chemistry) and working towards chartership. Even if graduates decide against applying to Magnox I’d recommend that they look for an employer with a similar enthusiasm for staff development.”

What are your hopes for the future?

"In the immediate future I’m looking at securing a secondment with EDF – based near Lyon, France – on a collaboration looking at common issues of waste package design. I’m also looking to further my understanding of the needs of the reactor sites by spending more time on site, possibly embedded in the site chemist’s section carrying out the analyses necessary to maintain the fleet and continue generation."

What's a typical day like for you?

"A typical day changes depending on what project you are working on. At the moment, I'm involved with holding interviews in Paris with the technical experts to understand what they are doing with their irradiated graphite and then comparing this to what we do in the UK. We're aiming to produce a report for the NDA (Nuclear Decommissioning Authority) to use in order to develop their strategy for dealing with our graphite waste."

What's been the highlight of your job to date?

"My personal highlight was the tour of the ponds at Oldbury. I saw the blue glow of Cherenkov radiation coming from a recent fuel addition to the pond. I had heard about it on my courses at university but this was the first time I had seen it in person and I thought it was brilliant.

I also really enjoyed going on the site tours in my first six months, it gave me a chance to see just how varied the reactors are, but also how a lot of the same problems exist despite the difference in reactor design.

The other main highlight has been my secondment to France. I spent five weeks in Lyon working with EDF CIDEN to learn about the packaging of irradiated graphite and I have just started the five weeks with ANDRA in Paris to learn about the potential disposal facility. Coming out to France and working in a completely different environment has been eye opening and an hour long lunch break has been a novelty!"

What do you think of the Graduate Scheme?

"It's really good if you like to be challenged; you are in charge of your own development and where your career goes is down to you and the choices you make. I wanted a lot of responsibility when I joined and, within six months, I was put in charge of leading a project. It hasn’t been easy but I am really enjoying the work."

What advice would you give a new Graduate?

"When you first start, try not to turn anything down. You won't be able to do everything straight off and be honest when you don't know how to do something, but be ready to learn and try new things. By diversifying and trying as many different challenges and tasks as possible you will become a more rounded person. You'll also gain a better idea of how the company and the industry work."

What are your hopes for the future?

"Well, my number one priority is to become a Chartered Physicist. It's going to take another three to four years and will involve working on several projects to make sure I have the range and depth of experience required. I have already done a lot of travelling through my secondments but I hope to continue this in the next few years by working closely with the sites."

Finally, what's your passion outside work?

"I've always loved competitive running. I've taken part in a few 10K races and I'm hoping to enter a couple of half marathons next year."

What's a typical day like for you?

"During my first year with the company my typical day was reviewing and commenting on sections of environmental statements produced by specialist consultants and then participating in discussions with project teams on site, contractors and regulators.

Since then my responsibilities have been broadened to include other areas of environmental compliance such as land quality management, best practicable environmental options, and nature conservation.

The bulk of my work is contributing to developing company arrangements on environmental compliance, reviewing contractors’ reports and providing advice to Magnox South sites on issues related to these topics."

What's been the highlight of your job to date?

“The highlight of the job so far was the issue of my first environmental statement and participating in the planning decision conference where planning permission was granted. There is something very satisfying about issuing a large document that you have significantly contributed to.

Since then I have been a lead contact for consultants in production of a ‘mini’ environmental statement and also independently provided and discussed comments with contaminated land consultants. I also represent the company in an inter industry group on contaminated land and participate in interface meetings with the Environmental Impact Assessment team (Health and Safety Executive)."

What do you think of the Graduate Scheme?

"The scheme supports working towards professional qualifications (chartership etc), providing a good amount of training and an opportunity to network with other graduates including a very valuable opportunity to go on a secondment."

What advice would you give a new Graduate?

"Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Constantly challenge yourself, be proactive and use every available opportunity to go outside of your technical specialist area. Secondments and deputising for your senior colleagues is a great way to build competences required for your future chartership."

What are your hopes for the future?

"In the short term I want to become an Intelligent Customer and manage contractual work as and when it arises. In the medium term I aim to move towards a managing/supervising role, with a technical development emphasis, and to gain enough experience to become a Chartered Environmentalist."

Finally, what's your passion outside work?

"Outside of work I enjoy Martial arts."