Politics Home Article | Unlocking jobs and developing skills with nuclear decommissioning

NDA group apprentices attend the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Apprenticeships Parliamentary Fair.

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Over the past month, the NDA group has played a central role at two key events in Parliament, the NIA’s Nuclear Week in Parliament, and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Apprenticeships Parliamentary Fair.

Both events were an opportunity to showcase the nuclear industry’s contribution to jobs, growth and energy security across the UK, and engage with parliamentarians and industry figures. 

The NDA group, responsible for safely decommissioning the nation’s earliest nuclear sites, played a prominent role in demonstrating how decommissioning is not the end of the nuclear story, but a vital enabler of the UK’s wider nuclear ambitions.

From securing legacy facilities and safely managing nuclear waste, through to unlocking opportunities to restore land for future beneficial use, the group is increasingly trusted to do more. In the coming years, this will also include taking on decommissioning of the UK’s seven Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor stations following defueling, reflecting the breadth of expertise within the group.

The NDA group, comprising Sellafield Ltd, Nuclear Restoration Services (NRS), Nuclear Waste Services (NWS), and Nuclear Transport Solutions (NTS), oversees one of the world’s most important environmental restoration programmes. It employs 19,000 people directly – equating to 32% of the UK’s civil nuclear sector – and supports over 40,000 more jobs through its supply chain, making it central to unlocking further economic growth.

Alongside the development of the existing workforce and bringing in experienced professionals with transferable skills from other sectors, key to sustaining progress in both decommissioning and the wider civil nuclear sector is the prioritisation of early careers. As the UK nuclear workforce is set to expand, sector-wide collaboration through the National Nuclear Skills Plan has underpinned this, with NDA subsidiary Energus providing graduates and apprentices to partner organisations.

The NDA group is currently marking National Apprenticeship Week, celebrating how apprenticeships deliver long-term skills, rewarding career routes and opportunity for communities surrounding NDA sites.

At the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Apprenticeships Parliamentary Fair, NDA group apprentices shared their journeys with parliamentarians. Grace Ormesher-Southall, a fourth-year Sellafield Design Degree Apprentice, spoke highly of her time at Sellafield, saying: “I’ve had the opportunity to complete work across civil engineering, structural calculations, architectural work, project management, and CAD design.” She also reflected that she has “enjoyed playing an active role in delivering complex projects that contribute directly to Sellafield’s mission”, sentiment shared by graduates across the organisation.

With 90% of NDA group apprentices successfully securing a role within the group at the end of their scheme, apprentices are well placed to go on and work in the sector, building skills and industry in their local communities and unlocking the growth this brings.

There are also 400 apprentices set to join the group this year, who will continue to play a crucial role in delivering the NDA’s mission on behalf of the UK.

Nationally, the number of those beginning their apprenticeship schemes has risen by nearly 8% this year, driven by increases in government funding and a growing number of roles.

Minister for Skills, Baroness Jacqui Smith, said:

“Nuclear decommissioning is creating exactly the kind of skilled, well-paid careers we need more of in this country – and these jobs are being built in communities that have long been the backbone of British industry.

“This government is investing in the workforce of the future to give employers greater flexibility to train the next generation.

“By supporting high-quality apprenticeships and skills programmes, we are helping people into good jobs while strengthening the industries our economy depends on.”

Early careers were also front and centre at Nuclear Week in Parliament’s Skills and Apprenticeships Fair, hosted by Lizzi Collinge MP in January. At the event, 11 NDA group apprentices from sites across the UK again engaged with MPs to share first-hand the work they are delivering, and the skills they are gaining from their participation in the NDA group’s extensive apprenticeship programme.

Speaking at the event, Keely Salter, an NRS Health Physics Apprentice and the National Skills Academy for Nuclear (NSAN) Apprentice of the Year 2025, said her apprenticeship had helped her develop key skills to advance her career “through learning from experienced members of the team and other on‑site staff.” She added that an apprenticeship was “an environment where learning never stops” – something she hopes to share with others in her work promoting nuclear industry opportunities to local schools.

Keely is one of 1,100 apprentices and graduates currently working within the NDA group, which sees investment into such programmes as central to the delivery of its mission. With £55 million of investment into early careers each year, the group is helping grow a nuclear workforce to enable the government’s ambitions for cheap, clean, homegrown energy. In addition to early careers programmes, the NDA sponsors 150 PhD students and five post-doctoral researchers, developing advanced skills to tackle its unique and complex engineering and environmental challenges.

For more information on apprenticeships in the NDA group, visit: Early careers – The NDA group