Industry association report shows record growth, but calls for ‘urgent decisions’ on planned reactors
The number of people working in the civil nuclear industry in the UK is at its highest level ever with major new projects helping to drive a 60% increase in the number of jobs in a decade, according to a new report by the Nuclear Industry Association (NIA).
The NIA’s 2024 Jobs Map – the sector’s major annual jobs report – shows there are 86,908 people working in the sector, an increase of over 9,000 on last year’s total, and up from 54,515 in 2014.
The record growth is driven by new projects at Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C, although the NIA said “urgent decisions “are needed on the next wave of projects to keep up momentum and sustain growth.
The construction of two France-supplied EPR units at Hinkley Point C has tripled the size of the nuclear workforce in the southwest of the country, from 8,500 workers in 2014 to over 27,000 today.
The project has also brought £5.3bn (€6.2bn, $6.9bn) of investment into the region, with the benefits soon to be replicated by the construction of two more EPR units at Sizewell C in Suffolk, southeastern England.
By contrast, Wales, home to the Wylfa nuclear site, has seen the steepest decline in jobs across the UK, down 40% in the last decade, despite having the best site for new nuclear anywhere in Europe. A new large-scale nuclear power station at Wylfa, on the island of Anglesey, could create thousands of jobs and bring in billions of pounds in investment.
Elsewhere in the UK, innovations in advanced nuclear technology have helped drive the number of jobs, with a growing workforce of over 700 people developing small modular reactors. SMR deployment could create thousands of jobs.
The NIA said the nuclear industry provides a vital engine of economic development outside London and the southeast, with over 29,000 people employed in the North West in decommissioning, fuel cycle research and reactor design, and remains the sector’s biggest regional workforce.
Elsewhere, the UK’s “world-class” nuclear fusion research expertise sees more than 2,700 people employed at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy in Oxfordshire, the NIA said.
The UK has nine commercial nuclear power plants in operation at five generating nuclear power stations, providing around 15% of the country’s electricity.
Four units at Hartlepool and Heysham are scheduled to retire by March 2026, followed by four more units at Heysham B and Torness by March 2028. That will leave only Sizewell B in operation from the current fleet.
Hinkley Point C, the only new nuclear power station under construction in the UK, is due to begin generating in 2031.
