How is nuclear energy used in industry?
Background: Nuclear energy can be used for various industrial applications, such as seawater desalination, hydrogen production, district heating or cooling, the extraction of tertiary oil resources and process heat applications such as cogeneration, coal to liquids conversion and assistance in the synthesis of chemical.
What is nuclear energy technology?
Nuclear power is a type of nuclear technology involving the controlled use of nuclear fission to release energy for work including propulsion, heat, and the generation of electricity. ... The turbine is used to generate electricity and/or to do mechanical work.
Overview of the UK nuclear industry
Nuclear power currently provides around a fifth of the UK's electricity. According to the trade association Energy UK, the plan is to increase this to about a quarter by 2025.
However, the eight existing nuclear power stations are ageing and all are due to close by 2035. As it stands, the government's strategy is to replace these - and the country's remaining coal-fired power stations - with new nuclear plants.
The £20bn plant being constructed at Hinkley Point in Somerset will be the UK's first new nuclear power station since the 1990s, and several more are expected to follow in the coming years.
This requirement to operate current nuclear power stations, decommission old ones and build new ones means there is significant demand for researchers, scientists and engineers with specialist knowledge of the industry's technology, regulation and safety procedures.
Graduate nuclear energy jobs
Statistics from the NIA show that 155,000 jobs are directly or indirectly supported by the industry, but the workforce is ageing and there's a skills gap that needs closing.
The Nuclear Skills Strategy Group's Nuclear Workforce Assessment 2017 forecasts that peak demand for workers will be in 2021, when 100,000 full-time employees will be needed.
The report predicts that 'pinch points' are especially likely for occupations including electrical engineers, reactor operation, project planning and control, emergency planners and chemists - so qualifications in these areas will make you attractive to employers.
Nuclear energy safely generates carbon-free electricity, anchors economic activity across America and even propels space travel.