Louise did MPhys Physics and a PhD in physics at Lancaster University, along with a PGCE in Physics from University of Cumbria. Her nuclear industry experience has covered safety cases, radiation metrology and radiological protection. She currently works for BAE Systems in the Submarine sector.
How did you get your job in radiation protection?
I always enjoyed atomic and nuclear physics (and a module of medical physics) during my MPhys. I went to Lancaster University, which is quite close to Heysham power station so a career in the nuclear/radiological field was always in the back of my mind. After my undergrad, I did a PhD in ultra-low temperature physics; there weren’t really any opportunities in that field when I finished, so I went into the nuclear industry to do safety case work for a few years. The projects I worked on were primarily for Sellafield, Dounreay and Radioactive Waste Management.
I enjoyed it but I had always had a soft spot for teaching, which I did during my PhD, so I left to do a PGCE. I spent ~5 years teaching physics and astronomy; working in schools and for the Ogden Trust and the Institute of Physics. I did a bit of educational publishing work too.
When I felt that career had run its course, I went back into nuclear as a radiation metrologist and trained as a Qualified Person. I have been at BAE Systems in Barrow-in-Furness ever since, just from spotting one of their job adverts with ‘physics’ in it and making a career change leap into the defence nuclear sector.
Very soon I am moving onwards and upwards to take on a nuclear training specialist role within BAE which I am really excited about!
What does the role involve?
As a Qualified Person I have a legal obligation upon me to ensure the quality and traceability of radiation calibration and metrology under Reg 20 of Ionising Radiations Regulations 2017. This doesn’t just mean I sign off radiation detection and monitoring equipment (RDME) calibrations; my role is quite varied, and I get involved with a lot of project work in order to provide my advice and guidance to my company regarding radiation detection and instrumentation.
I run a radiation instrumentation calibration facility which has gamma and neutron capability, so I have to ensure this is fit for purpose and conforms to ISO 4037 and ISO 8529. Since I am in the defence sector I also have some Defence Standards to take into account. This involves physically characterising the radiation fields, writing protocols and test procedures for calibration and occasionally undertaking some repairs and doing Portable Appliance Testing on our kit.
I advise the business on selection of RDME to ensure that any instruments we use are suitable for their intended purpose. A lot of this work is to ensure that BAE is doing the right thing in respect to ONR requirements e.g. having a sitewide radiation monitoring system. I have supported our AUKUS work too, providing guidance on how to set up a radiation calibration facility to meet ISO, source security and safeguarding requirements.
I am a Radiation Protection Supervisor (RPS) for my facility which means that I am trained to deal with any contingencies we have. I also take part in BAE’s Nuclear Emergency Response Organisation, where I act as a health physics monitor.
I take an active role in supporting our interfaces with regulators too. Not all QPs do this, but I have worked on expanding my role to be able to provide advice to BAE senior leadership with respect to our sealed sources and associated permitting by the Environment Agency. I act as a Supervising Person for High Activity Sealed Sources, which has definitely bolstered how I approach my RPS duties.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
Most of it, to be honest! I get to do a lot of different things. As a defence sector QP I take part in a triannual audit programme of RDME calibration facilities, which I genuinely find fun; I get to support other businesses and nuclear sites and have a nosy around lots of different labs. It’s a great way to pick up and share good practice in the industry and I like to think I’ve made some friends from it too.
I have also been lucky enough to do some research work connected to my radiation metrology role. This is where I can bring in some creativity and make good connections with universities. I’ve enjoyed acting as Industrial Supervisor to some PhD students as part of this. I’ve seen some cracking new technology and met some extremely smart and interesting people from this (and helped to develop some too).
I really enjoy training people, so my upcoming role as a nuclear training specialist will let me tie together my work as a QP, a qualified teacher and a safety case consultant. I have been responsible for developing QP training resources, as well as RPS training and workshops I have put together on RDME and how it works.
Tell us about three challenges facing the nuclear sector today
Nuclear SQEP cohort – there are not enough trained people to do everything the nuclear sector wants to do. Steps are being taken to address this, but it is not necessarily going as quickly as it might. I would encourage anyone with an interest in STEM to explore the opportunities in the nuclear sector; you never know what you might find. I had never heard of radiation metrology before I started doing it and it has turned out wonderfully for me!
Training – there are some areas of nuclear/radiological training which are lacking (e.g. very minimal QP qualification framework) and, again, although steps are being taken to address this the UK has a bit of catching up to do to make sure we can achieve the desires of the 2024 Nuclear Roadmap.
Ageing Fleet – there might be a struggle to train and keep a qualified cohort for new nuclear power generation if the civil reactor fleet shuts down. This knocks on to the nuclear defence and decommissioning sectors too.
In what way is your degree relevant to the role?
My MPhys in Physics gave me a decent grounding in atomic and nuclear physics, plus data analysis and mathematics skills which I use day-to-day. I even got a bit of radiation protection guidance from my PGCE, as some schools hold small radiation sources for practical work.
My PhD topic was not directly applicable to my current industry, but I did pick up a lot of transferable skills, including:
- Technical writing
- Working safely in a lab (cryogen control is not altogether dissimilar to radioactive source handling)
- Presenting/training/speaking to different audiences
- The ability to digest academic papers and how they might apply in the real world
How has your role developed, and what workplace issues are you most passionate about?
I have gone from mainly doing RDME calibration work to actually being the appointed QP for a large company over the past ~9 years. I have learned how to run a facility and acquired line management responsibilities along the way. I have shifted from being responsible for my own development to being responsible for supporting the development of others. I am really keen on ensuring that viable training or projects that we run are maintained; I really don’t like to see lost SQEP or intellectual property and I tend to try and fight to keep things running.
What are your career ambitions?
I just like to leave something in a better state than I inherit it, so as long as I can walk away from a role feeling that I have done that I’m happy. I’d like to see where my new nuclear training specialist role takes me. I’m already thinking about how I can improve radiation safety training and expand the offering around QP training, so this will be my development focus for a while. I’d like to do some more outreach work again too; I’ve lacked the time in recent years, but I try to get involved with SRP events and I’m on my local IOP branch committee.
What advice would you offer to others interested in entering this field?
Get yourself a decent grounding in something like physics, engineering, chemistry, or maths. It is not necessary to go to university to get into nuclear or radiological roles as there are some great apprenticeships around nowadays. However, since I pushed on to PhD level at university, I can also recommend doing a physics degree. There are some great Master’s programmes out there too, such as the NTEC course organised by University of Manchester.
Be open to doing some scary things! I don’t mean handling radiation sources in a risky manner but certainly taking a leap to apply for a role you think is interesting is worth it. Even if you don’t get the job, you can get some helpful feedback.
I’ve made good use of online resources as well as picking the brains of people in my industry e.g. SRP, LinkedIn and Nuclear Institute. When I started out in the industry many of these resources were in their infancy but there seems to be a lot more for early career entrants now (I have sadly aged out of things like the Rising Generations group).
Always bear in mind how much variety there is in the nuclear sector, and even just in radiological protection itself. There’s something here for everyone across civil, defence and decommissioning, whether you’d like to sit behind a computer or get your safety boots on!