Nuclear Institute launches careers conference in Manchester

The Nuclear Institute has launched its first Nuclear Professionals Conference for staff across the UK nuclear sector.

The event will bring together 500 people in Manchester and focus on personal and professional development for workers in technical and non-technical roles. The programme covers leadership, mentoring, wellbeing, inclusion and workforce strategy, alongside guidance on career progression and chartership.

The launch comes as employers across several industries face pressure over skills shortages, staff retention and the need to build broader talent pipelines. In the nuclear sector, those issues carry particular weight because of the industry's regulatory demands and the need to maintain specialist expertise over long project cycles.

Framed around the National Nuclear Strategic Plan for Skills, the conference will examine the nuclear skills challenge, policy developments and workplace culture. Topics also include psychological safety in high-risk environments and approaches to improving inclusion across the workforce.

While rooted in the nuclear industry, the event targets a wider audience than engineers and scientists. It is intended for professionals across business services and academia, including people working in human resources, information technology and project management.

That broader remit reflects a growing focus on the systems and support functions needed to sustain large industrial workforces. In sectors with complex supply chains, strict safety requirements and long-term investment cycles, recruitment and development challenges often extend far beyond core technical disciplines.

Workforce focus

The programme is organised around themed zones and sessions designed to support career development at different stages. Alongside formal learning, attendees will have access to structured networking and professional communities linked to mentoring programmes and stakeholder groups.

Conference tickets will also include membership access, giving participants a route into continued learning and professional registration. This links the event to the Institute's wider role as a membership organisation representing about 5,500 professionals across the nuclear industry.

Professor Adrian Bull MBE HonFNucI, president of the Nuclear Institute, outlined the thinking behind the initiative.

"We're excited to be bringing together hundreds of nuclear professionals from technical and non-technical backgrounds across the UK in Manchester for our first conference of this kind.

"We believe the nuclear sector is built on people, and this event is focused on supporting workforce development at every stage of the career journey. By investing in our people, we are helping to ensure the sector has the capability and resilience needed to deliver on the UK's nuclear ambitions."

Sector challenge

The launch underlines a wider effort across the UK nuclear industry to strengthen the workforce as companies and public bodies recruit for new build, operations, decommissioning and support work. Maintaining that workforce depends not only on technical training, but also on leadership, culture and retention.

Professional development has become more prominent as employers compete for staff with transferable skills in engineering, digital systems, project delivery and corporate functions. The inclusion of non-technical roles in the conference programme suggests the Institute sees those jobs as central to how the sector plans and delivers work.

The event will close with the Nuclear Institute North West Branch Annual Dinner, a long-running industry gathering that attracts more than 600 attendees each year.