My President's page is written as we approach Christmas at the end of a very busy and potentially significant year for Nuclear in the UK. All aspects of our sector are moving forward and creating a very buoyant feeling with the expectation of even more activity in 2008. This has reflected in the activities of the BNES / INucE where we have all been very busy responding to consultations and running events.
The year has also been a focus for our joint transition team in their work to draw our two organisations together and hopefully form one new independant body which would have greater influence and authority. Throughout all of this increased activity, our branches - the real life-blood of our organisations - have continued to flourish appropriately representing our charitable objectives at a regional level.
Although there have been many events and evening lectures organised throughout the UK, I will focus on the success of four here not because they are anymore important or successful but rather because of their potential influence going forward;
Firstly, the Nuclear Congress held in Manchester, an event that by its nature is designed to reflect the whole of the industry from decommissioning to new build. This was a particularly successful event but contributed a key learning point for us going forward; specifically, events which span the whole of the sector tend to lead to delegates staying only for their areas of interest. For example, those interested in decommissioning stayed only for those sessions which addressed that topic. As a result, at any one time, the total number of delegates present did not seem large and suggested that the conference was poorly attended which, in actuality, was far from the case. Such events are vitally important to the sector but in the future we need to ensure we take account of this focussed-attendance trend.
The second event was the UK Decommissioning and Waste Management Conference at Rheged in Cumbria. Again a very successful event but by comparison a very focused event - on decommissioning and waste management within Cumbria. By comparison with Congress, this event seemed well-attended at all times even though the total number of attendees was about the same as for Congress.
Both of these conferences will generate surpluses for the combines organisers, BNES / INucE, and it is important to appreciate that these surpluses get fed back into the nuclear sector by enabling other activities from our organisations. In general such surpluses are likely to support our education and training initiatives which are designed to provide long-term benefit to the nuclear sector. Compare this to the commercial conference organisers who generally charge more for their events and any surpluses fuel their share price. Hence I would urge you, when considering attending, please reflect on where any surpluses go and support those events which in turn support the industry directly.
An occurrence since our last Nuclear Future was the first Young Generation Network (YGN) annual dinner. Unfortunately, I was out of the UK when this happened but George Jenkins (a previous president of BNES) represented the Society. The gathering was addressed by Ian Roxburgh, CEO of the NDA, and was a great success. I aim to ensure that I am in the country for the dinner next year in the hope that the YGN take pity on me and invite the immediate past president!
The final event I want to mention is the BNES / INucE / NIA annual dinner, which took place in early December. Again, talking to many people at the end of the evening, this was a great success. The after dinner talk was given by Lord O'Neill. We deliberately advertised the talk by Lord O'Neill to prevent attendees expecting a talk on football!
As you know, Lord O'Neill is the chair of the Nuclear Industry Association (NIA) with twhich BNES and INucE work very closely not only in the organisation of the annual dinner, but also in many other activities during the year, hence this firmly cemented our vitally important relationship. Although the NIA are a trade association and represent the industry (companies) and BNES / INucE are learned societies representing individuals, our activities generally align very closely in support of the sector.
As I have said, although 2007 has been busy with significant progress by the NDA, the CoRWM recommendations and the potential for New Build being highlighted by the White Paper, 2008 could be even more significant. Specifically, the outcome of the Consultations on Nuclear New Build is expected in January and, if this is positive, then this could be the most exciting development for many years and the beginning of a new era for the UK nuclear industry.
Hopefully, by the time you read this you will all have had a very good Christmas holiday; so let me wish you and your families a happy and prosperous 2008 in the expectation that New Nuclear Build will reinvigorate our sector for the benefit of all.
John Earp - President, BNES
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