Assystem Spotlights Role of New Technologies at Nuclear Week in Parliament 2025

3 February 2025

Technology played a central role in conversations between industry leaders and parliamentarians at Nuclear Week in Parliament 2025 following the UK’s government’s recent AI Opportunities Action Plan announcement.

Assystem’s theme for its gold sponsored Nuclear Week in Parliament (NWiP) fringe event; How New Technologies are Making the Nuclear Industry Fit for the 21^st Century Energy Transition took place in an extremely timely manner following the UK’s Government’s latest plans to establish AI Growth Zones across the UK, which will require technology driven by low carbon energy systems such as nuclear.

Technologies Shaping the New Age of Nuclear

Assystem’s fringe event invited expert panel speakers from across the nuclear landscape including; Rich Deakin, Director, Low Cost Nuclear Challenge, ISCF, UKRI, Charlotte Nichols, MP for Warrington North, Nipuni Karunaratne, Head of Digital at Rolls-Royce Submarines, and Graham Openshaw, Operations Director, Digital at Assystem, to debate on the diverse opportunities that new technologies present to expanding the UK’s nuclear capacity, particularly in the wake of the UK’s growing AI infrastructure demands.

Discussions explored how on the one hand new technologies, such as Digital Twins and AI are central to enhancing the efficiency, safety, sustainability and innovation of the UK’s nuclear energy industry, but on the other hand, how nuclear is critical to powering these new technologies. The conversation also highlighted the importance of establishing common data architecture to help break organisational silos across the sector and how this helps digital specialists unlock data’s potential to drive forward energy transition targets within the industry. Panellists also spotlighted the need for investing in a skilled workforce as a major pull factor for leveraging digital technologies effectively in both the new build and nuclear decommissioning sectors.

Supporting the Skills Pipeline

The application of new technologies is key to supporting the growth of UK’s nuclear energy programme; however, this cannot be achieved without building out our pool of skills amongst early career nuclear professionals.

That’s why a key focus of Nuclear Week in Parliament is to highlight the skills challenges facing the nuclear sector. At the Skills & Apprenticeships Fair on the 28^th January, Assystem’s graduates, Olivia Mungai, Ella Cooney and Samuel Kitchen, Ethan Williams and James Guard had the chance to connect with MP’s and parliamentarians to discuss the importance of the UK growing and supporting the pipeline of early careers talent into the nuclear sector as a lever for levelling up the economy and meeting our energy transition ambitions.