November 2, 2014 - Westinghouse Springfields (UK) nuclear fuel manufacturing site recently held our annual Skills Awards Day recognising the achievements of young engineers enrolled in the Advanced Apprentice Training Programme and our employees who have achieved academic success in the past year.
Thirteen different awards were presented, including the coveted Westinghouse Guild Trophy for the Apprentice of the Year, which went to 19-year old Jack McGuinness. Congratulations to Jack and all award winners recognised during Skills Awards Day!
I’m also delighted to share that the Skills Awards Day coincided with the recent news that the Springfields Advanced Apprentice Training Programme has received joint approved accreditation from the Nuclear Institute (NI) and the National Skills Academy for Nuclear (NSAN) – the highest nuclear standard available. A panel of nuclear experts judged the programme as enabling apprentices, upon successful completion of their training, to meet the requirements for membership of the N I and for professional registration against the UKSPEC (Engineering Council’s UK Standard of Professional Engineering Competence) at EngTech level.
| Jack McGuinness (left) receives the Guild Trophy from Dave Oldman, Head of Assets Management at Springfields. |
I’m proud of our apprenticeship programme, and the Skills Award Day event in particular, because the quality of the Springfields Apprenticeship Programme is widely acknowledged by a number of national UK training and engineering organisations. The programme, which has operated since 1950, is run by an excellent team of instructors and utilises a high standard of equipment made available to apprentices. Nearly 1,800 youngsters have passed through the programme, including some 25% of our current employees at Westinghouse Springfields who began their careers as an apprentice – including myself.
Our apprentice training programme is pivotal in ensuring that Westinghouse Springfields produces the skills available to meet future business demands in the nuclear industry. Westinghouse is expanding engineering services in the UK and, together with opportunities in its new build programme at the Moorside project site in Cumbria (UK), offers an exciting future for young engineers like those in the apprenticeship programme.
Mick Gornall
Managing Director of UK Fuel Operations
Westinghouse Springfields