Institution news
Sam will be contributing to this year's Fit For Purpose Safety Cases in the Nuclear Industry event (29 May, Manchester), to view the full agenda and to book your place, visit the event website.
Please could you briefly explain your role, involvement, and experience related to the focus of this event?
Sam Lacey (SL): I am the technical lead for the Sizewell C Pre-Construction Safety Report. This is the first safety report for Sizewell C. Our project is based on Replicating Hinkley Point C as far as reasonably practicable, including the safety report. But we need to take project differences into account and ensure we present our own ALARP justification. This is a difficult balance and the middle ground represents what for us is a 'fit for purpose' safety case.
What key topics are you excited to discuss at this year's conference?
SL: It is always really helpful to get views directly from the ONR and discuss their position on key topics.
What do you consider to be the key areas of innovation in this industry, both in the UK and internationally?
SL: The amount of evidence we provide to support our safety cases is really world leading, particularly in the UK, where we provide analytical and physical evidence that are not considered by other industries/countries. Key is maintaining this strength whilst ensuring pragmatic solutions that allow our safety cases to be fit for purpose.
Who else are you most interested in hearing from on the programme?
SL: I am particularly interested in how the Operational part of EDF have improved their safety case delivery and the learning they can share on this.
Why is it important for engineers to join this conference?
SL: Our industry is all about sharing learning and experience and this is a great opportunity to do that from a safety case perspective.
Fit for Purpose Safety Cases in the Nuclear Sector 2025 will convene on 29 May 2025 in Manchester.
Taking place every two years, this one day forum brings together the nuclear safety community to share their expertise and lessons learned in the development and implementation of safety cases within the sector, covering operational sites, new build and decommissioning projects, new reactor development and much more.
This year's technical presentations are led by the Office for Nuclear Regulation, with technical insights from site operators Sellafield, HPC Design Authority, EDF, and Sizewell C, together with input from UKAEA, Nuclear Waste Services and more.
For a full agenda and to book your place at this year's event, visit the event website.