Today we tell the career story of Dave Polkey, from Dave Polkey Associates, who started his working life in the steel industry before using his transferable skills to begin a nuclear career at BNFL.
I want to take the opportunity to thank Dave for his time talking to us and helping to put together this article about his inspiring career in nuclear. I think that Dave is set up to make a great success of DPA, and I look forward to following his progress and would love to get the opportunity to work with him again in the future.
If you are in a position, such as Dave was at the start of his career, where you do not see an excellent outlook for the sector you are working in currently, this story will show you how it is possible to reinvent yourself in the nuclear industry.
I now pass you over to Dave.
Before you read on - we have created an email course to guide you through the process of defining your career path into the nuclear industry. Check it out below:
A Sunny Day In The Lakes
I am a South Yorkshire lad from a mining village. I joined a steelworks in Rotherham and Sheffield right out of school, working with them for about three years.
But by the late 1980s I could see what was happening with coal [the industry was declining with significant job losses] and could see the same was going to happen to steel.
I decided to go to University, as I thought it was the best way to start building myself a new career. During my time at Leeds University, I attended a job fair at which I spoke to British Nuclear Fuels Ltd or BNFL – who at that time were recruiting heavily for commissioning resources for their new Thorp plant.
I vividly remember being picked up from Carlisle train station on a glorious August day, and as I was driven to the site through the top of the Lake District, I thought: "what a lovely place to live." I showed interest in a role, submitted my CV, and BNFL gave me an interview.
I was offered a job, took it and never regretted it.
Emotionally Invested
The day I started working with BNFL was a rainy day in January, which was much different from a sunny day in August.
But regardless of the environment out here on the northwest coast of Cumbria, right off the bat, I have been emotionally invested in BNFL (now Sellafield Ltd). I worked for them directly for 25 years in various roles including Engineer, Plant Manager, Head of Project Delivery, and Deputy Director for Performance Improvement and Learning.
Over the last seven years, I’ve been working in the supply chain, first with Atkins and more recently with Morgan Sindall, and in both those consulting roles I have been supporting the mission at Sellafield.
It never stops teaching you this industry; I have success stories and I have some deep scars but, above all else, I just want to make it a success.
"You can pick up the 'nuclear stuff' if you have the right mindset, by questioning, knowing when to ask, and when to follow procedure. This will make you a success in nuclear."
Dave Polkey Associates
DPA is built around solving the most common and most serious recurring problems I have come across in all my years in nuclear delivery and operations.
Design Management is always difficult, for example. Finding top talent is hard. Waste management and characterisation is complex. Commissioning and pre-operations is challenging.
And yet these things fundamentally shape the extent and the timeframe for success in nuclear programmes and projects. Get these right, and your delivery is set up to succeed, with all the associated safety and cost benefits. Sadly, the opposite is also true: fail to solve the basic issues in these core areas, and from the start, you very likely set up your investment – and its chain of subsequent events – to cost more, take longer, create error traps, or even fail completely.
I know there are a number of SMEs [Small to Medium Enterprises] out there that have proven and applicable answers to these problems. Part of what we do at DPA is connecting the right solution providers to the teams whose performance and reputation depends on fixing those problems (whether that’s in the site licence company or the tier 2 contracting organisations working directly on licenced nuclear sites.
Another part of the DPA business is helping the nuclear industry be more pragmatic about getting things done. This is done by working with Tier 2s, helping them be more efficient or helping them win work through bids.
And if you’ll allow me a moment of Yorkshireman understatement – if we at DPA can help improve the efficiency of the nuclear industry, it will be a nice place to be, and I'm proud of having a go at it.
The Nuclear Industry
I do understand that the nuclear industry can be a daunting place. It's highly technical, it’s systems and processes are complex, and the consequences of getting things wrong are more significant than in perhaps any other sector.
You need to keep people and assets safe, AND you need to get the best financial performance for your business.
Additionally, you have to do all this under the watchful gaze of many stakeholders: investors, regulators, government, and local communities.
Perhaps it's not surprising, then, that many individuals and organisations fail to maximise their impact in this sector - despite the scale of the demand for new resources, new SMEs, and the size of the opportunity.
Advice for Sector Jumpers
[entering the nuclear industry with skills and experience gained in another sector]
To anyone looking to move into the nuclear industry, I would say that 90% of working in nuclear is about attitudes.
You can pick up the 'nuclear stuff' if you have the right mindset, by questioning, knowing when to ask, and when to follow procedure. This will make you a success in nuclear.
Closing Statement
Thanks again, Dave, for telling your career story to show how you can reinvent yourself in the nuclear industry, and build yourself a career to be proud of. Follow the links if you want to find out more about Dave Polkey or Dave Polkey Associates.
Dave makes some good points about how the nuclear industry can be perceived as a daunting place, particularly if you haven't worked in the industry before. But follow Dave's advice above, take advantage of the high demand for workers right now, and don't be shy about applying for a role.
If you want any specific help, please comment below, contact us or sign up for our weekly newsletter to find out more.
