Bristol has the opportunity to become a global hub for nuclear industry innovation with the potential to create thousands of skilled jobs following the historic decision to build the Hinkley Point C power plant, business figures said today.
The final go-ahead for the £18bn project, after nearly a decade of delays, will trigger a huge demand for skilled workers – not just at Hinkley Point but in other projects link to the nuclear industry. 
During the building phase alone, the gross value to the regional economy is estimated to be more than £200m for each year of core construction.
Overall, around 25 000 jobs over the construction period and some 900 operational jobs will be created during the 60 years that Hinkley C is due to supply electricity, the new analysis shows.
More than 3,000 Somerset and South West businesses have already registered their interest on Hinkley C’s supplier database.
But plans for a rolling programme of investment in nuclear power in the South West, including at Oldbury, South Gloucestershire, where the existing station has been decommissioned, will also spark demand for skilled workers.
Last year Business West, the region’s large business organisation, launched Nuclear South West to help local firms benefit from the development of Hinkley Point C and make the area a centre of excellence for the nuclear industry.
Nuclear South West brings together firms already operating in the sector with academics and other businesses to maximise opportunities linked to the project – offering a once-in-a-generation chance for local firms.
It aims to help the region and businesses benefit from opportunities linked to the industry.
Research carried out for Nuclear South West shows there are £50bn worth of business opportunities in the nuclear industry within 75 miles of the region.
According to Invest Bristol & Bath there are already more than 170 companies in the sector employing 27,000-plus people in the South West, including three of the four nuclear developers.
Hinkley Point C developer EDF has already moved several hundred people into its office in Bridgewater House in Bristol city centre and more are expected to move to the region as construction of the plant gathers pace.
A new hub aimed at making Bristol the epicentre of new nuclear energy academic research and innovation was officially opened this week at the University of Bristol just days before the government’s decision on Hinkley C.
The South West Nuclear Hub builds on the success of the Bristol-Oxford Nuclear Research Centre (NRC) and will be open to both the UK and international nuclear energy community.
It will offer a research network that supports the safe operation of current and future generation nuclear systems in the UK and around the world.
Hub co-director Prof Tom Scott said: “Our objective is for the hub to become an internationally recognised centre for nuclear research and education.
“It will bring academic and industrial expertise together in an exciting multidisciplinary environment to address some of the major engineering, scientific and societal challenges related to civil nuclear power generation.
“Through a Masters teaching programme, the hub will deliver the skills required by the next generation of the UK’s nuclear plant operators, regulators and supply chain.”
The hub’s building has been named after the late Professor David Smith, who was instrumental in establishing the NRC and the Bristol nuclear research community.
the industry and capitalise on the South West’s unparalleled strength and potential in the global nuclear industry.
