We Are PoWEr Podcast
The We Are PoWEr podcast spotlights voices and perspectives that need to be heard. Our weekly podcast, with listeners in over 60 countries, delivers PoWErful conversations that inspire, challenge, and empower... from personal life stories to business insights and leadership lessons.
We share diverse experiences, bold discussions, and real solutions. Whether you're looking for career advice, topical themes, or stories of resilience and success - this is where voices spark change.
We Are PoWEr Podcast
The Realities, Risks, and Rewards of Nuclear Careers
In this episode, we speak with Aimee MacFadyen, a nuclear project manager showing that one of the most misunderstood sectors can also be one of the most exciting places to build a bold, meaningful career.
She demystifies what nuclear work really looks like, why safety standards are among the highest in any industry, and why the future of clean energy relies on trust, transparency, and diverse skills, not just engineers.
Aimee explains how she carved her own path into nuclear, through specialist education, an apprenticeship, and a move into project management while self-funding her degree.
We also dive into confidence, visibility, and the importance of speaking up early in your career, practical lessons for anyone looking to make an impact in competitive, high-stakes industries.
You’ll hear:
➡️ What nuclear work really looks like day to day
➡️ How apprenticeships create early credibility and real-world skills
➡️ Why nuclear’s safety culture is stronger than people assume
➡️ The sector’s skills gap and why new voices matter
➡️ How self-advocacy, preparation, and visibility accelerate your career
➡️ The power of role models, outreach, and saying “yes” before you feel ready
Find out more about We Are PoWEr here. 💫
Hello, hello, and welcome to the We Are Power Podcast. If this is your first time here, the We Are Power Podcast is the podcast for you, your career, and your life. We release an episode every single Monday with listeners in over 60 countries worldwide where you'll hear personal life stories, top-notch industry advice, and key leadership insight from amazing role models. As We Are Power is the umbrella brand to Northern Power Women Awards, which celebrates hundreds of female role models and advocates every year. This is where you can hear stories from all of our awards alumni and stay up to date with everything MPW Awards and We Are Power.
unknown:Never imitated, never replicated, singularly wonderful. Everybody's wonderful.
SPEAKER_01:Well, hello and welcome. And today I am joined by Amy McFaddian with an MAC, according to Grandad. That's a whole other story. And you're a project manager at Cavendish Nuclear. What does that look like?
SPEAKER_02:So we we focus on um sort of all different um life cycles of nuclear. So you look at right through from sort of like nuclear fuel production right through to nuclear decommissioning. So for my job for project management, it's coming in and sort of delivering them solutions to the clients and really trying to get to the bottom of what we can do from a nuclear perspective to reach their goals. And that sort of looks like a range of different clients at the minute. Um, you know, we've got EDF that are coming on for all of the nuclear new builds and looking at that, and then you've got the right end of the you know the other spectrum where you've got a cellar field going into decommissioning. So really varied my role, I would say, actually.
SPEAKER_00:And how did you get into that? Because it's it how what did young Amy want to do?
SPEAKER_02:Do you know what? It really interestingly, I've always sort of known what I wanted to do, and I know a lot of people sort of say, oh, you know, I didn't really know what I wanted to do, and I fell into it, but I had quite like a drive to know what I wanted to do at a young age. So I think when I got to year nine and we got to choose our options, I knew that I wanted to do something that was a lot more practical and hands-on than than necessarily sort of the the theory. Um, but your options didn't really allow you to choose that in like a traditional school. It was very much um, I think they called it the e-baccalaureate at the time, and you had to pick um history or geography and then a language, and it was very like a set set of rooms.
SPEAKER_01:Like in a pokeyball.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, very much. It was like, you know, you had an option, but really not an option, it was very limited. Um, so I decided there was um a new school opening up in the area, and it was specifically for like three pathways, so it was engineering, business or IT, and that was all that that school offered. And it was very much you went there and you dropped all of the subjects that you weren't interested in, and you picked up the ones that you were. So rather than doing a language or religious education, which again, you know, has its place for some people, but it just didn't resonate with me. Um, I picked up resistant materials, engineering, um, computer science, and that really sort of like shaped me into knowing that's exactly what I wanted to do.
SPEAKER_01:And what do you think you would have done if you weren't able to have gone down that eBAC route, if you like, where you couldn't choose your own sort of selections and you had to stick with that A or B, C or D. What do you think that's because I always think there's a slide indoors moment. If I hadn't have done that, I might have done that. What did your what were the role models around you kind of doing or working at?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I mean, I suppose I had role models that were in engineering. So you know my dad was was based in engineering, but then I had also, you know, my stepmum was in a sort of like the finance IT and training, and so I I don't really know where I would have ended up to be honest. And I think I probably would have ended up a lot more confused out of if I'd have continued down the route that was, you know, not specialized and you didn't really have like a set set purpose. It wouldn't have led me into doing because I think doing the um the route that I did led me to do some work experience at Sellafield, and then that took me into doing an apprenticeship. Whereas if I'd have done if I'd have done just the standard route, I don't think I would have really known about apprenticeships, and then I probably would have gone to college, and then I've probably done a bit more of like a traditional academic route. Um so I think it would have taken me in a different direction, but I don't know at what point it would have clicked to me that that was my purpose, or if ever.
SPEAKER_01:And you came in, you talked about coming in through as an apprenticeship. That equally gives other opportunities, doesn't it? That a non-traditional route. What what do you think the the key things that you gained by coming in through an apprenticeship route?
SPEAKER_02:Just really like people skills and learning to adapt to a business. So again, because that the school that I went to for the um the engineering pathway, they really wanted to replicate um like a working environment. So we did business hours. We did eight till five every day. You got an earlier finish on the Friday, you came in in a suit, it was a business suit that had to be grey. Um the teachers weren't Mr. or Mrs. You just called them by their first name and it it really set you up for a working in a business, yeah. And I think being in an apprenticeship as well, you know, although I'm I'm still young, I've got 10 years working in industry, and it's really allowed me to understand the sector that I'm working in really thoroughly. You know, since being in from like 16, you start to pick up, you know, what similar problems are we having? What, you know, where are we going to face the demands? What are our gaps? And the longer you have to do that, the more it really sets you up to be in the room with people and to be able to sort of, you know, highlight to people that you can bring, you can bring a view and a value to things. And did you do a degree apprenticeship? No, so I did a um I did just a I think it was like a level four apprenticeship. So I went up to my HNC and then um so I did four years at a company called Nuvia, which is who I did my apprenticeship with. I graduated and then did a year in mechanical design, and then I decided to actually pivot a little bit and move into project management, but I didn't want I'd I'd got to the point of doing my HMC, which was like a level four, level five, and I didn't really want to let the the academic sort of fall because I'd pivoted. You know, I thought I'd got all of that way in mechanical engineering. Why would I just stop? So I continued to just do my degree in my own time. So I just self-funded it, did it when I could do it, um, and then graduated from that in 2023.
SPEAKER_01:So you work full-time? Yeah. Whilst doing your degree, which you got a first art, by the way, I understand. I've lost money hers. But yeah, what do you think were the biggest sacrifices along the way? Because that's a lot.
SPEAKER_02:I think personal more than anything. I think, you know, I I'm very um I'm very driven and I know what I want to do and when I want to do it. But the problem is I l I almost sometimes put professional and what I want to achieve ahead of what necessarily I've got going in my personal life. So we we moved house the same year that I was studying, and just a lot of that I just didn't have the bandwidth width for, to be honest. Um but I knew that once I'd got over that, the accomplishment of getting your degree was worth the sacrifices that you were making, you know. So you you couldn't go out at the weekend because you had to watch that lecture, or you know, you you had less less time to give to people, which feels hard when you necessarily, you know, you can't say, Oh, I'm really sorry, but I c I can't make that right now. It, you know, it's a sacrifice, but when you come out at the end of it and you've got that, you know, that degree and that's something that you've done by yourself, completely like in your soul, it just felt it felt amazing.
SPEAKER_01:Have you always been? Because it's checks me like really positive, driven, focused. This always been.
SPEAKER_02:I think so. I think um I'm very um very methodical, which I think why project management spoke to me to be honest. I I know I always sort of knew that I wanted to have a plan and then you know stick to that plan. And you know, sometimes I've pivoted along the way, but you know, I always everyone laughs at me. In my personal life, I probably have like a whole programme plan. My poor partner can't breathe because I'm like, the spreadsheet says you should be doing that on this, and you are three days late. So what are you gonna do about it?
SPEAKER_00:There's a gancha warning on that right now, Amy.
SPEAKER_02:There absolutely is. It goes red, I've got conditional formatting and everything, which is incredibly sad, but yeah, I'd like to think makes me a good project manager.
SPEAKER_00:I love the fact that your project, you project manage your personal life as well as your 100%. Yeah, that the man can't breathe, I'll be honest, without me knowing.
SPEAKER_01:If you could just spell one myth about the nuclear industry, because you've talked about, you know, cellophiles decommissioning and you know, and some people might quite not understand. Yeah. You hear about nuclear plants and nuclear, but might not understand.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I think safety more than anything. I think when you speak to people about nuclear, you know, that their initial thoughts is it's not safe. And I think people, you know, people quite rightly base that on, you know, the the horrible instances of Chernobyl and Fukushima and you know, I I appreciate that when nuclear goes wrong, it goes wrong. There's no denying it. But actually, if you look at the statistics of the nuclear industry against, you know, the construction industry or just generic, we actually have the lowest accident rates. And that's because we're putting all of these processes and procedures in place to be regulated and to make sure that we're following the procedures because we appreciate if it goes wrong, you know, we lose, we lose that public buy-in. Um, and that's so important for nuclear right now, you know. But it's we always call it the nuclear revolution, and I think probably need to stop calling it that because we've been saying it for years and it's never really sparked. But we're coming to a position now where we've got all of these new nuclear plants that are gonna come online, and we really need the public to be behind that, otherwise it it's not, it's not gonna take off, and you know, and there'll always be this scare that nuclear's not safe and that you know it it's gonna affect lives, and but actually the jobs it creates, the opportunities, I think sometimes that gets passed by by people being scared of it.
SPEAKER_01:And what do you think that um emerging talent, next generation, younger people can bring into the nuclear industry? We talk a lot about STEM.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:But what do you think is they can bring?
SPEAKER_02:Just the diversity of thought more than anything. I think you know, giving young people a chance, and you know, the nuclear industry has a massive um skills gap, you know. I think and anyone can sort of identify that. And, you know, in the days of when it was sort of BNFL, where it was they took on a full cohort of apprentices, and then they moved through. And then BNFL sort of, you know, diversified and it became different companies. And people stopped recruiting apprentices and they stopped doing, you know, STEM outreach, and and it happened for about 30 years, and then what happened was everyone realised you've got a chunk of people all sat at the top, nobody in the middle, and then what you're gonna do is just bring on these whole new like cohort of apprentices, and there's gonna be no one to train them because you're gonna have a load of people ready for retirement. So we're in that position now where we're really trying to get over that, and you know, I think the nuclear industry's been really proactive in the last couple of years of bringing people on, but it still doesn't negate the fact that there is a gap that we're gonna have to close, and if we don't bring young people through, we're just gonna replicate the same things.
SPEAKER_01:And how do you do it whilst also acknowledging the fact that the world of work is changing and has changed, and the expectations of um new talent coming to the workplace is it's it's different.
SPEAKER_02:It is a completely how does business get ahead of this? I think being into schools and being in schools early is such a massive thing, and I think I read a statistic and it was at the um the Women in Nuclear Conference actually sort of highlighted this. And women by the age of seven have already decided what jobs are acceptable for women and what jobs aren't, and that's just a notion that's put into kids' heads from early on. And I think people don't really understand, you know, you say nuclear and everyone sort of takes a step back and thinks it's really specialised, you know, I'm gonna have to have a load of additional qualifications to do it. But the nuclear industry isn't just nuclear engineers, it's document controllers, it's project managers, it's engineers mechanical, EC and I. It's anyone can go into nuclear, it doesn't need to be this and the traditional services that go behind. So whether it's people, HR, payroll, all of that. And I think people have forgotten that, and we've become like this bit of a well, if you don't talk about nuclear because it's it's top secret, why not?
SPEAKER_01:Because we're just creating a bigger problem. And equally, it wasn't until a couple of years ago that I realised that Warrington, northwest of England, so not too far from our HQ here. About 10,000 people at work. A massive hub. Like this you can never say anything to a job for life, but it's right now the opportunities are there, right?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, 100%. I mean, so I've worked on so Bertrid Park is the the one in Warrington, and I've I started my apprenticeship there, I'm currently working there at the minute. And the same faces recycle, and that's great, don't get me wrong, it's lovely to see the same people working for different companies, but we need to bring more people along because for the workload that we've got, we haven't got enough people. Um, and it's it's gonna again, we're gonna have all these projects and all these ambitions, but we're not gonna be able to deliver them if we haven't got the people.
SPEAKER_01:And part of this you talked about going into schools, but equally speaking up and being visible in this, and and this is something that you've done. So for some people, um going into a a stage in front of hundreds of people is terrifying, but it's something you're quite comfortable with.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I've tried to get comfortable with it. I think again, public speaking wasn't really one of my um my strong suits, and from sort of having mentors over the years, I I've tried to do that and push myself out of my comfort zone, but you're completely right about visibility. If if people aren't visible and if we don't openly speak about what we do because oh, it's top secret and we'll keep it over here, or you know, it no one actually knows what you do, and then therefore people people can't be if they don't see. Yeah, it's all about that visibility. Um and I think that's why we are power are great for that as well. You know, people don't then it's not just nuclear, and again, people that work in our industry are sometimes a bit closed into staying in their own bubbles, whereas we are power of bringing everyone together from all different industries, and actually there's a lot of cross-learning there.
SPEAKER_01:Always. This shouldn't be a competitive piece, yes. Of course, I know there's always the fight for talent, isn't it? The fight for the best talent, but equally we should be we should be passing those skills and knowledge on, shouldn't it? It should be a big knowledge exchange.
SPEAKER_02:That's always a 100% the learning you can take from from any industry's brilliant, why not do it?
SPEAKER_01:But going back to you standing in front on a stage, okay. Does a spreadsheet come into play when you're prepping for that? How do you prep? And what advice would you give to anyone watching or listening who's thinking, oh gosh, I've been asked to do this? I keep swerving it because I feel a bit about it. But what would you say?
SPEAKER_02:Just push yourself out of your comfort zone. And you know, and I think a big thing for for me being able to have them forums has been the mentors that I've had over the years. So I think being on stage for the the Northern Nuclear Conference that I watched, you know, Craig Hatch, who was um a really big advocate for me at my last company, pushing me to look Craig, one of our Northern Power Women Awards 2024 inaugural advocates. Um yeah, just using your network to get them opportunities and don't shy away from it. And you know, it might be that there's a lot of sleepless nights, but prep, make you sure. So again, poor Jordan, my partner, had to sit through a whole like TV presentation before I actually went to the conference so that you could see. Um but don't feel don't feel silly either about ringing a colleague and saying, Look, I'm due to do this presentation, I'm feeling a bit uneasy about it. Please can you give me some constructive feedback? Because that's how you that's how you grow. If you don't ask, you're never gonna know. And there's a lot of um, there's a lot of times I've asked that and somebody's given me feedback that I wouldn't have have picked up from myself. So yeah, pushing yourself out of your comfort zone is the is the first thing to actually do it, but second, you know, keep doing it once you've done it, don't say oh I've done it and put it in a box.
SPEAKER_01:And you've done as you've talked about Craig, but you've done a lot uh in your nomination as one of the Northern Power Women uh futurists, uh, but you've done a lot um to inspire others. Um what are you most proud of in what you've done, and what where do you see you've made that big difference?
SPEAKER_02:I think again, it's just it's being visible to people. Um and I think for me, so I got the opportunity around two years ago to go to France and speak at the World Nuclear Exhibition, which was absolutely surreal. Um, and I did that through um a partnership. So it was Women in Nuclear, and they partnered with Women in Nuclear England and Nuclear Women in France. So you got a part like a mentor from France that had like a senior position. Um and I stood up on stage and gave a bit of a a speech of of how what the programme had meant to me and ultimately what it had brought. And after I got off stage, there was somebody that came over to me and said, like, how do I get involved? Because that you've said there that public speaking didn't come naturally to you, but it really didn't it didn't come off like that, you know how um and since you know we've been in contact and she's gone on to the programme, and so I think again just seeing that you've done something that you felt really uncomfortable at the time, but but actually somebody else has then taken that and done something further with it, it feels really into like proud, it's a proud moment. What would you say is your superpower? I don't actually know. Um I don't know, I I'd want to say advo advocacy, um, just being able to to advocate for people and give other people opportunities because I've been in a position where I've been fortunate that somebody's done that for me, and I think if you don't pass that on or you don't, you know, uh extend that olive branch to other people, who else is is gonna do it? Um so you know, I'm very vocal. Um I'm not I'm not quiet by any means, but that's you know, that's allowing me to make change in the nuclear industry, and you know, it's an industry as well that doesn't change because it's it's usually slower than most industries, it's slower paced, it's the same faces. And I think you've got to shake it up to get any change. You know, we're not gonna hit these net zero targets that everybody wants to hit. If we don't shake it up, that there's there's no way it can't be it can't be viewed through a traditional lens anymore. We've got to think differently.
SPEAKER_01:And talk to me about the tall ship sailing challenge that you went on. Amazing! Slightly petrifying to me. Have you got sea legs?
SPEAKER_02:No, it was it was it was so so scary. So it was like um a bit a big pirate ship that they called the tall ship, and you had to sail it from um, I think we did from Scotland through to Ireland, and it was over like the Irish Sea, and it's oh wow, bouncy. Oh yeah, it wasn't it wasn't fun. But they had you like doing all sorts of challenges as well, so you had to climb up one of the masts and get to the top, and and I am not, um everyone will know me, I am not a risk adverse person, I am not sporty. So when they were like, okay, off you go, climb up that, climb up the mast. I was like, sorry, what? No, me? But you know what? It was it was really good, and it was an opportunity as well because you went on with um a bunch of your different colleagues as well. So it was a really good opportunity actually to see what people's thinking process was like outside of work. Um and it's something I would have never, I would have never done it. What did you learn most about yourself? Probably that I need to stop being so risk-averse sometimes and just do it because once you've done it, it's liberating, you know. Like I didn't want to climb to the top of that mass, and I made every excuse as to why I couldn't. But you did it. But I did it.
SPEAKER_01:And when I got down, I felt like we need to see photographic evidence, is what we need to see.
SPEAKER_02:But yeah, I think just pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. And sometimes, you know, I do that professionally, but maybe not personally. I sort of stay in my bubble.
SPEAKER_01:So and what advice would you give to your younger Amy?
SPEAKER_02:Um probably just to to to keep speaking up for what for what you want. I think um, you know, I've again I'm very good at um trying to advocate for others, and sometimes I don't necessarily like have the confidence in myself or or bet on myself. Um so just sort of doing that, because I think in the past couple of years I've really tried to change my mindset to be, you know, if you can do this for others, you should be able to do that for yourself. And it feels uncomfortable, doesn't it? It never feels nice, you know, talking about yourself. It feels like you you you're bragging a little bit. Um so trying to push myself to do that a little bit more. And I think if I'd have done that a little bit earlier, I maybe could have had some of the opportunities that I've had over the couple of past couple of years a little bit earlier.
SPEAKER_01:And what do you do outside of work spreadsheets? Yes. Plan every instance of my life. What's what's your what's your downtime or what's your side hustle or what's your hobby?
SPEAKER_02:Do you know I don't really have like any really in-depth personal hobbies because I um I try and do quite a lot in sort of volunteering time outside of work. So again, I do a lot of um volunteering with women in nuclear, the young generation network through the NI Institute, which is it really good. When I come home, sometimes I just want to switch off. So I've got two little dash ons. Um so yeah, just taking them for a walk, having a bit of a decompress, and just trying to spend a bit of time for me as well. And do you have like a quotation that you live by? I wouldn't say quotation as much, just just again making sure that um everything that I do, trying to make sure that if there's a barrier there, that I'm breaking it down. Because again, in in a lot of instances, I've been in positions where something's felt like you can't do that or you can't say that, or and actually by breaking down them barriers and and creating that visibility for yourself that you're okay to challenge that, it it hopefully gives others a bit of a platform to do it as well.
SPEAKER_01:And what are you excited for looking forward, or what would you like to achieve in the future?
SPEAKER_02:So everyone will say that I'm a mad woman, but I think eventually I'll move on to do a master's. I've um I've taken time out, so I did my degree and then um I get married in a month. So I decided I was gonna get married, and then I might decide what I do next academically.
SPEAKER_01:Wow, congratulations! How exciting. Um petrifying. No, no, I'm bet that is all over a spreadsheet.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, that is a mega spreadsheet. That's like six tabs. It's yeah, it's it's wonderful.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, congratulations. Now we are about to delve into the power jar. Okay. So the power jar is a question that one of our previous guests have left for one of our future guests to open. Are you ready to go in? I am. Go on, Amy. It's time to go in. Where are you getting married?
SPEAKER_02:At Stale Lodge in Wilmslow. Yeah, no, it's it's gonna be lovely. But yeah, I was in um, I'm in because it's like a month before, it's now like panic station.
SPEAKER_01:No, it's tick off a spreadsheet time, no. It is, it is, you can imagine. So, what do you have?
SPEAKER_02:I have if you had to give up everything you owned except one thing, what would you keep and why? I love these questions. I'll guess I'll be questions. I probably should go sentimental, shouldn't I, and pick a person? But actually, I'm gonna go an object. Do you know what my Kindle? I absolutely love reading. If I if I had one thing, it would be my Kindle.
SPEAKER_01:What's your favourite book that you've do you know?
SPEAKER_02:I read fantasy books, so I like I like the different genres. Um like anything by Sarah J. Mas, basically, like throwing a glass. Yeah, fantastic. Um, yeah, that's probably the physical thing, but then obviously I probably should say sentimental would be my uh my future husband, but I actually went for the Kindle first, so that tells you everything you need to do.
SPEAKER_01:There we go, we're on that desert island, Jordan. Congratulations. Amy, thank you so much for joining me on the pod. It's brilliant. I love the it's the coming out of the comfort zone. It's never forgetting to give back and live by spreadsheet. Definitely. Thank you so much for having me. Thanks, Amy, thank you so much. Subscribe on YouTube, Apple, Amazon Music, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Leave us a review or follow us on socials. We are power underscore net on Insta, TikTok, and Twitter. We are power on LinkedIn, Facebook, and we are underscore power on YouTube.
