NRI Annual Review 2024 - Flipbook - Page 31
experience of dealing with 昀椀re
incidents, as well as assessing 昀椀re
safety from a legal and nuclear
compliance perspective. It’s the
perfect grounding for my current
role. NRI are also supporting
me in a top-up degree course in
昀椀re safety management. This
will take my learning journey in
nuclear 昀椀re protection another
step forward, although in this
industry there’s always something
new to learn.
Simon Wilcock,
Consultant
Having worked at NRI since
2019, I recently changed roles
from an Underwriter to an
independent Consultant. While
I’m no longer working for the
business fulltime, I’ll be carrying
out speci昀椀c work focused on the
opportunities arising from the
growth of the nuclear industry.
In particular, I’ll be looking at
SMR powerplant developments
and the associated fuel cycle:
enrichment, production and
waste management.
For most of my insurance career
I specialised in construction
underwriting before joining
NRI, and in my new role I’ll be
helping to put together a separate
binding authority for construction
capacity. We’ll be working mostly
with companies who have the
appetite to underwrite nuclear
construction, but who don’t yet
have the ability or experience
in this highly specialised area.
Construction insurance is
very varied and you start with
green昀椀eld and end up with an
operating business. Every risk
is different, and that makes the
work interesting.
What I’ve enjoyed most about
working at NRI is being able
to apply my experience and
technical background to
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present-day risk assessment.
With my time spent in the 昀椀eld,
I’ve seen piling, excavation,
tunnelling and many other
construction techniques up close,
so I can understand the perils
and visualise the work being
undertaken. And this shapes
my perception of a project’s risk
pro昀椀le. I also enjoy being able
to support the development
and growth of nuclear, which is
something I’ve been interested in
since university. As we know, the
industry experienced a setback
after Fukushima, but today, with
people increasingly aware of the
need to manage climate change
and energy security, nuclear is
viewed as an essential addition
to the energy mix. Overall, I’m
very optimistic about the future
of nuclear.
SMRs have a key part to play
in that future, but there’s still
uncertainty around installation
costs and powerplant lifecycle
economics. The technical aspects
are achievable, because the
ideas being developed are more
evolutionary than revolutionary.
But the 昀椀nancial challenges still
need to be resolved. As insurance
activities around SMRs begin to
ramp up, and as more metrics
become available, we’ll have a
clearer idea about project costs
and timescales. In this way, we’ll
begin to fully understand the
contribution SMRs can make to
the industry’s expansion.
“SMRs have a
key part to play
in that future,
but there’s still
uncertainty around
installation costs
and powerplant
lifecycle economics.
The technical
aspects are
achievable, because
the ideas being
developed are more
evolutionary than
revolutionary.”
Simon Wilcock
