Roxanna, Chemical Engineer: Film transcript

Hi I am Roxanna O’Hara and I am a chemical engineer in a fuel reprocessing facility on the Dounreay site.

I started in my journey to working in the industry by completing a masters degree at the University of St Andrews in Chemistry.

Following that I moved to London to complete a PHD in hygeno sensors for use in the nuclear industry and this is what really got me interested in nuclear and the decommissioning sector.

I began at Dounreay in 2018 in the graduate development scheme and I have been working there ever since over the last year I have taken on a part time secondment working for the NDA in developing a future strategy for Scotland looking for opportunities for job development and retention to ensure we leave a positive legacy around the sites which we operate.

So I chose Dounreay as a job position as it has a vast array of challenges, different projects I could get involved with, I wanted to expand my knowledge base of the industry and widen that understanding.

Some of the key things I have enjoyed about working at Dounreay is that you get to engage with a lot of people across from around site right from the operators who work on the facilities, right up to the directors at the top.

I am not originally from Caithness, I’m originally from Salisbury so quite far down south I have not found that an issue there are regular flights down from Inverness to London and Bristol which I regularly use to enjoy music gigs and festivals through the summer.

So in the future going forward I am looking at moving into project management and Dounreay have provide ample support to get sufficient training to take on positions in project management going forward and I hope to continue being involved with the NDA and some of the socio-economic impacts of the sites.

I would encourage you to look at opportunities at Dounreay and the wider NDA estate for future career opportunities.