Hinkley Point B nuclear power station, near Burnham-On-Sea, has a new man at the top after Nigel Cann took over as station director this week.
Nigel, previously plant manager at Sizewell B in Suffolk, took over from Les Francis who served 17 years at Hinkley Point.
Nigel said: “The station’s focus will be to safely return Hinkley Point B to service. We will look to continue and improve upon its contribution to the electrical supply industry, the local community and British Energy.”
Les Francis, who has been station director since 2000, became the new programme director to ensure a long term focus on the boiler recovery and lifetime extension work at Hinkley Point B and Hunterston B.
Les, who will be based at Barnwood in Gloucester, said: “My heart is in power stations and I will miss the people at Hinkley Point B. However securing a longer term future at Hinkley Point and Hunterston is a challenge I could not resist.”
Nigel Cann, 42, has worked in the nuclear industry for 26 years, having started his career at the Kent Magnox station Dungeness A in 1981 as a Maintenance Technician.
In 1988 he moved across the fence to the advanced gas-cooled reactor (AGR) Dungeness B, where he worked his way up though the ranks from electrical maintenance engineer to reactor desk engineer, control room supervisor and finally shift charge engineer.
In 2001 Nigel took on his first of four managerial roles at Dungeness B as outage manager followed by assistant operations manager, maintenance manager and plant manager. At the beginning of this year he moved on to fill the same role at the UK’s only pressurised water reactor (PWR), Sizewell B in Suffolk.
Nigel, who has two children, lives in Taunton where he enjoys his main hobbies of football, fishing, and golf.
