Peter Bryant
"The course really helped prepare me for my future career – I apply almost every element of my MSc on a daily basis – and allowed me to make a wealth of useful contacts."
Course
Radiation and Environmental Protection MScGraduation year
2010I studied for Surrey’s MSc Radiation and Environmental Protection on a part-time basis, from 2008-10 while working in the nuclear industry. The opportunity to be at the University one day, learning the theory, and at work the next, applying the knowledge I’d learned was great. This really helped to solidify my understanding of the field.
As I was working whilst doing my masters, the excellent rail connections and close proximity of the University to the station was really helpful.
I had decided to study for Surrey’s masters because, a few years before, when I’d developed a keen industry in radiation protection while on placement, everyone I talked to kept recommending it – including experienced professionals who had undertaken the course 10 or 20 years before.
One of the key selling points of the course was that lectures are delivered both by academic staff and industrial experts. Universities can often be criticised as being too academic, but within Surrey’s MSc you get the best of both worlds by learning the theory from an academic and the challenges applying the theory from an industrial perspective. The lab facilities at the University were also fantastic, and staff encouraged us to undertake a wide range of experiments related to the field.
In addition to my studies, I took an active role within Surrey’s LGBT Society, which allowed me to actively engage with a wide range of people across the University and make a variety of friends from diverse backgrounds.
My current role is with EDF Energy on the UK Nuclear New Build Programmes (Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C). I lead the areas of emergency preparedness and decommissioning across Hinkley Point C, ensuring we have adequate arrangements in the unlikely event of an incident when the station becomes operational, and ensuring that we minimise the end legacy when the plant is decommissioned. I also currently have oversight of the delivery of the environmental permits for the Sizewell C New Nuclear Build in Suffolk.
In addition to this, I’m an Associate Tutor at the University of Surrey and am one of the main lecturers on the Nuclear Reactor and Health Physics MSc module (studied on both the MSc Radiation and Environmental Protection and MSc Nuclear Science and Applications).
I will also shortly be taking over as President of the Society for Radiological Protection, the UK’s chartered professional body for radiation and its allied fields, which will involve me in driving the development of the profession and public outreach programmes.
My time at Surrey was probably one of the most challenging but rewarding times of my life. The course really helped prepare me for my future career – I apply almost every element of my MSc on a daily basis – and allowed me to make a wealth of useful contacts.
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