Melanie Brownridge
Biography
Melanie has worked in the nuclear industry for 25 years. She was attracted into the nuclear industry by the diversity of technical challenges and began her career with BNFL (later with National Nuclear Laboratory). Here she held a variety of roles from operational plant support to customer facing roles including Programme Manager for legacy waste characterisation at Sellafield.
She joined the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) in 2005 for the opportunity to contribute to a mission of national and international importance. Melanie is currently Technology and Innovation Director and is passionate about the essential role of technology and innovation in transforming nuclear decommissioning. She is responsible for the development and implementation of the NDA’s Research and Development (R&D) Strategy and the NDA’s R&D portfolio which sponsors strategic R&D across the NDA mission. On joining NDA, she led on the introduction of Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) into decommissioning and in recent years she has introduced collaborative programmes that have accelerated innovation deployment across the decommissioning programme, accessing innovation from within and outside the nuclear sector. Melanie is also committed to attracting and developing new talent to the industry, valuing the diversity of ideas and challenge new people bring. In recognition of her leadership and commitment to flexible working Melanie was awarded the Women in Nuclear Champion of the Year in 2020.
Melanie brings her broader experience as a Member of the UK Nuclear Innovation and Research Advisory Board (NIRAB) and as a previous Non-Executive Director of Radioactive Waste Management (RWM). She is currently a visiting Professor at University of Leeds and sits on the International Advisory Panel for the International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning (IRID) in Japan.
Nuclear Waste Services NDA Non-Executive Director
Previous roles in government
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LLWR Non-Executive Director