Nuclear Institute President-elect announced for 2027

Following the Nuclear Institute Annual General Meeting 2026, Dr Rebecca Weston CB FREng FNucI has been elected as a Trustee and will become President-elect from 1 January 2027.

Rebecca will take over from current President Professor Adrian Bull MBE HonFNucI at the end of 2027 when his term concludes.

Speaking on the appointment, Adrian commented:

"It's a huge pleasure to welcome Rebecca to our Board, as my designated successor. I've known and respected Rebecca for many years, and it would be hard to think of anyone else in our sector with such a track record of senior leadership roles spanning new build, decommissioning, defence and regulation.

Her appointment is a tremendous sign of how the Institute is evolving in the right direction and I look forward very much to working with her."

Dr Rebecca Weston selected as Nuclear Institute President-elect from 2027

Rebecca has held senior leadership and executive roles across the NDA (Nuclear Decommissioning Authority) Group for over 25 years, including Chief Operating Officer at Sellafield Ltd, where she was accountable for major nuclear operations, leading some of the group’s most significant operations and programmes, including retrieval activities from first generation UK nuclear activities, as well as the wider nuclear material management and reprocessing, treatment and storage, decommissioning and remediation for past and present UK programmes. She also led the site through the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

More recently, Rebecca was appointed as the first Director General Warhead within the Ministry of Defence’s Defence Nuclear Organisation, where she established the Warhead Group and led some of the UK’s most critical and complex work in support of UK defence and national security, working closely with AWE and partners in the US and France.

Rebecca continues to lead and influence the future of the UK’s nuclear sector through her role as a Non-Executive Director at Great British Energy Nuclear and as a member of the ministerially-chaired Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce Implementation Panel.

Speaking about her appointment, Rebecca said:

“It is a real privilege to become President-elect of the Nuclear Institute. I started volunteering with the Institute in the early 2000s as part of the Cumbria Branch Committee. It’s great to be rejoining the board at the Nuclear Institute, particularly at such an energising time for the sector, nationally and internationally.

The expansion of the sector puts even more focus on people and nuclear professionalism and with the changes resulting from the regulatory taskforce, a generational shift in delivery is the opportunity, supporting national and energy security and drive to net zero. 

The Nuclear Institute has always been open for all who work in the sector, across civil, defence, fusion and supporting existing, new or returning professionals. 

I want to help ensure that knowledge and learning is shared, that new voices are heard and that the next generation is ready to take on the opportunities ahead."

Rebecca’s impact was recognised at the highest level through her appointment as a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in His Majesty The King’s Birthday Honours for services to defence.

Rebecca has supported education and personal and professional development throughout her career and is passionate about inclusivity and developing others. She is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in the UK and has a degree in Physics and an MBA from Oxford University, as well as an engineering doctorate. She is a regular speaker at national and international nuclear events and conferences.

She is recognised as an international expert across nuclear fuel cycle activities by the International Atomic Energy Agency and has previously sat on their Scientific Advisory Committee on Nuclear Energy, advising the Director-General.

You can view the updated list of the Board of Trustees here.