Emlyn, 36, is an Infrastructure Nuclear Safety Cross-functional Manager on the third-generation of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines program (SNLE 3G) in Cherbourg. In collaboration with the team in Brest, Emlyn coordinates the nuclear safety (SN) studies conducted on the infrastructures that will accommodate the future SSBNs. She took up the position at the beginning of the year after spent three and a half years on SN studies for ships.
“What is interesting about SNLE 3G is the fact that SN studies on infrastructures are integrated very early on in the preliminary design phase of the program. We operate in great synergy with the ship's teams and share the work to be done. The fact that I have moved from the ship to infrastructures fosters this synergy and provides me with an overview of nuclear safety on the program," she explains. Originally from the Haute-Savoie region, Emlyn graduated from the École des Mines in Nantes, where she specialised in environmental engineering.
Roanne, Le Hague and Cherbourg: nuclear power's appeal
Her end-of-study internship at Nexter - a French architect and systems manufacturer/integrator for land defence - in Roanne, centred around the ISO 14001 environmental management systems standard. “At the end of my internship, I thought about where my career in the environment was headed; I decided I wanted more of a challenge. The idea of nuclear power slowly began to emerge”. While in Paris for her first job, Emlyn joined a technical studies consulting office that offered her a nuclear training course. “I liked it right away!” We went to Cherbourg to visit Le Redoutable and were given a presentation on nuclear propulsion by a Naval Group employee: what a great memory!”
Next stop: the Cotentin region, where Emlyn was hired as a Nuclear Safety Engineer by Areva on the La Hague spent fuel reprocessing plant, a position she held for eight and a half years before joining Naval Group in June 2017. “I like the cross-functional nature of my job, in that is does not just restrict me to working on one single system and allows me to have an overview of the product, whether it's at ship or infrastructure level," says Emlyn, adding: “I liked the idea of putting the spotlight on women working in the nuclear industry with Fem'Energia. The SN team at Naval Group, is made up largely of women. Another message for female students is that women do have their place in naval defence: don't keep yourself from going there!”
