Sonya is a Technical Advisor to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
NIRO provides independent, strategic and technical advice to UK Government with the aim of de-risking investment, informing policy, and enabling maximum value for money to the UK taxpayer on all issues surrounding nuclear power, medical isotopes and fusion.
Since joining NIRO on a secondment from Jacobs, Sonya has supported DESNZ in capabilities and Future Nuclear Enabling fund and Generic Design Assessment. Sonya has been part of Jacobs’ Material Science and Structural Integrity division for 10 years, where she provided support to Rolls-Royce Small Modular Reactors (SMR) as Ageing Management Lead. In this role, Sonya produced safety case documents as part of Rolls-Royce SMR’s submissions for Generic Design Assessment (GDA) by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR). Prior to this Sonya was Technical Lead for Stress Corrosion Cracking R&D at Jacobs where she led the development of R&D programmes that supported the use of innovative materials in nuclear plants and plant component life predictions, ensuring nuclear safety for critical components. Sonya has led teams of corrosion scientists and provided independent nuclear safety and technical assessments in the fields of structural integrity and nuclear core materials. She has been a laboratory manager and sat on an international standards committee for the utilities industry.
Sonya has a PhD in Materials Science and Metallurgy, is a Chartered Engineer and Chartered Scientist, and is an experienced session chair and presenter at international conferences.
