Four nuclear trainees have been nominated for awards at the prestigious UK Nuclear Skills Awards this week.

TV's Julia Bradbury will hand out the awards at a ceremony in Manchester on Thursday.

Hosted by the National Skills Academy for Nuclear (NSAN), the event will shine a spotlight on the nuclear professionals of the future.

Daniel Hagan, 26, of Egremont, is nominated in the Scientific Apprentice of the Year category.

Aidan Bennett, 20, of Maryport, is a finalist in the Manufacturing Apprentice of the Year category and Laura Johnson, 26, of St Bees, will compete in the Science Graduate of the Year.

Sellafield Ltd also sponsors another nominee, guclear graduate Aislin Lenehen, who will compete for the title of Engineering Graduate of the Year’

Daniel said: “My training experience with Sellafield has been excellent, I’ve had the opportunity to work in different environments around the many facilities so its given me a good grounding for my career.

“I‘m happy just to be nominated, but if I win the NSAN Award I would use this to help promote the wide range of careers offered by the nuclear industry.”

Laura said: "I chose Sellafield to start my career due to the incredibly diverse opportunities available.

"We’ve got facilities from the birth of the UK nuclear industry right through to exciting new technologies and ideas.

"I’m really passionate about diversity in our industry and I would like to inspire even more women, people from less affluent backgrounds and other minority groups, to consider bringing their perspectives and skills into our industry."

Les Studholme, head of training for Sellafield Ltd, said: "We are hugely proud of the calibre of trainees we have at Sellafield Ltd.

"Young people like Aidan, Daniel, Laura and Aislin will be driving forward the decommissioning programme at Sellafield for many years to come, they are great ambassadors for the company and for the nuclear industry.

"As we switch from a production line mentality to an entrepreneurial approach we are developing our training programme to attract the young innovators we need to drive our transformation.

"These awards demonstrate the huge opportunities on offer for young people at Sellafield and the value we place on high quality training and development.”

Last year Sellafield's Jack Riley was crowned National Apprentice of the Year.