A nuclear scientist, engineer and policy advisor from Salford has been given a damehood in the King’s New Year Honours.
Dr Fiona Elizabeth Rayment has been recognised for her services to the nuclear industry.
She had previously been made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2017 in recognition of her services to nuclear innovation and research.
Dame Fiona is a chartered chemist and engineer with a PhD in chemistry from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, and a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society of Chemistry, and the UK Nuclear Institute.
She also holds an MBA from Manchester Business School and won the 2025 Sir Frank Whittle Medal, awarded by the Royal Academy of Engineering, given to an engineer resident in the UK “whose outstanding and sustained achievements have had a profound impact on their engineering discipline.”
The Nuclear Restoration Services (NRS) Board Member was praised by her colleague, Lawrie Haynes.
Mr Haynes, NRS Chair, said: “This is a fitting reward for a long and notable career that has already made, and will undoubtedly continue to make, a significant impact on the nuclear industry.
“Fiona brings a rare blend of technical knowledge, passion and vision, and every organisation she has worked with has benefitted greatly from her leadership.
“I’m sure all my colleagues at NRS, and across the wider NDA group, will join me in congratulating Fiona on this truly deserved honour.”
Nuclear Group Chief Executive Officer, David Peattie, said: “I’m delighted to congratulate Fiona on this well-deserved recognition, which honours her distinguished career and outstanding contribution to our industry.
“She is a world-renowned expert who has utilised her vast knowledge, insight and technical skill to drive innovation and improvements across the sector.
“Our people are at the heart of everything we do, we have one of the most experienced nuclear workforces in the world who go above and beyond, driving our mission forward and helping make the nation safer.”
Dr Fiona Rayment has been given a damehood in King Charles’ New Year Honours.
NRS is a subsidiary of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), the government body tasked with decommissioning the UK’s legacy nuclear sites safely and securely.
Dame Rayment joined the NRS Board in December 2023 as an Independent Non-Executive Director.
Her current roles in the sector include being an advisor to the DESNZ Science and Technology Council and the Office of Nuclear Regulation Chief Nuclear Inspector’s Independent Advisory Panel.
She is also chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Energy Division at CEA – the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, a Non-Executive Member of the UK Space Agency Steering Board, and vice-chair of the Nuclear Energy Agency’s Steering Committee Bureau.
Fiona recently served as President of the UK Nuclear Institute, Chief Science and Technology Officer at the U.K. National Nuclear Laboratory, Patron of Women in Nuclear UK, and was the first chair of the UK’s Nuclear Skills Strategy Group.
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