Dame Sue Ion
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Dame Susan Elizabeth Ion (; née Burrows; born 3 February 1955) is a British engineer and an expert advisor on the
nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced by ...
industry. Ion was elected a member of the
National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...
in 2012 for contributions to nuclear fuel development.


Early life and education

Born on 3 February 1955 in
Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...
, she is the daughter of Lawrence James Burrows, a planning officer for British Rail, and Doris Burrows (née Cherry), a secretary. Ion was educated at Penwortham Girls Grammar School near
Preston, Lancashire Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston, Lancashire, City of Preston local government district. Preston ...
in the same year as
Nancy Rothwell Dame Nancy Jane Rothwell (born 2 October 1955) is a British physiologist. She served as president and vice-chancellor of the University of Manchester from 2010 to 2024, having deputised in both roles until January 2010. Rothwell served as non ...
. As a young student, she enjoyed science, which her parents encouraged by letting her do chemistry experiments in the family's kitchen. At school, she took a leadership role as Head Girl from 1972 to 1973 and deputy leader of the orchestra. At 16, Ion won a book on atomic energy as a prize for her O-levels in science, which helped inspire her enthusiasm for the topic. She recalled, "When I was in school ... it was quite different. You were given every encouragement possible to do science subjects if you were interested in them". Ion went on to study
Materials Science Materials science is an interdisciplinary field of researching and discovering materials. Materials engineering is an engineering field of finding uses for materials in other fields and industries. The intellectual origins of materials sci ...
at
Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...
, where she gained a
first-class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...
degree in 1976, and subsequently a
PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
in
Metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the ...
and Materials Science in 1979, supervised by F.J. Humphreys and S.H. White. She taught in an inner-city school in London while completing her doctorate and used supplies from the college laboratories in her lessons to help students become enthusiastic about the industry. "Where there is no vision ... the people perish", she says.


Career and research

In 1979, Ion was first hired as a technical officer at
British Nuclear Fuels British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and cultur ...
(BNFL). At the time, she and one other woman were the only females working in the chemical engineering department. In 1992, she was promoted to Executive Director of Technology, a position Ion held within the organisation until 2006. During this time, nuclear or atomic energy was viewed as a valuable source of energy, along with the existing coal industry, and a necessary part of rebuilding post-war Britain. It was, according to Ion, an exciting industry with a vibrant research and development program and great prospects. As she told
Jim Al-Khalili Jameel Sadik "Jim" Al-Khalili (; born 20 September 1962) is an Iraqi-British theoretical physicist and science populariser. He is professor of theoretical physics and chair in the public engagement in science at the University of Surrey. He is a ...
in a 2013 interview for
BBC Radio Four BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at B ...
, "Nothing over time has changed my view of that". As technical director of BNFL, Ion held a seat on
Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...
's
Council for Science and Technology The Council for Science and Technology (CST) is an advisory non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom government. Its role is to give advice on issues that cut across government departments to the Prime Minister, the First Minister of ...
and has been credited with persuading Blair to change Labour's official government's policy on nuclear power. Ion's work, along with David King, took about 10 years of educating government officials to consider the scientific evidence surrounding the issues of nuclear power and renewable energy to inform policy. She helped advise
Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...
on long-term energy policies. In 2004, Ion was among 180 women invited to a "Women's Theme Day" luncheon at
Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...
in recognition of her contributions to the field of science and technology. Ion was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng) is an award and Scholarship, fellowship for engineers who are recognised by the Royal Academy of Engineering as being the best and brightest engineers, inventors and technologists in United K ...
(FREng) in 1996 and was a vice-president from 2002 to 2008. In 2006, Ion was appointed visiting professor of Imperial College and admitted to the Fellowship of the college in 2005.


Nuclear power and renewable energy

Ion has studied energy supplies for more than 30 years. She spent a lot of time early in her career advising government officials about nuclear reactors and countering the negativity caused by the incidents at Three Mile Island and
Chernobyl Chernobyl, officially called Chornobyl, is a partially abandoned city in Vyshhorod Raion, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine. It is located within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, to the north of Kyiv and to the southwest of Gomel in neighbouring Belarus. ...
. Ion supports the development of smaller, modular versions of nuclear reactors for their economy of size, portability and cost. These smaller reactors would, most likely, be housed on existing nuclear sites licensed for that purpose. Ion views her biggest challenge is "persuading decades-worth of politicians that nuclear energy is really needed." Her position is that renewable energy sources (particularly wind power), coal and nuclear power will be necessary components of Britain's energy policy moving forward.


Science education and gender stereotypes

In Ion's outreach as a spokesperson for the nuclear power industry, she has expressed a belief that more needs to be done to attract women into the field of engineering. She has expressed concerns that some areas of the educational system still view engineering as a subject only for males. While major institutions may support the idea of females entering the field of science and engineering, Ion notes that grade schools under the current system may not provide the prerequisite coursework early enough in students' academic careers for them to be successful at university. Ion supports educational programs that support all students, regardless of gender, to explore science and develop the skills necessary to replace what the Royal Academy of Engineering views as a retiring workforce. In response to a report commissioned by the Nuclear Industry Association (NIA) discussing the UK's plans for future energy production, she cautions: "There will be an unprecedented demand for new infrastructure to support the changes in the energy industry. There are not enough people going into university to study engineering and provide all the turbine specialists, heavy electrical engineers and construction engineers that will be required".


Committee service

* EU Euratom Science and Technology Committee (Chair since 2010) *Nuclear Innovation and Research Advisory Board (Chair) *Board of Governors of Manchester University (since 2004) *Health and Safety Laboratory in Buxton (board member, 2006–2014) *Council for Science and Technology (2004–2011) *MacRobert Award Judging Panel for the Royal Academy of Engineering (Chair, 2015) *Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (Member, 1994–2001) *Council for The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) (Member, 2005) *UK's Fusion Advisory for the Research Council (Chair)


Selected publications

*''For and Against'' with G. Kane (Engineering and Technology, 2011) *''The UK must take the lead on carbon capture and storage'' (Financial Times, 2008) *''Nuclear Energy: Current Situation and Prospects to 2020'' (Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, 2007) *''South Africa nuclear project arousing US interest'' (Financial Times, 2005) *''BNFL reactor far ahead on efficiency and safety'' (Financial Times, 2000)


Keynotes and interviews

*Guest Speaker, QED conference, Manchester, UK (April 2015) *Keynote speaker, IChemE's Sustainable Nuclear Energy Conference, Manchester, UK (April 2014) *The nuclear power industry and the politics of power. ''
The Life Scientific ''The Life Scientific'' is a BBC Radio 4 science programme, presented by Jim Al-Khalili, in which each episode is dedicated to the biography and work of a living scientist. The programme consists of an interview between Al-Khalili and the featur ...
'', Radio 4 (February 2013) *"How safe is nuclear power?" Infinite Monkey Cage, Radio 4, London, UK (November 2013) *''Opportunities and Challenges Facing the Nuclear Power Industry'', Athena Lecture at Imperial College (May 2004)


Personal life

She married John Albert Ion in 1980 and lives in
Leyland, Lancashire Leyland ( ) is a town in South Ribble, Lancashire, England, 6 miles (10 km) south of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. The population was 35,578 at the 2011 Census. The name of the town is Anglo-Saxon, meaning "untilled land". History Leyland ...
.


Honours

Ion was appointed
Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(OBE) in the
2002 New Year Honours New Years' Honours are announced on or around the date of the New Year in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in supplements to the London G ...
,
Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(DBE) in the
2010 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2010 were announced on 31 December 2009 in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Barbados, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Saint Lucia, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Christopher and NevisSaint Chris ...
and
Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(GBE) in the
2022 Birthday Honours The 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those ...
for services to engineering. She represented the Order at the 2023 Coronation.


Scholastic

; Chancellor, visitor, governor, rector and fellowships ;Honorary degrees


Memberships and fellowships


Awards


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ion, Sue 1955 births Living people People from Penwortham Alumni of Imperial College London Dames Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Female fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Fellows of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers British women engineers British nuclear engineers Fellows of the Royal Society Female fellows of the Royal Society 21st-century British women engineers Fellows of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining