Internship Review

In general I enjoyed my internship a lot. The only problem was that I didn't do exactly what I was hired for due to a lack of documents received by EDF Energy. Consequently I was not very busy, and sometimes I didn't have much to do on a daily basis.

My colleagues were really nice and kind to me. I believe they considered me as a colleague more than just an intern. They ask me for questions about my topic, ask me to do technical stuff they would not have asked me if they didn't trust me or value me.

My manager was very supportive and help me achieving my internship objectives. She was always paying close attention to my questions and concerns about the tasks I had to do or other things. She did her best to make me feel conformable as she knew it was my first work experience.

Actually I was not very busy, it depended on the days. I was supposed to study a folder that would have kept me busy for a few weeks but EDF Energy have not received it yet. Consequently I did other tasks but there were not as important as what I was hired for.

I was given a big responsibility but this could have been even greater if I had received all the documents necessary to fulfil my mission. In such a huge and technical project that is HPC, I did not expect to be given such a big responsibility at my young age.

During my internship, I learnt a lot about EPR, PWR and other technical stuff related to HPC project. In my engineering school, we are more focused on theoretical aspect of nuclear science (neutronic, formulas etc.). This internship allowed me to discover a more technical aspect of nuclear engineering which is actually more what an engineer does.

The general atmosphere was really nice. However, I was not always attributed a desk so I was often away from my team. I think I could have get to know them better if I was sitting next to them. The attribution of desk is definitively something to improve, I didn't really like that aspect in my internship.

First, it took me a week and a half to have access to a computer. My vetting was not finalised when I arrived even though I completed it a few month before my arrival, it's not normal. Then, I was supposed to study a big folder that would have kept me busy for a few weeks, but it hasn't arrived yet.

I think they did quite well. When I didn't understand something, they were always very helpful with me, they tries to give me the best documents that could help me understand the problem. They also lent me a big folder on EPR systems that were really useful for my personal knowledge.

I'm not sure I want to work with EDF Energy itself. However, I will potentially work on other aspects of HPC or another EPR, perhaps in France with Flamanville 3 or other existing PWRs. I want to do something more theoretical about neutronics but I'm not aware of all job opportunities related to this topic yet.

I can not provide much information on that matter because I didn't know any other placement students or colleagues. What I can say is that I don't think there were any association for these kind of people or not I was aware of. It could have been great to meet other people from my age in the same situation.

I was living and working in Bristol. The city is quite expensive but I was paid with according to the cost of living of the city. I paid £500/month for the rent but I was 30 minutes walk form where I worked, it could have been a little more better.

I don't much about that. As I was here for an internship and so not a typical student, I didn't go out very much during the night. There are lots of pubs. And I also believe the Nightlife is quite nice as there are lot of students living in Bristol.

I think so, but I didn't get involved in any activities outside of work. I know there are a lot of sport opportunities and social activities. Bristol is a very dynamic city with many events organized every week where everybody can attend. You will always find what you want to do in that city.