A FORMER director at Oxfordshire County Council has been appointed to the UK Atomic Energy Authority.

Sue Scane and two others have been appointed as new non-executive board members of the authority which leads the commercial development of fusion power and related technology.

Each will serve as board members for a three-year term from April 1 this year.

A spokesperson from the authority said in a statement: “All three bring a wealth of valuable experience to the UKAEA board that will help ensure that it continues to deliver world leading research, innovation and training in nuclear fusion.

“The non-executive directors will provide advice and oversight across academic, financial and other areas of interest.”

Sue Scane was the director for environment and economy at Oxfordshire County Council until her retirement, having previously been its assistant chief executive and chief finance officer.

In her career she helped to get the Oxfordshire City Deal, which aims to maximise the science facilities throughout the county including Harwell, Milton Park and Culham. She still serves on the boards of the Church of England's Oxford Diocese and Didcot First town promotion group.

She joins Professor Sir Adrian Smith, knighted in 2011 and elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 2001.

He is a distinguished statistician and is currently the vice-chancellor at the University of London.

The third appointee, Shrinivas Honap, is currently a board member at the British Transport Policy Authority and lay member at the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA).