A letter signed by more than 100 political, business and union leaders from across north and west Cumbria is calling for urgent action to resolve land issues at Moorside so that new nuclear power stations can be built. NDA plans for the land are putting West Cumbria’s chances of hosting the first generation of small modular reactors at risk.
Whitehaven and Workington MP Josh MacAlister wrote the letter, which has been signed by fellow Cumbrian MPs Julie Minns and Markus Campbell-Savours, local members of the House of Lords, Cumberland Council leader Mark Fryer, trade union leaders in our nuclear industry and dozens of local business leaders.
Josh says that unless urgent action is taken to resolve issues about land use at Moorside, our area will lose out in a competitive process that is now underway.
A government body, Great British Nuclear (GBN), is in the middle of a process to select sites for the UK’s first small modular reactors. GBN will only select sites that have enough land available and the NDA (who own Sellafield) want to use much of the Moorside site for other decommissioning purposes. This has resulted in an impasse that, if left unresolved, will leave Cumbria behind in the race for new nuclear.
“In my first few weeks as an MP I’ve met with ministers, the NDA, GBN and leading industry figures. It’s become clear that there’s been a conspiracy of silence for years over plans for new nuclear in our area. The last government told our community to wait in line and trust the process. But having looked in detail at the process, we’ve been set up to fail because of competing claims on land at Moorside.
“The NDA want to use a large chunk of the land at Moorside for potential future decommissioning activity. If all of the land they want is taken out then there’s not enough land left to build the number of small modular reactors Great British Nuclear wants.
“Today, over 100 local leaders are ringing the alarm on this. Our ask is simple – this is land designated for new nuclear use and it should be prioritised for new nuclear use. The NDA should develop contingency plans for their future land needs and buy alternative land for future decommissioning activity if and when the need arises.
“West Cumbria has the land ready to go, the strong community consent, the skills and the
nuclear infrastructure which make our area the perfect location for new nuclear. We do not
want to miss out on another opportunity.”
The letter calls on Ed Miliband to intervene and direct the NDA and Greater British Nuclear to prioritise the land at Moorside for new nuclear use and ensure as much as is needed for that purpose is made available.
It goes on to say that, “if Moorside is prioritised for new nuclear, and if the NDA have a detailed contingency for additional land, we are confident that the Moorside site will perform well in the GBN assessment”.
Great British Nuclear are set to choose sites to build new nuclear power plants by February 2025 but the process of understanding land availability is already underway.
Josh MacAlister MP 