Josh MacAlister MP has said West Cumbria has the opportunity to build on Sellafield’s world-leading skills and expertise to secure new nuclear missions, industries and investment for the region.
The Whitehaven and Workington MP returned to Sellafield for a future-focused visit looking at the work taking place across the site to support national priorities and prepare for future missions.
Josh visited some of Sellafield’s key nuclear waste storage facilities, meeting the teams whose work keeps the site clean, safe and secure and hearing how the specialist skills, expertise and capabilities developed at Sellafield could support a wider range of national priorities in the years ahead.
Alongside Sellafield’s core decommissioning mission, Josh discussed the potential to make more of the unique assets, materials, skills and expertise concentrated at the site to support future activity of strategic importance to the UK, including opportunities linked to defence, health, space and new nuclear industries.
During the visit, Josh also met Sellafield’s Chief Executive to discuss how the company’s future plans can complement proposals for Pioneer Park, the major new advanced nuclear development site being planned on land adjacent to Sellafield.
The proposed Pioneer Park would build on West Cumbria’s existing nuclear strengths to attract new companies, technologies and investment, creating high-quality jobs and establishing the area as a leading location for the next generation of the UK nuclear industry.
Josh has been working with Sellafield, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, Cumberland Council and other partners through the Cumberland Nuclear Future Board to develop the plans.
He also met nominees and winners from Sellafield’s Wave Awards, which recognise exceptional work and outstanding contributions from teams and individuals across the business.
Josh MacAlister MP said:
“Sellafield has been at the heart of Britain’s nuclear story for generations, but what really excites me is the role it can play in what comes next.
“The work being done here today is not only keeping the site safe and delivering one of the most important decommissioning programmes anywhere in the world. Sellafield also brings together extraordinary skills, expertise, infrastructure and capabilities that are of huge strategic value to the country.
“We should be ambitious about how we build on those strengths. There are opportunities to support important future national missions, create new industries and attract significantly more investment into West Cumbria.
“That links directly to our plans for Pioneer Park next door. My ambition is for Sellafield and Pioneer Park together to form the bridge between West Cumbria’s nuclear past and its nuclear future – taking the expertise built here over decades and using it to create the jobs and industries of the decades ahead.
“It was also fantastic to meet some of the people recognised through the Wave Awards. The expertise and professionalism of Sellafield’s workforce is ultimately what makes all of this possible, and I want more of the economic opportunities created by that expertise to remain here in West Cumbria.”
Euan Hutton, CEO of Sellafield Ltd, said:
“It was great to welcome Josh back to Sellafield and show him more of the work our teams are doing to deliver our mission today while preparing for the opportunities of tomorrow.
“Sellafield has an extraordinary concentration of skills, expertise and capability, and we have an important role to play in supporting the UK’s wider national priorities. We are thinking carefully about how the assets and expertise we have developed here can contribute to future missions and deliver even more value for the country.
“We also had a really positive discussion about Pioneer Park and the opportunity to build on the strengths of Sellafield to attract new nuclear activity and investment to West Cumbria. There is a real opportunity to connect the proud nuclear heritage of this area with an exciting nuclear future, creating opportunities for our workforce, our supply chain and the next generation.”
Josh MacAlister MP 