A cache of damning letters released under Environmental Information Requests reveal the shocking obstruction of new nuclear development at Moorside by the previous Conservative government – with the full knowledge of Conservative MPs in Cumbria.
Background
In 2023, Solway Community Power Company (SCPC) brought forward a credible £6 billion private investment plan to build two SMRs on land at Moorside which they sought the backing of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) – who own the land – and the then Conservative government to deliver. Cumberland’s Labour council fully backed this development. Both SCPC and Cumberland Council lobbied the NDA and the government to release the land to SCPC. The NDA deferred to government and the government rejected the request.
The former Conservative MPs for Workington, Copeland and Carlisle were copied in to all letters.
There is no record of Conservative MPs raising the alarm in Parliament after receiving these letters.
I am now trying to fix the mess left to us by the Tories and I’m fighting like hell to try to resolve the situation, something previous Conservative MPs completely neglected to do while shamefully playing politics with this issue.
I secured a debate in Parliament on this issue – watch the highlights
You can read my recent column for the local papers which details the issues with the land at Moorside left to us by the Tories which I’ve been trying to resolve since day one.
Read the letters below
1 – Solway CPC letter to Minister Andrew Bowie – 29 June 2023
This was a letter from Solway Community Power Company to the Minister of the time, asking for his support for the proposal (including access to the site), following on from a previous meeting with him on 12 June 2023. At that meeting, the Minister had asked SCPC to consider which specific actions would enable access to the land at Moorside.
Dated 29 June 2023 and in response to the Minister’s request, the attached letter states “Following helpful discussions with NDA we have drafted a Memorandum of Intent and a Licence to Occupy, which we have issued to NDA and shared with Great British Nuclear” hence providing evidence that the NDA were indeed in receipt of the documents in June 2023.
2 – Letter from Cumberland Council to Minister Bowie – 6 July 2023
This was a letter from the Council to the Minister urging him to “encourage and support the NDA to endorse the Memorandum of Intent and Licence to Occupy” ahead of the planned launch date of Great British Nuclear (GBN) on 13 July 2023.
3 – Letter from Cumberland Council to the NDA – 6 July 2023
This was a letter from the Council to the NDA to encourage its CEO to allow access to the Moorside site to SCPC.
4 – Second Letter from Cumberland Council to Minister Bowie – 11 August 2023
Having had no response to the first letter (sent in July) the Council wrote again to the Minister. In this letter, the Council raised its concern that given the nature of Great British Nuclear was to progress publicly funded nuclear developments, it may inadvertently be preventing progress on the privately funded development being offered by SCPC.
5 – NDA Letter to Cumberland Council – 6 September 2023
This is the response from the NDA to the Council’s letter of 6 July 2023 (EOI Response Evidence 3). This letter clearly acknowledges SCPC’s “wish to sign a Memorandum of Interest with the NDA on access to the Moorside site”.
The letter explains that the NDA was not able to offer such an endorsement to SCPC at this time, as it was awaiting further clarity on GBN’s strategy and timeline for accelerating the competition to find an SMR design.
6 – Letter from Andrew Bowie to Cumberland Council – 19 September 2023
This was a letter from the Minister in response to the Council’s letters of July and August. SCPC simultaneously received a response to its letter to the Minister from June 2023 (EOI Response Evidence 1).
7 – Third Letter from the Council to Minister Bowie – 15 November 2023
This letter was issued following the Council being informed that Sellafield Ltd and the NDA may need a large proportion of the Moorside site to support the ongoing decommissioning mission and a subsequent conversation with GBN that suggested that the site may therefore not be suitable for a large scale publicly funded new build development. The Council was therefore urging the Minister to support the smaller scale, privately funded proposal being put forward by SCPC, noting that its investor’s offer of funding was time-limited.
8 – Minister Bowie Letter to the Council – 10 January 2024
This letter was sent by the Minister to the Council in response to its letter of November 2023 (EIR Response Evidence 7)
Again, the letter clearly acknowledges SCPC’s request for access to the Moorside site. Rather than using the SCPC name, this letter refers to its parent company Community Nuclear Power, which had, by this time also established an interest in a development in Teesside. The Minister states:
“The Government welcomes Community Nuclear Power’s (CNP) interest in bringing forward privately financed nuclear projects. And we are of course aware of CNP’s keen interest in the land at the Moorside for development of up to two SMRs”.
And
“While I understand that neither of these proposals would formally commit this land to CNP, the government is unable to quickly dispose of, or provide access to, NDA land without a fair and open process to all interested parties”.
As you will see from the contents of the letters, most of them refer to the draft Memorandum of Intent and Licence to Occupy that SCPC submitted to the NDA in June 2023, providing clear evidence that the NDA were indeed in receipt of these documents at this time.
Clear requests were made by SCPC and Cumberland Council for access to the land and these requests were denied. This directly contradicts what former Conservative MPs have claimed.
My goal since the election has been to resolve the issues with land access so that we can once again attract a potential new nuclear developer to the site. I am working closely with ministers, Cumberland Council, the NDA and Sellafield on a plan to make the land available for clean energy development including new nuclear.
Josh MacAlister MP 