Alliance to save Sellafield jobs

Thousands of jobs will be lost when the plant closes

Cumbria is hoping lessons learned from a fact-finding mission to the United States could help preserve thousands of jobs in the region's nuclear industry.

The UK government is scaling down its nuclear generating programme, with the giant Sellafield reprocessing plant due to be decommissioned in coming years.

Research into the labour market effects suggests about 8-10,000 jobs will go from west Cumbria by 2010.

County Council bosses are calling for a government rethink and the retention of a nuclear generating capability, with its associated facilities in Cumbria.

Council leader Reg Toft says he has learnt valuable lessons from the Washington DC-based Energy Communities Alliance (ECA).

Pressure group

The ECA is a pressure group, which promotes energy issues to the US government. The country's nuclear industry is a prominent member of the alliance.

Mr Toft said a similar pressure group should be created in the UK.

He said: "In some seven years there will start to be a serious run down of jobs at Sellafield.

"The prediction is the present 12,000 jobs will be cut to about 4,000.

"To lose that number of jobs from the economy of west Cumbria is a problem of crisis proportions.

'Added clout'

"We learnt a lot from the American experience during a recent trip over there.

"They have formed the ECA to give themselves added clout when talking to government.

"I have told the county council that a similar organisation should now be created in the UK to preserve jobs in the nuclear industry."

The government's Nuclear Decommissioning Agency is to be sited in Cumbria.

The county council and North West Development Agency have agreed further studies should be carried out on the loss of Sellafield and its effects on the economy of west Cumbria.