12/8/2005 - Cumbria County Council welcomes launch of NDA's draft strategy

Cumbria County Council has welcomed the launch of the Nuclear Decommissioning Agency’s draft strategy.

The council is pleased that the West Cumbria-based NDA has reached the stage where it can set out initial plans for managing future change in the nuclear industry.

The county council has been working closely with the NDA to ensure that its role nationally and in Cumbria is of maximum benefit to the county. 

Cumbria County Council leader Tim Stoddard said: "We very much welcome the NDA’s emphasis that this is a 'draft' Strategy and that the views of local government will be taken into account.

"We will take this opportunity ensure that the NDA and the Government are aware of the role they now have to play in West Cumbria. If the decommissioning of the last generation of reactors, and the end of reprocessing is to mean the end of nuclear production in the area, we will be making the case that there is a duty to fill the vacuum that would in leave West Cumbria. 

"This will mean retaining current expertise, providing the right infrastructure, the right training opportunities and the right support package to attract the new business and the high-quality jobs needed for the area to flourish." 

Cumbria County Council is a co-signatory to the 2004 Memorandum of Agreement (see notes for editors) in which it agreed to work with the NDA and other partners towards the common vision of creating "a sustainable economy for West Cumbria that matches or exceeds the average economic performance in the NW Region."

As the MoA noted, and the NDA's strategy recognises, Cumbria is in a distinctive position as it plays host to 60% of the UK's nuclear legacy. This was also recognised in the setting up of the West Cumbria Strategic Forum.

For Cumbria County Council, the test of the NDA’s strategy will be whether or not it aids that common vision for a sustainable West Cumbria over the decades ahead. 

The council will be looking closely at the NDA strategy over the coming weeks, first through the cross-party Nuclear Decommissioning Working Group, and then through Cabinet (on 1st November) and on to Council if policy issues are involved. 

Amongst other important aspects in the strategy affecting West Cumbria is early competition (2007) for the LLW site at Drigg, the accelerated pace of reactor decommissioning (affecting Calder Hall and Windscale) and the future government decision on the continued operation of THORP.

Decommissioning and waste management also have significant implications for transport infrastructure requirements which need to be properly considered. The NDA strategy needs to properly reflect uncertainties in national policy on waste management which could significantly influence the pace of decommissioning.

Tim Heslop, Chairman of the County Council’s Nuclear Decommissioning Working Group, said: "Key issues for us will relate to the pace of employment change at Sellafield, the extent of support available to ensure that change is managed, and whether we think the role and pace of key proposals for future decommissioning and ongoing operational activities are appropriate.

"The assumptions made about the role of Sellafield in Intermediate and High Level Waste Management and the use of the Low Level Waste Facility at Drigg are of particular interest to us. It is too early to say what our considered views will be, but the council has already indicated it favours low level and decommissioning waste from local reactors being handled as near the point of origin as possible."