Jobs reassurance for Lancashire nuclear workers

Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Greg Clark made the statement to Fylde MP Mark Menzies in Parliament after he asked him for assurances on their behalf.

Toshiba officially withdrew from the process of developing the Moorside site in Cumbria last week.

The new site - set to replace Sellafield - would have safeguarded hundreds of jobs at the Springfields site at Salwick as a key supplier.

During the debate in Parliament, Mr Menzies said: “This decision is not just about West Cumbria.

“Springfields nuclear fuel, which is based in my constituency and employs 1,200 people, was hoping to make the nuclear fuel for this plant, as the Secretary of State knows, because he has visited it .

“What assurances can he give that workforce, and what measures are the Government taking to make sure that Springfields can make nuclear fuel for some of the other plants that he has outlined this afternoon?”

Mr Clark told him: “Springfields is very successful and has an active programme of supplying the nuclear industry generally

“It will be one of the beneficiaries of the fact that we have restarted the build programme for civil nuclear power in this country.

“My hon Friend knows that I will work closely with it and him to make sure that it can bid into those projects when they mature.”

Mr Menzies said today he was pleased to hear the minister’s assurances.

He added: “I know they are keeping an eye on the emerging situation and all parties are keeping in touch.

GMB, the energy union, says the ill-fated Moorside Nuclear reactor build should be rescued by a newly formed Nuclear Development Authority.

GMB has long argued the Government should take a stake in the financing of the troubled £10 billion Moorside nuclear reactor - rather than leaving this vital project at the mercy of foreign companies. Moorside was set to have been delivering seven per cent of the UK’s electricity needs from 2025.