Sellafield MOX plant to close
THE Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is set close of the MOX – mixed oxide – nuclear fuel plant at Sellafield in Cumbria, with the loss of hundreds of jobs.
The agency said the shut-down would occur at the ‘earliest possible opportunity’. The closure will affect more than 800 employees at the facility.
The NDA said the closure was related to the disaster which befell Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant after the tsunami there this year.
Its statement said: “Working with Japanese customers, the NDA has been reviewing the future of SMP (Sellafield Mox Plant) in the light of the impact on the Japanese nuclear industry of the tragic earthquake in March and the likely effect on the SMP programme and associated commercial arrangements.
“The NDA board has now assessed the changed risk profile for SMP arising from potential delays following the earthquake in Japan and subsequent events and has concluded that in order to ensure that the UK taxpayer does not carry a future financial burden from Sellafield Mox Plant that the only reasonable course of action is to close SMP at the earliest practical opportunity.”
The MOX plant only opened a decade ago has cost the taxpayer a reported £1.4bn.
Chubu, which runs power stations in Japan including Fukushima, recently pulled out of a £200m contract making the plant financially unviable.
The NDA said it would try and minimise job losses, adding: “The NDA will work closely with Sellafield Limited in order to where possible mitigate the employment impacts from this decision, including the potential for redeployment given the level of activity planned across the site over coming years in the new Sellafield Plan.”
Trade union Prospect said the move was ‘short-sighted’ given that a new generation of nuclear plants is on the Government’s agenda.
National officer Mike Graham said: “We are dismayed at the way this announcement has been made, without consultation with the unions, and without properly considering the way forward after its closure.
