The news that the Government has made the decision to construct a new generation of nuclear power staions will be welcome news for thousands of people from Egremont who have recently added their signatures to a workers’ campaign petition in support of nuclear power. Trade union representatives from Sellafield and other nuclear sites in Britain travelled to London on the 12th of July to lobby MPs and deliver their petition to the Prime Minister. Their nationwide campaign calls for a secure and balanced energy policy and for the construction of a new generation of nuclear power stations. The Government’s Energy Review which began in January has now been concluded and the campaign’s clear message that the nuclear industry has overwhelming support from its workforce and the surrounding communities has been delivered to MPs and the Prime Minister.
Nuclear power has got its opponents, who are convinced that Renewable Energy can solve Britain’s looming energy crisis and with the introduction of energy efficient policies there would be no need to go nuclear. They believe that nuclear power is too expensive, too dangerous and that there is no solution to the problem of nuclear waste.
At the moment the Nuclear Industry supplies a quarter of the UK’s electricity. Unless decisions are taken now to replace ageing reactors, in 20 years’ time that will be down to almost zero. Living so close to Sellafield, most of us have our own opinions on nuclear power and are unlikely to change them, no matter what the Government decides.
Michael Stephenson, who works at Sellafield and is the Chairman of the site safety representatives’ forum, is, like most people who work at the site, concerned about the decline of our industry and about the proposed sale of BNG. Faced with the prospect of losing thousands of jobs and a highly skilled nuclear workforce, the industry needs investment. "Now the Government has decided to build new nuclear reactors, I am definitely in favour of having some at Sellafield," he declares, recognising that this could lead to new business and more jobs for our area. Understanding why scare stories in the media about Sellafield make some people feel unsure about the nuclear industry, he declares that, "we all have families and we wouldn’t sup-port anything that would put them or our community at risk." He points out that BNG is the most regulated industry in the country, if not the world, and as trade union representative he insists that safety is the number one priority at Sellafield now, and will remain so in the future. He is in favour of renewable sources of energy, but does not believe they can supply enough energy to meet the country’s demand for energy for the next ten or twenty years. He believes that the cost of nuclear new build has been greatly exaggerated and that Britain cannot rely on imported gas and oil for our future energy supplies. Nuclear energy could ensure a secure energy supply and help the UK meet its green house gas obligations. "Some people seem to forget we treat and store most of the UK’s nuclear waste at Sellafield already," he argues. "It’s not going anywhere else, so the long term solution has got to be a deep underground repository. The only sensible way forward would be a balanced energy policy to include both nuclear and renewable sources."
Pictured above, Sellafield union leaders and Copeland MP J Reed in Whitehaven Market Square, collecting signatures for the petition to support nuclear power.

Sam Pollen