Sellafield has been identified as a possible location for a new nuclear-power station, which would be several times more powerful than the previous plant at the site, writes Jamie Smyth, European Correspondent.
A consultancy report prepared for Cumbria County Council says that Sellafield is one of several potentially viable sites in Britain for new nuclear reactors. It estimates that the plant would create between 600 to 1,000 new jobs, although it notes that Sellafield is not the optimal location for one of the new generation of reactors.
Local politicians in Cumbria have warmly welcomed the report, but it will disappoint the Irish Government, which just last month pledged to continue working to close Sellafield.
Local labour MP Jamie Reed - a former press officer at Sellafield - is campaigning to have one of any newly commissioned nuclear-power plants located in his constituency in Cumbria.
"It's no surprise to anybody that west Cumbria is one of the premier sites for nuclear new build," he told his local newspaper, News & Star, recently. "It is now incumbent upon the county council to speak with one voice and let government know we want to see new nuclear build in west Cumbria as soon as possible."
The report was drawn up for the council by consultants Environmental Resources Management ahead of a decision by the British government on whether to build a new generation of nuclear plants.
British prime minister Tony Blair is widely expected to back building a new generation of nuclear-power plants to provide more security of energy supply for Britain as its current reactors are decommissioned.
The consultancy report concludes that building a new nuclear-power station at Sellafield would help to mitigate some of the employment loss at the current site. Job numbers stand at 13,000 but are expected to fall to 4,000 by 2020 following continued decommissioning at the site.
The report says that a new plant would benefit from using the existing nuclear fuel storage infrastructure at Sellafield and the prospect of fuelling its reactors with Mox, which is already made and stored at the site. However, it does offer some hope that Sellafield, which is located across the Irish Sea from Dundalk, may not be the most economical location for a plant in Britain.
The report says that the type of reactor under consideration is several times more powerful than those currently in operation. A new nuclear power plant at Sellafield would require the construction of a new connection to the national electricity grid, estimated to cost £70 million for one reactor and £230 million for two rectors. Connection costs for alternative sites in Britain would be lower, the report added.
Richard Ellis, a communications manager for Environmental Resources Management, said the report was undertaken to assess the implications of any British nuclear new build programme for Cumbria and not just designed to determine whether nuclear new build in the UK is desirable.