Last updated at 16:26, Thursday, 06 December 2012

FIVE hundred local jobs are set to be created at Sellafield.

Partnership: Sellafield

Energy minister John Hayes was due to make the announcement today in his speech to the Nuclear Industry Association’s annual Energy Choices conference in London.

The vacancies will cover a wide array of disciplines including operations, craft and maintenance personnel as well as specialist safety and technical positions.

The 500 figure includes 50 local apprentices who will join the company after completing their training at GEN II and a further 50 graduates from Sellafield Ltd’s graduate recruitment program.

Mr Hayes was expected to say: “Energy is central to our economic future and at the heart of all we do as a nation.

“Just as atoms collide in a nuclear reactor, the economic benefits of our nuclear renaissance will reverberate far and wide across the country.

“The announcement of 500 jobs at Sellafield today shows the immense contribution of the nuclear sector to the UK
economy, in particular that of West Cumbria.”

Sellafield said the vast majority of the 500 roles were likely to be filled locally and recruitment is to begin immediately.

Sellafield’s managing director Todd Wright said: “We are delivering our mission of accelerating safe and efficient clean-up.

“Because of the progress we are making and the efficiencies we have achieved, we are now able to focus even more funding on acceleration work, and this new influx of staff will mean we are able to do more work, more quickly.

“The workforce at Sellafield is the best I’ve worked with in my career, which takes in many nuclear sites around the world, and these new additions will include some of our nuclear leaders of tomorrow.

Copeland MP Jamie Reed welcomed the news. He said: “The challenge of cleaning up the UK’s nuclear legacy is a unique one and Sellafield Ltd is making a good job of a very difficult task.

“These new roles will help re-establish West Cumbria as a global centre for nuclear excellence, and demonstrate that our best days in Copeland are ahead of us, which I’ve been saying for a long time.”

John Clarke, chief executive of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, said: “The creation of these 500 new jobs is excellent news for West Cumbria and will make a significant contribution to accelerating the clean-up of the high hazard areas of Sellafield – the NDA’s number one priority.

Elaine Woodburn, the leader of Copeland Borough Council, said: “This is a win-win situation for the local area.

“The new jobs will provide a major boost for Copeland and its residents, and will also help ensure that the plant is dealing with the biggest hazards, which is something that the council has long advocated.”

First published at 18:52, Wednesday, 05 December 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk