THE company behind plans for a nuclear power station in west Cumbria is increasingly confident that its scheme will come to fruition.

NuGen, a partnership between Toshiba of Japan and France's Engie, wants to build three Westinghouse AP1000 reactors at Moorside, Sellafield.

These would have a combined capacity of up to 3.8GW gross, enough to power six million homes. Up to 6,000 people would work on site during construction, many of them travelling from Millom and Barrow.

The company's chief executive, Tom Samson, believes that the government's decision last week to proceed with the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset is a boost for Moorside.

He said: “The news is positive for the UK nuclear new build market, where developers such as NuGen are investing heavily in delivering the next generation of low carbon power.

"It demonstrates the viability of new nuclear investment in the UK and is welcome evidence of the UK government’s commitment to new nuclear as an essential part of the energy mix.

“Hinkley Point C is the start of the nuclear new build renaissance in the UK, of which NuGen is an integral part."

It also emerged last week that the Korea Electric Power Corporation is considering investing in Moorside, which represents another positive development for the project.

A public consultation closed this summer and NuGen is due to make the "final investment decision" on whether to proceed in 2018.

Construction is due to start in 2020 with the first reactor coming on stream in 2025.

Meanwhile, businesses in Cumbria's nuclear supply chain are set to cash in on the decision to build Hinkley Point C.

James Fisher Nuclear, a division of the Barrow-based shipping and marine services business, is one of them.

It said in March that it hopes “to provide services to the UK’s nuclear new-build sector once this moves forward.”

* The new secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy, Greg Clark, is due to speak at the first Cumbria Nuclear Conference which gets under way in Carlisle tomorrow.

The two-day event aims to attract movers and shakers from across the sector and highlight the opportunities – and challenges – arising from nuclear new build at Moorside.

The former defence secretary and Barrow and Furness MP Lord Hutton is among the confirmed speakers.