Published at 13:37, Thursday, 24 May 2012

A SELLAFIELD workers’ lobby group has urged the government to build an underground nuclear dump in the county.

An opinion poll, carried out on behalf of the West Cumbria Managing Radioactive Waste Safely Partnership, showed that almost 70 per cent of Copeland residents and 51 per cent of Allerdale residents were in favour of the government selecting the area to host a £4bn nuclear waste repository.

The findings were revealed at a meeting in Whitehaven on Tuesday.

Following the meeting, Sellafield Workers campaign secretary, Craig Dobson, said: “Our communities have given a clear signal on the store issue, and their verdict is ‘Let’s get on with it’. The numbers show overwhelming support in Copeland, a clear majority in Allerdale, and a bigger majority still in the rest of Cumbria.

“What all this shows is the settled will of the people of West Cumbria is to support the nuclear industry.

“No community in the country knows that industry better, which makes their support all the more significant.

“We now call on local and national government to proceed with the formal search for a site, and to do so without any bureaucratic delay.”

Keith Hitchen, chairman of Cumbria Association of Local Councils, which has previously spoken out in opposition of the plan, said more information is needed before his organisation issues a further response.

He said: “I’d imagine the parish councils’ stance might be the same but we won’t know until we get some additional information.

“We are waiting to get the full report, which will drill down to a postcode level, to see how it stacks up from a parish council point of view.”

Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk