A TOP Government Treasury Minister has championed Cumbria, the UK’s ‘nuclear heartland’, and the government’s commitment in helping to secure jobs for future generations working in the industry.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe was speaking at the annual Women in Nuclear event, which is about raising the profile of women working in the industry.
At the conference in Westminster held on Wednesday 1 February, the Treasury Minister also praised Trudy Harrison, the Conservative Candidate in the Copeland by-election.
She said: “Someone like Trudy would help ensure that jobs in the nuclear industry are safe, now and for future generations. She is someone who would stand up for the people of Copeland.”
Plans for a new nuclear power station at Moorside, with the potential to create thousands of new highly-skilled jobs and the National College for Nuclear were also highlighted by the Baroness in her speech to conference, which attracts leading lights in the field of nuclear energy.
She said: “This Government has joined forces with the industry to set up a new National College for Nuclear, with two campuses in the South West and in our nuclear heartland in Cumbria
“Cumbria already employs thousands in this industry – the Sellafield site alone gives high quality jobs to over 10,000 people.
“The college with its 2 campuses will play a big part by training the next generation of nuclear specialists. It will open its doors to students this coming September – aiming to train 7,000 people by 2020 alone.”
As part of her six-point plan for Copeland, Trudy would fight to make the most of a new nuclear plant at Moorside.
Trudy Harrison said: “I know first-hand how important the nuclear industry is to communities across west Cumbria. I’ll make the case for the Moorside development to bring funding to maintain local services, which are vital to everyone employed in the sector.”