Published at 11:09, Thursday, 14 June 2012

SOMETIMES you have to be careful what you wish for, but what are the chances of West Cumbria being able to live the dream of a job creating, business booming foreseeable future on the back of a potential £90 billion investment?

Pie in the sky, you say? Dreamland? Where’s the money coming from? All fair questions. There aren’t any promises or guarantees, but these are the hopes and aspirations of a Britain’s Energy Coast economic blueprint whose far-reaching aim is to “develop a dynamic, wealth-creating sustainable economic future for today, tomorrow and future generations”.

Turning such a vision into a reality (through diversification into various energy fields creating business growth, jobs and skills) is feasible – if we play it smart. But nuclear is the Blueprint’s bedrock – it is seen as the catalyst to make it all happen.

Britain’s Energy Coast chairman and former Labour energy minister Brian Wilson, a canny Scot, tells us frankly: “If there was a sod cut on a new nuclear power station I think that would kick it all off. Once you have such a major project allied to very large sums of investment pouring into the area then it capturing the essence of the Blueprint giving people great confidence in the future.”

Much hope is pinned on the planned NuGen power station which promises a £9 billion West Cumbrian spend alone. We’re told it can be 10 times better through other investment sources, including City financiers.

That’s music to the ears for many, perhaps, not least those 800 Sellafield Thorp workers left wondering what the future holds when the plant shuts in 2018. That closure would bring down the curtain on what used to be the golden egg of reprocessing but which is no longer deemed best value for taxpayers’ money.

It is good that our nuclear paymasters don’t expect any drastic fall in employment. However, so much depends on the new power station and the possibility of Mox 2 – even the more remote vision of an underground repository for nuclear waste.

Over-reliance on the shifting sands of nuclear has never been ideal, but if new-build does spark what is described as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity then West Cumbria will find itself in a better place.

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