Shadow cast over nuclear renaissance says Prospect Nucear workers union

Yet another cock up by DECC!

You can't force communities to be volunteers no matter how much money you promise

Where does the withering nuclear industry go now?

By Becky Johnson, Sky News Correspondent

Cumbria County Council has voted against proceeding with studies into the building of a £12bn underground nuclear waste site in the area.

Council leaders rejected a move to the next stage of studying a possible suitable site by seven votes to three.

There were huge cheers from environmental campaigners outside the council chamber in Carlisle when the decision was announced.

Earlier, leaders of Copeland borough councillors voted six to one in favour of moving to the next stage in the search for a site to bury radioactive waste.

If the site was given the go ahead it would have been the first of its kind in the UK.

Currently most nuclear waste is stored at Sellafield in Cumbria.

As councillors were meeting, protesters gathered to make their views heard.

Among them, many people who might have been affected argued that the process was unsafe.

Cumbria resident Miles Fielding told Sky News: "There are a number of people who are very anti the dump and very upset about the proposals.

"There are already problems in the continent where there are nuclear dumps with leakage and known cancers occurring in the villages where the dumps are, so it's just not worth playing with."

Presenting a petition to the leader of Cumbria council on behalf of Radiation Free Lakeland, Ronald Stirzaker urged councillors to vote no.

Another resident, Colin Wales, asked councillors if any community could rule themselves out of the search by a referendum.

Also outside the meeting were people staging a demonstration in favour of the plans because of the jobs a new site would create.

Neil Armstrong, who works at Sellafield, told Sky News: "I'm not saying it's safe or unsafe... I think it'll bring prosperity to the area for a lot of years to come."

Garry Graham, deputy general secretary of Prospect, which represents 12,000 nuclear workers, said: "A decision not to proceed to the next stage of feasibility studies will take us straight back to the drawing board.

"The alternative to building a repository is not no radioactive waste, just continued surface storage. Therefore, the assessment of the scientific case for a geological disposal facility needs to weighed against the pros and cons of the alternatives.

"The next stage consists of experts conducting desk-based geological studies, compiling a waste inventory and discussions over the social and economic implications.

"It is still a long way from a green light for any excavation or exploratory groundwork.

"Not only does the vote have vast implications for the economic wealth of West Cumbria, which relies so heavily on the nuclear industry for jobs and growth, it potentially casts a shadow over any nuclear renaissance in the UK."

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