Nuclear Power Production (Sellafield)

Debate between Jim Shannon and Jamie Reed

Tuesday 11th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jamie Reed (Copeland) (Lab)]

First, I must say that it is a genuine disappointment that this debate will be overshadowed by a disgraceful attempt by an individual Member to thwart the debate on the Hillsborough tragedy. That should haunt him for the rest of his days.

I should also point out that the title of this debate is slightly incorrect. Although I will address power production and other nuclear-related issues in the course of my remarks, the title should refer to future nuclear fuel production at Sellafield.

I must declare some interests from the outset—somewhere in the region of 16,000 interests, as that is the number of jobs that rely on the Sellafield facility in my constituency. Many people wonder why I spend so much time on these issues, but, frankly, this topic means everything to my constituency. It underpins the economy, the sustainability of population levels, the housing market, our schools, our hospital services, our police service and other public services. In fact, it touches every single facet of west Cumbrian life, as I know the Minister is well aware.

I must place on record my appreciation to the Minister. We have a good working relationship, we share the same understanding of many of the complex issues before us, and I genuinely appreciate the way in which he in particular has continued to prosecute the policies of the British nuclear renaissance established under the last Government. These are issues of the utmost national importance economically, environmentally and in terms of energy security, and they require a concerted, long-term political consensus, particularly with regard to nuclear energy and nuclear policy. We both have to contend with elements in our parties who disagree with that view, but the Minister should know that he and I, and others who share our view, speak for the nation on this issue.

In April 2010 I introduced the Nuclear Fuel Cycle (Non-Proliferation and Public Liability) Bill in this House, and I commend it to the Minister as a template for future policy. It deals with how this nation treats the plutonium and uranium dioxide currently stored at Sellafield in my constituency, about which I will talk tonight. I modestly suggest that it is the best Bill of its kind ever to be introduced in this House, although I also fear that it is probably the only Bill of its kind ever to be introduced here.

Tonight’s debate takes place against a backdrop of the Fukushima disaster and the decision taken in August to close the Sellafield MOX plant. As is widely understood, the two issues were closely related, and I repeat again, as a third generation nuclear worker from a community that genuinely understands and appreciates what it is like to be a nuclear community, my incredible respect for and gratitude to all those in Japan who worked to contain those dreadful events, and my respect for all those affected by them. I know that my community and the Sellafield work force stand ready to help that community in whatever way we can.

I know that the decision to close the Sellafield MOX plant was made with a heavy heart and had been discussed for many years. I again pay tribute to the Sellafield MOX plant work force, who are among the most talented and able in the country. They did everything humanly possible to turn that plant around. The Minister has visited the plant, so I know that he knows that. The decision to close the plant is in no way a reflection upon either the work force or their abilities, and I will always work to ensure that they have a meaningful and successful future. At this point, I must also mention the exemplary work done by the Sellafield work force, the Sellafield trade unions and the recently re-established Sellafield Workers Campaign. They undertook vital work in the aftermath of the closure announcement and gave community leadership in that context, and they represent the single best asset that either Sellafield or the nuclear industry has. I hope that the Minister and the Secretary of State will agree to join me in meeting those unions and union representatives very soon to discuss the issues raised in tonight’s debate, as well as other issues.

The Minister will be aware of the importance of the Sellafield MOX plant, not only to my constituency but to west Cumbria and to Cumbria as a whole. It has supported, and currently still supports, thousands of jobs in an area where the economy is based on public spending and the private sector is also based on the contracts let by that publicly funded investment. Indeed, a recent study by The Guardian showed that my constituency was the most heavily reliant on public spending in the country, with about 50.3% of its economy based on public spending.

We know what went wrong at the Sellafield MOX plant. I have held numerous discussions with the people involved in that plant from the very beginning—from the boardroom to the shop floor—and there is a compelling consensus: the design was wrong; there was a drive to over-automate processes in the wake of the MOX data falsification episode; and the best practices, which are usually the simplest practices, from other countries adept at MOX fuel production were not followed. The product produced by the Sellafield MOX plant was excellent and the policy drivers that underpin it are impeccable, but the design and implementation of it in that plant were wrong. That said, the case for using the nation’s stockpiled uranium and plutonium dioxide, whether in a MOX 2 or, theoretically, some other such commercial and industrial utilisation, such as General Electric-Hitachi’s PRISM—power reactor innovative small module—concept is incontrovertible.

The nuclear industry is one of the few industries that can facilitate what I call “sweet-spot economics”. That is the support of industries that, by themselves, can deliver improvements, progress and, in some cases, solutions to some of the most intractable policy problems facing us as a country. In west Cumbria the much admired and increasingly copied energy coast programme, of which a new MOX plant is a part, is based upon the sweet-spot theory. The development of the energy coast will: safeguard west Cumbria’s economic future; help to rebalance the economy; increase the security of our energy supplies; deliver our non-proliferation objectives; and, in many ways, resolve the long-running policy problem of radioactive waste disposal.

The case for MOX 2 is based upon sweet-spot economics as well. There exists at Sellafield tens of thousands of tonnes of uranium dioxide and approximately 115 tonnes of plutonium oxide. The consultations on how to classify that material recently ended and we now all anxiously await the Government’s response.

To put it simply, there is a stark choice to be made. These materials are either waste or assets. If they are classified as waste, it will cost us billions of pounds of public money to treat, store and dispose of them. If, however, they are classified as assets, which they undeniably are, their value as component materials to service the growing international demand for MOX fuel will be enormous and they will be worth tens of billons of pounds to the British taxpayer and the nation.

As the Minister is aware, there is real interest from certain parties in developing a new MOX fuel manufacturing plant at Sellafield, and that should be pursued in the national interest. Using plutonium and uranium oxides in that way would certainly change the nature of the radioactive waste inventory that will eventually be placed in a deep geological facility somewhere in this country, perhaps in my constituency. That decision will be entirely in the hands of local people, not politicians, but the status and use of the plutonium and uranium oxides will inevitably have an effect on the process of voluntarism for the deep geological facility and on public attitudes as we go forward. The two are linked in the popular local consciousness, and so they should be.

In addition, the cost of disposing of those materials will easily outstrip the costs of a new MOX facility, even before the additional benefits are considered, but the fundamental question is why we need MOX 2. We need it to strengthen the industrial base that facilitates the nuclear fuel cycle in this country and provides us with the single best chance we have not only of meeting our nuclear non-proliferation objectives but helping other countries, particularly the United States, to meet theirs, too. We need it to help rebalance the British economy. An early intention from Government to proceed with MOX 2 would galvanise the local and national supply chain surrounding new build in west Cumbria and send out precisely the right investment signals at a time of real anxiety.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

Does the hon. Gentleman, like many in this House—the majority, I hope—feel that Sellafield is a significant player in the future energy supply for this country? Following on from the urgent question earlier, does he also feel that the issues of health and of safeguarding health and security for the population around there are also paramount, and guaranteed by Government?

[Mr Reed]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. Sadly, I missed the urgent question earlier, as I could have spoken for hours about the misconceptions, lies and myths about not only Sellafield but the nuclear industry. Sellafield is without doubt one of the most important industrial facilities in this country. There is nothing like it. In fact, it is one of the most important industrial facilities anywhere in the developed world. It no longer produces fuel, although we hope to see a site adjacent to Sellafield producing fuel with at least two new nuclear reactors in the very near future.

On the health issues surrounding the nuclear industry, I am a third generation nuclear worker, and the Sellafield work force are probably the most extensively and exhaustively studied and investigated work force anywhere in the world. The community I represent, which I am very proud to be from, has also been studied and investigated exhaustively over decades. There are locks, double locks and triple locks from the Government and a variety of health bodies about the environmental operating standards and public health standards of the nuclear industry. There is no issue to answer, and those who persist in maligning the industry and spreading malicious and false rumours do not only themselves but my community and this industry, which is so important to the country, a huge disservice, so I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that intervention.

I was talking about the need for MOX 2 and building the case for it. As well as needing it to rebalance the British economy and the local economy in west Cumbria, we need it to produce the fuel that we need to help power CO₂-free electricity generation through nuclear in the future. We need it to secure our national energy supplies better. We need it to expedite better and more quickly the creation of a geological disposal facility. West Cumbria needs it, the country needs it, and my constituents deserve nothing less.

Given the strength of the case, the overwhelming need and the ready ability of industry to develop such a facility, all that is now missing is an affirmative decision from Government and a rapid response to the plutonium consultation paper. The longer that takes, the harder it will be to deliver. The Minister understands haste. After some impassioned discussions, he accepted the logic and brought forward the operational date of a future geological disposal facility from 2040 to 2029, and that is absolutely to his credit.

Speeding up this process is important—and the process of voluntarism is another debate entirely, which is also within the hands of Government, or perhaps, more particularly, in the dead hands of the Treasury. We now need a quick decision from Government on the plutonium consultation. Industry, investors and the supply chain all require some clarity and certainty, as does my local work force and local community. If the Government respond positively to the plutonium consultation as I am asking them to do tonight, I would hope—this is an essential point—that a timetable would accompany such a decision, whereby the development of a new MOX plant could be prosecuted more quickly and the programme delivered effectively, on time and to budget in a way that would be entirely predictable for us all to see.

The need for urgency is real—a point that I consistently made to the last Government as I do to the present Government. If the Minister can provide the required urgency my community can provide the necessary partnership, and collectively we can solve some of the most pressing public policy issues facing our country.