Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to support the development of the nuclear energy sector in Cumbria.

The Department directly funds or has contracts with a number of nuclear establishments in Cumbria, including the National Nuclear Laboratory and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). A recent report found that NDA’s subsidiaries Sellafield Ltd and Nuclear Waste Services’ core sites in Cumbria contributed £1.3bn GVA across the local economy and supported 21,650 jobs.

The Government is taking action to support the development of the UK nuclear sector and has committed to setting up Great British Nuclear, which will be tasked with developing a resilient pipeline of new build projects. The Government is investing in nuclear, including through backing Sizewell C with £700 million, the launch of the Future Nuclear Enabling Fund and the Nuclear Fuel Fund.