Prospect, GMB and Unite reps meet MPs to discuss campaign to defend jobs in Nuclear Decommissioning

This week some of Prospect’s reps working in nuclear decommissioning attended a joint event in Parliament with GMB and Unite to talk to MPs about our campaign to stop job cuts in nuclear decommissioning. 

Nuclear decommissioning is a vital national mission that protects our communities, enables our clean energy transition, and supports jobs across the country. 

However, the recent Spending Review settlement was challenging for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and the organisations under its umbrella, and we have now learned that there will be hundreds of job losses across the NDA estate as a result of this settlement, with voluntary exit schemes already being rolled out. 

This will cause substantial damage to local communities who can least afford it. For many areas where legacy sites are based, nuclear decommissioning is a vital source of employment, and the prospect of new nuclear (on fully decommissioned sites) is the key to economic renewal.. 

As a result, our reps spoke to a number of MPs in affected constituencies about how these job cuts will be damaging for local communities, and how they are counterproductive for the broader nuclear mission. This will end up costing the government more in the long term, as mothballed stations become more expensive to decommission, and the rare nuclear skills of the UK’s world class decommissioning workforce are difficult to adequately replace. 

The MPs Charlotte Nichols (Warrington North), Michelle Srogham (Barrow and Furness), Liz Saville-Roberts (Dwyfor Meirionnydd), Joani Reid (East Kilbride and Strathaven), Alan Gemmell (Central Ayrshire), Euan Stainbank (Falkirk) and Llinos Medi (Ynys Môn) came to speak to the reps. 

You can support the campaign to stop job cuts in nuclear decommissioning here by writing to your MP. 

See more photos from the event on Flickr.