Prospect working with employer to press government on future of Springfields Fuels

Prospect is working closely with management at Springfields Fuels to lobby the government for action and support to secure the future of the site in Preston, Lancashire.

Close up illustration of atomic particle for nuclear energy imagery

The Springfields plant, owned by Westinghouse, has been supplying nuclear fuel products for more than 75 years and is the only civil nuclear fuel fabrication site in the UK, which makes it of strategic national importance.

As part of a lobbying campaign in concert with Westinghouse, Prospect senior deputy general secretary Sue Ferns is due to meet, with other unions, Energy Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan to discuss the issue in the next few weeks.

The future of Springfields was placed in jeopardy when EDF Energy announced its plan to bring forward the closure of Hunterston nuclear power station, with a fear that other EDF plants may follow suit.

Springfields Fuels employs more than 800 employees in well-paid, highly-skilled and technical jobs, and indirectly supports thousands of more jobs across north west England.

As well as a devastating impact on jobs, the potential closure of Springfields would also mean that the UK no longer has guaranteed security of supply for a new nuclear build programme.

Letter to the minister

The risk to the future of Springfields, and why its future is of critical importance, was highlighted in a letter sent in January to the Energy Minister, Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP.

The letter was signed by Brian Nixon, managing director Springfields Fuels; Sue Ferns, Prospect senior deputy general secretary; Miranda Barker, chief executive, East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce; and Gail Cartmail, Unite assistant general secretary.

The letter reads:

“The Nuclear Sector Deal recognised the strategic national importance of the Springfields site and the loss of the plant would deprive the UK of a domestic source of nuclear fuel production and leave us completely dependent on overseas suppliers in an increasingly uncertain global trading environment.

“The security and resilience of our domestic energy system would be placed in jeopardy and a central component of our high-value manufacturing base would be lost. Not only this but there would be a devastating impact on the local economy, in a region of the country that can ill afford to lose high value jobs of this nature.”

The letter also called upon the government to convene an urgent roundtable with the “company, trade unions, representatives of local government and business groups and the local MPs to explore options for securing the future of the site.”