Amicus has warned that up to 8,000 jobs at British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) are at risk as the result of government plans to give responsibility for decommissioning publicly-owned nuclear facilities to a new state-owned body.
In April, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority will take over ownership of BNFL’s Magnox nuclear powers stations at Sellafield in Cumbria.
BNFL’s four remaining power stations are due to shut by 2010, while the Thorp reprocessing plant has contracts that run until 2010, after which is expected to close.
Amicus has urged BNFL to start retraining staff so they can continue to work on decommissioning when their present jobs end. It also called on Department of Trade and Industry officials to keep the reprocessing plant open for longer.
By Liz Wells
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