Councillor Moore Calls for “Clarity” from Government on the Plan he Volunteered Cumbria For – the Biggest Ever Mine and Nuclear Dump on and Under the Lake District Coastal Region.

Image: Whitehaven News May 13th 2026

Remember David Moore? the councillor with nuclear financial interests who voted (without declaring those interests) along with less than a handful of his Copeland Council colleagues to take Cumbria once again into the frame as a “Partner” with the developer for the most dangerous experiment ever? He is now asking Government for “clarity” which is a bit rich given that the region of Cumbria has been excluded from ‘having a say’ and Cumberland Council has never ever discussed or voted on whether or not to be a “Partner” in the developer’s ie Nuclear Waste Services ie UK Government’s last ditch attempt to foist a nuclear dump on Cumbria. 

Here is our reply to the banner headlines quoting Cllr Moore as the “go to” voice regarding the nuclear dump plan in local press.

Whitehaven News letters May 20th 2026

“Dear Editor 

Councillor David Moore’s call for “clarity” on nuclear waste plans from the Secretary of State, is beyond ironic. He talks about Cumbria’s past involvement with failed nuclear dump plans, without referring to the sensible geological reasons why those plans failed. Additionally, thousands of people have signed a petition that urges Cumberland Council to hold a democratic debate and full vote on whether or not to continue with the UK’s biggest proposed infrastructure development ever. Yet Councillor Moore’s colleague, Mark Fryer, the Leader of Cumberland Council continues to refuse the democratic action of the council.

While David Moore refers obliquely to ‘some geology off the coast’ as being ‘quite a way off and … difficult to get to’, he doesn’t mention that the geology is well known to be complex, fractured, including coal seams and methane, and that the priceless West Cumbria fresh water aquifer interweaves through the coastal and offshore areas of the Lake District coast. This geology combined with proximity to Western Europe’s and possibly the world’s already most dangerous nuclear site creates practicalities and ethics around a Geological Disposal Facility in Cumbria that are rarely referred to.

We’ve seen from Sellafield  that nuclear leaks and mistakes are unavoidable and are not easily remedied in stores that are partially buried underground (e.g. Magnox Silos). The fresh water used by 275,000 people and many more animals, farmland and natural land must not risk poisoning by an expedient “solution.”

We understand that the Nuclear Waste Services report to the Secretary of State identifies “intolerable risks”. However, we assume it isn’t any of the above, but that it refers to the fiscal risks of drilling £billions-worth of deep, invasive and experimental boreholes, only to find that the geology is as unsuitable as we already know it to be.

We believe that intergenerational monitoring, coupled with an end to nuclear production, is the only way forward, but if the UK government are hell bent on a GDF then the waste must be emplaced in a geologically suitable and predictable area, free from historic nuclear blight, so that no veil can be thrown over likely future leaks and disaster.

In the meantime, Cumberland Council must take the reins on this, and provide clarity with a full debate informed by independent experts and non-NWS geologists, and carry out a full democratic vote now.

The petition urging Cumberland to hold a full debate and full vote can be found here : https://www.change.org/p/urgent-insist-cumberland-council-have-full-vote-on-nuclear-dump-plan

yours sincerely

Marianne Birkby

Lakes Against Nuclear Dump, a Radiation Free Lakeland campaign “