Westmorland and Furness Council tasked with writing Sellafield’s Emergency Plans for Cumbria – but – Excluded from having ANY say on Earthquake inducing Mine for Nuclear Dump.

Letter in Westmorland Gazette 27th May 2026

Dear Editor

Westmorland and Furness Council have been tasked with writing Sellafield’s “Off-site Emergency planning services” in the event of a major nuclear accidentbut have been excluded along with all but four Cumberland Councillors from having any say on the region being in the spotlight for the biggest ever, most dangerous, earthquake inducing deep mine near Sellafield. One councillor who took us once again into the frame, Cumberland Councillor David Moore is calling for “clarity” and “action” on nuclear waste plans from the Secretary of State. This is beyond ironic. Moore talks about Cumbria’s past involvement with “failed” nuclear dump plans, without mentioning the geological reasons why those plans failed. Thousands of people have signed a petition urging Cumberland Council to hold a democratic debate and full vote on whether or not to continue, instead of relying on the vote of just four Copeland councillors.

While Cllr 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 deep mining and abandonment of high level wastes in proximity to Western Europe’s and possibly the world’s already most dangerous, expanding, nuclear site creates practicalities and ethics around a Geological Disposal Facility on the Lake District coast that are treated as taboo.

Sellafield shows that leaks and mistakes are unavoidable and not easily remedied, especially in stores partially buried underground (e.g. Magnox Silos). The fresh water used by 275,000 people must not risk poisoning by an “solution” which has more to do with justifying new nuclear wastes than with safety.

We understand that the Nuclear Waste Services report to the Secretary of State identifies “intolerable risks”. 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 confirm that the geology is unsuitable.

We believe that intergenerational monitoring, coupled with an end to nuclear waste 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 of convenience (”it’s existing Sellafield pollution”) can be thrown over likely GDF future leaks and disaster.

The whole region including Westmorland and Furness Council must have a say on whether the Lake District coast should be in the nuclear dump spotlight but in the meantime, Cumberland Council should take the reins, 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

Off-site Emergency planning services

A Contract Award Notice

by SELLAFIELD LIMITED

Source

Find a Tender

Type

Contract ()

Duration

not specified

Value

£261K

Sector

MISCELLANEOUS

Published

01 Oct 2025

Delivery

not specified

Deadline

n/a

Related Terms

Location

Geochart for 1 buyers and 1 suppliers

+−

Leaflet | © OpenStreetMap contributors

1 buyer

Sellafield Warrington

1 supplier

Westmorland & Furness Council Kendal

Description

As a result of Local Government Reorganisation (LGR), Cumberland Council is duty holder under REPPIR 2019 & COMAH 2015 for the Sellafield site. However via an Inter-Authority Agreement (IAA) for administrative purposes tasks associated with the delivery of the Off Site Emergency Plan (OSEP) including the SLA are now carried out by the Joint Emergency Management & Resilience (JEMR) Team [nee Cumbria County Council Resilience Unit] which is hosted by Westmorland and Furness Council. Therefore for reporting/invoicing and other fiduciary purposes, the delivery of provisions listed in the Service Level Agreement (SLA) will be under Westmorland and Furness Council (W&F). i.e. this will be reflected in any financial paperwork. Also as a result of Local Government Reorganisation (LGR), there is an aspiration to standardise the SLA process from a local authority perspective across all REPPIR & COMAH sites in the County. Thus there is the potential that a new SLA process may need to be adopted before the end of the current financial year, naturally this may impact on our current work packages and recharge forecasts.

Award Detail

1 Westmorland & Furness Council (Kendal)

Reference: 1
Value: £261,035

CPV Codes

None found

Legal Justification

No risk as no other competition – REPPIR 2019 Regulation 16 and COMAH 2015 Regulation 29 enables the Local Authority to charge the operator a fee for preparation, review and testing of the Off-Site Emergency Plan.

Other Information

** PREVIEW NOTICE, please check Find a Tender for full details. **

Reference

ocds-h6vhtk-05a62d
FTS 061467-2025

Domains

Status

This tender has been awarded.

The contract end date is not specified.

History

01 Oct 2025 – Contract Award Notice

Categories

None found