Vast worker 'villages', a visitor centre and new stretches of railway have been outlined in plans for a new nuclear power station.

NuGen has detailed what will be involved in its £10bn Moorside project as it gets set to apply to the Government for a development consent order that will licence and authorise construction near Sellafield.

As part of the application to the Secretary of State, NuGen - a joint venture between Toshiba and ENGIE - has released more information about the huge project.

The public get their chance to have their say when a major 11-week consultation begins on Saturday.

Fergus McMorrow, NuGen's planning lead in Cumbria, said: "It is extremely important that everyone gets an opportunity to come and have their say.


Fergus McMorrow "This consultation is the second of two public consultations. The first took place over 10 weeks from May 2015 and we welcomed over 1,800 people through the doors of our events.

"The second stage is an opportunity for the public to see how the project has developed, taking into account the feedback that we received last year.”

NuGen breaks down the scheme into various parts - the three reactor Moorside power station itself, the Moorside project railway, accommodation sites, highways improvements and developments at the Port of Workington.

The power station would be capable of producing up to 3.8 Gigawatts of electricity, enough to power 6m homes and supply 7.5 per cent of the UK’s electricity needs. NuGen has signed a deal to export most of that to the National Grid.

The power station would include three nuclear 'islands' each having concrete shield and auxiliary buildings and a free-standing steel containment vessel; three turbine, three diesel generator, three radiological waste and three annexe buildings as well as personnel facilities would be constructed.

A visitor centre, which may include conferencing facilities and a viewing platform/elevated walkway, are also indicated.

New access roads for Sellafield and Moorside, a River Ehen floodplain bridge and a marine off-loading facility and beach landing facility are mentioned.

Railway improvements include an on-site railway and stretches at St Bees and Corkickle to Mirehouse.

The on-site project would involve laying up to 9km of new track alongside the re-use of a disused branch line and one or more spurs and sidings.

It is also proposed to build a worker rail platform complete with canopy and buildings.

Moorside rail station graphic

The St Bees work would comprise a new 30m stretch of track alongside and connected to the existing Cumbria Coast railway. This would provide more capacity for the line and enable NuGen charter and freight trains to operate alongside scheduled services.

A new 3.2km stretch of track is proposed for Mirehouse to Corkickle alongside and connecting to the Cumbria Coast line. New platforms would be created at Corkickle and Mirehouse.

Sprawling accommodation sites are outlined for Mirehouse, Corkickle and Egremont to "provide infrastructure and facilities needed to support construction of the Moorside Project".


Project documents can be viewed from May 14 to July 30 at the Moorside Information Centre, Civic Hall, Whitehaven; The Copeland Centre, Lowther Street, Whitehaven; Allerdale House, Workington; The Courts, Carlisle; County Hall, Kendal and libraries including Carlisle, Workington and Whitehaven


The Mirehouse site would cover about 166 acres and have accommodation and facilities for an estimated 2,500 people, with reserve space for a further 1,000.

It would have 809 car parking spaces, a shuttle coach interchange and various facilities buildings, one of which could provide evening entertainment. There would also be sports pitches and amenity spaces.

The Corkickle accommodation would be over two parcels of land, totalling about 49 acres. It would house 1,000 workers and have space for 500 more. It would have 295 car parking spaces as well as a coach interchange and facilities buildings.

The 40-acre Egremont accommodation site would house an estimated 500 people, with reserve space for 500 more. It would have two facilities buildings, up to 218 car parking spaces, a coach interchange and a potential link into the Sustrans cycleway network.

Road alterations are scheduled for the A66/A595 roundabout and on Ramsey Brow and Hall Brow in Workington.


Have Your Say


Work would also take place on the A595 at Parton and in Whitehaven at Coach Road/Station Road, Inkerman Terrace and Homewood Road roundabout. Changes would also be made to the A595 at Moor Row and The Crescent, Thornhill.

The Port of Workington would also see some changes, where rail lines would be added and enhancements made to existing sidings. It is also proposed to replace the road bridge providing access into the port with a strengthened structure to allow better rail freight access.

Nugen - which is due to make a final decision on whether to proceed with the project in 2018 with a view to starting construction two years later - says it is also looking at the feasibility of sinking its own water supply boreholes to supplement supplies.

Moorside graphic

The application for the Moorside project is expected to be submitted by the middle of next year.

The consultation period on the scheme starts on Saturday and runs until July 30. More details at: https://nugenconsultation.com/


After the launch at the Moorside Information Centre, the following drop-in sessions will be held (11am to 7.30pm):

  • May 14, Whitehaven Moorside Information Centre, Civic Hall, Whitehaven (10am-12noon; 10am-4pm Monday-Friday)
  • May 17, Egremont Market Hall
  • May 18, The Whitelaw Building, St Bees
  • May 19, Beckermet Reading Rooms
  • May 23, Methodist Church Hall, Seascale
  • May 24, Gosforth Village Hall
  • May 25, Cleator Moor Civic Hall
  • May 31, Skiddaw Hotel, Main Street, Keswick
  • June 1, Muncaster Parish Hall, Ravenglass
  • June 2, Tarnside Caravan Park, Braystones
  • June 7, Mirehouse Community Centre, Whitehaven
  • June 8, Westlakes Science Park
  • June 9, Distington Community Centre
  • June 14, Askam-in-Furness Community Centre
  • June 15, The Forum, Barrow-in-Furness
  • June 16, Victory Hall, Broughton-in-Furness
  • June 21, Cockermouth Town Hall
  • June 22, St Mark's Methodist Church, Maryport
  • June 23, Mirehouse Labour Club, Whitehaven
  • July 5, Bridge Centre, Workington
  • July 6, Energus, Lillyhall
  • July 12, Town Hall, Kendal
  • July 13, Millom Pensioner's Hall
  • July 14, Millstones Centre, Bootle
  • July 20, Hallmark Hotel, Carlisle
  • July 21, Masonic Hall, Penrith
  • July 27, Moorside Information Centre, Whitehaven