By Julian Whittle

Last updated at 13:00, Thursday, 08 November 2012

Residents living in the shadow of Sellafield have dismissed a report claiming that storage facilities are unsafe as “scaremongering”.

David Moore

Related: Warning over Sellafield hazardous waste plans

The National Audit Office says ageing nuclear-waste facilities pose“significant risks” to the local population and that uncertainty surrounds plans to replace them.

Seascale resident David Moore, a parish and Copeland councillor, said: “I don’t want to go down the scaremongering route and I don’t believe there is any danger to the community. I’m about three or four fields from the site and my family have been here for generations.

“I have got children and grandchildren living next door to me.

“I wouldn’t have them living here if I didn’t consider them to be safe.”

Mr Moore’s views were echoed by others the News & Star spoke to following the publication of the National Audit Office’s findings. Copeland MP Jamie Reed has also responded.

He said: “There is nothing new in this report that observers of UK nuclear policy will not be aware of.

“Where criticisms regarding the speed of progress is made they are largely deserved and for the most part fair.

“But they are not new and nobody understands them better than the Sellafield workforce and the NDA.”

First published at 12:56, Thursday, 08 November 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk