A MAJOR player in plans for a clean energy hub in Copeland has taken a ‘severe’ hit due to pandemic pressures but is “still committed” to the Moorside project.

Jet engine giant Rolls Royce has recorded a £4 billion loss during the Covid-19 pandemic, it has been chalked up to a drop in air travel.

Rolls Royce is one of the business heavyweights interested in placing Small Modular Reactors at the proposed Moorside Clean Energy Hub neighbouring Sellafield.

They are leading UKSMR, a consortium of companies which includes EDF Energy in plans to place the reactors at Moorside, and now, potentially Fellside.

Deputy chairman of Copeland Borough Council David Moore said that he is not concerned about the new development following talks with the company: “They’re still committed to this.

“I was in conversation with Rolls Royce yesterday and they are still interested in the Moorside site, and possibly the Fellside site.”

Fellside Heat and Power is another location adjacent to Sellafield site that could play a key role in the future of energy generation.

It currently houses four turbines and is in the process of building a purpose built boiler park. Councillor Moore said that this site could factor in the plans for clean energy in Copeland as the UKSMR consortium has an interest in placing reactors there.

The new plant, which will begin producing energy in 2023 could be a prime location for SMRs as the infrastructure would be already in place.

“I think the two complement each other. The Moorside site is seen as one that could be fetched forward really quickly.”

Regardless of how plans materialise in the future, Copeland is likely to be a destination for clean energy production in the future.

Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership and the borough council are working on plans to propose Moorside as the site of a world’s first prototype nuclear fusion reactor.

Mr Moore said: “I do believe we will see SMRs somewhere adjacent to Sellafield.”