BOSSES in north Cumbria's nuclear industry are actively looking at ways of attracting suitable people to work in the sector.

A representative from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), as well as Cumberland Council's nuclear issues adviser, gave a presentation to councillors this week.

They were speaking on Wednesday (January 3) to members of the council's place overview and scrutiny committee at Cumbria House in Carlisle.

Iain Irving, the nuclear issues adviser, told members that decommissioning planning began around the turn of the century and, at the time, there were worries over employment with the prospect of the loss of thousands of jobs.

But he said that since then there had been a complete u-turn and they were employing more people than ever before. He added: "We've got some huge opportunities within the nuclear industry."

Mr Irving said the council was an important partner for organisations, such as Sellafield and the NDA, and they had recently held the first tier one meeting, with various partners and stakeholders, and the focus was on "inclusive recruitment".

He said: "We've got people in the area that wouldn't have considered working in the nuclear industry."

Mr Irving said that, while in the past the focus was on larger reactors such as the one proposed for Moorside which had not yet come to fruition, it had shifted to smaller modular reactors (SMRs) and the even smaller advanced modular reactors (AMRs).

Committee chairman councillor Tony Markley (Solway Coast, Conservative) said it was important to get the right people to work in the industry but getting the work force had always been an issue.

Councillor Andrew Semple (Cockermouth South, Labour) asked what was being done to forge links with local schools to ensure they had the right skillset?

Mr Irving said they were working with both schools and colleges, and they were at a very early stage of the process.

He said they needed to ask: "What are the type of people we need? What are the type of skills we need? How do we attract people?"

Gillian Elliott, the stakeholder relationship manager at the NDA, said they were looking further afield than West Cumbria Lakes College and they needed to show that the nuclear industry as "something with aspirations".

Mr Irving said that the new local authority set up, with the newly-formed Cumberland Council would also help, rather than the previous smaller areas of Carlisle, Allerdale and Copeland.

Cllr Markley said he felt reassured by the report and that the council needed to work with the region's biggest employers.