Jobs to go as Sellafield Mixed Oxide Plant closes

Based in Cumbria, SMP recycles plutonium into mixed oxide fuel for Japanese customers.

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), a non-departmental public body which operates the plant, said the decision was based on a review of the future of SMP in the light of the impact on the Japanese nuclear industry of the earthquake that struck the country in March.

In a statement, NDA said the plant would close ‘at the earliest practical opportunity’ in order to reduce the burden on the tax payer

Mike Graham, national secretary of nuclear union Prospect said: ‘We are dismayed at the way this announcement has been made, without consultation with the unions, and without properly considering the way forward after its closure.’