A government minister has said that Cumbria is set to be at the ‘beating heart’ of the UK’s nuclear future.

The minister for nuclear, Andrew Bowie, was speaking at the Northern Nuclear Conference at Carlisle Racecourse on Friday morning as politicians and leading figures from the nuclear industry gathered to discuss the future of nuclear power in Cumbria and across the country.

Cumbria already plays a key role in the UK’s nuclear power capabilities with 27,000 people employed in the sector across the county which makes up more than 30 per cent of the UK’s entire nuclear workforce.

Speaking to the News and Star, the minister said that small modular reactors (SMRs) would be coming to Cumbria in what he described as a ‘bright future’ for the county.

“Cumbria is going to be at the beating heart of our nuclear future,” said Mr Bowie.

“They've got the history here in Cumbria with Calder Hall just down the road and it’s why I’m here today.

“I've taken such an interest in what is going on, what's being discussed and what more the British government can do to attract new nuclear investment into this area.

“We want to see Cumbria attract the biggest and the best of the exciting new developments that are happening in the world of nuclear and I'm going to be working with Great British Nuclear (GBN) to ensure when they do the site down selection process that Cumbria has a role to play.”

Mr Bowie’s role as the nuclear minister is newly created and is part of the government’s push towards creating more nuclear power sites in the UK as part of their energy security and net zero emissions campaign.

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The government is launching ‘Great British Nuclear’ (GBN) next month and its first job is first job to launch a new competition for the best SMR technologies to be developed in the Autumn with the minister confirming that Cumbria is being considered as part of those plans.

“Cumbria will play a part of that,” said Mr Bowie.

“There will be SMRs in Cumbria. There will undoubtedly be AMRs in Cumbria and let's work together to ensure that we have a bright nuclear future for this area.”