A new group targeted to overcome the 'roadblocks' obstructing the delivery of new nuclear in West Cumbria has held its first meeting.

The meeting, organised by Whitehaven and Workington MP Josh MacAlister, recently appointed as chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Nuclear Energy, brought together MPs, Cumberland Council, trade unions, and various business and nuclear sector organisations.

These organisations included Great British Nuclear (GBN), the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), Sellafield, Nuclear Waste Services, the Office of Nuclear Regulation, the Nuclear Industry Association and Britain’s Energy Coast Business Cluster.

The key issue debated was 'competing' use of the land at Moorside.

Designated for new nuclear installation by the previous Labour government in 2008, 'large swathes' of the location have since been earmarked for decommissioning activity by the NDA.

GBN is currently evaluating sites for the development of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs).

Decisions are expected in the coming weeks.

If Moorside does not have the required land, it will not be selected for the GBN process and West Cumbria could miss out on new nuclear opportunities 'for a generation'.

Mr MacAlister said: "This was the first time all key stakeholders were in the same room discussing this issue.

"It's something that should have been done a long time ago by Cumbria's former MPs, who instead left us sleepwalking towards losing out on new nuclear, while telling everyone to trust the process.

"Now we have new leadership and we've asked the difficult questions and discovered the extent of the roadblocks getting in the way of new nuclear in our area, Cumbria's new MPs and the council are working in lockstep and fighting tooth and nail to overcome these issues and secure Cumbria's nuclear future."