A DECISION on whether a controversial nuclear decontamination centre can open at Lillyhall, Workington, is due next month.
Swedish firm Studsvik UK already has planning permission for the £6 million facility in Joseph Noble Road but still needs a nuclear site licence from the government’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
HSE officers are now studying Studsvik’s application and objections to it.
A spokeswoman said: “It is anticipated that a decision on licensing will be made in January.”
Studsvik says the plant will clean metals with low-level radioactive contamination to recycle rather than bury them at Drigg.
It will employ 30 staff and is due to open next summer.
The plant is opposed by many businesses at Lillyhall.
It was cited as the main reason why a cheese factory opted to go to Carlisle instead.
Dean Parish Council organised a campaign against the plant and at least two parish councillors have written to the HSE outlining their concerns.
Studsvik must satisfy the HSE that safety procedures are adequate.
It also has to explain how the plant will be decommissioned.
n Meanwhile, it was announced this week that plans for the cheese factory have been scrapped.
Dutchman Ronald Akkerman has pulled out of the venture at Carlisle’s Kingmoor Park after four years building up the idea and three weeks after its official launch.
His holding company has sold the entire share capital of West Lakes Dairy Park (WLDP) as a going concern to Cheshire’s Meadow Foods, after deciding the factory idea was no longer viable.
Farmers eager to build and secure the future of Cumbria’s dairy industry say they are angry and shocked and now face uncertainty about the future when their current milk supply contracts expire in March.
But it is understood Meadow Foods is keen to grow and take the business forward and that West Lakes Dairy Park will continue to operate as an independent entity, although it is not clear what will happen to locally-employed staff.
WLDP has an office at the Lillyhall business centre near Workington.
The tightening of the debt markets is cited as the reason for the sale, a matter aggravated by concerns from financial backers and lenders, according to a statement.
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