CONCERNS have once again been raised over staffing levels at Sellafield nuclear power plant in the west of Cumbria.

The claim was made by councillor Sam Pollen (Egremont, Labour) during this week's meeting (Monday, January 8) of Cumberland Council's Nuclear Issues Committee in Allerdale House in Workington.

Members were discussing the Sellafield Showcase Report which outlined a number of major projects at the site.

Cllr Pollen said there were challenges which Sellafield was facing and added: "They've not got enough people on site to do what they need to do."

He said previously local people had been denied job opportunities at Sellafield and people were often put off from applying to Sellafield because it had a much longer vetting process when compared with BAE Systems in Barrow-in-Furness.

Cllr Pollen suggested there should be a "nuclear passport", which had previously been discussed for "far too long", and asked: "Why don't you work together?"

A representative on behalf of Sellafield said the main question to ask was "where are we going to get these people?"

He said that the big driver in recruitment was how to attract people to the area and added: "That is the main issue."

Cllr Pollen said that work should be done to remove recruitment barriers and added: "Let's give the people in our communities the opportunity."

Councillor David Moore (Gosforth, Conservative) agreed that the difference in vetting process time periods between Sellafield and BAE Systems had a direct impact on the west Cumbria site. He said: "They will go to Barrow because they will go through quicker."

According to the report bosses at Sellafield recognise the challenges include skill shortages, in similar skill sets to the rest of the sector and beyond, including: IT, cyber, project management and controls.

READ MORE: Sellafield hits back at cyber attack reports

Reasons for this include:

Being geographically remote, and Cumbria has a declining working age population;

Competition with other organisations for similar talent;

An ageing demographic which means retaining corporate knowledge is essential.

The report states: "There is more work in the UK than there are people to do it, and unless we forecast this and invest in growing more talent, then we are just moving the problem around.

"It’s imperative that we work with all our partners, to retain our current capabilities and attract the workforce of the future. Not just for our mission but also to ensure a successful and sustainable local economy.

"The next generation has a very different cultural outlook – both in terms of agile working and in terms of contributing to a meaningful purpose and outcome.

"We can make the industry and region a more attractive place to work if we look beyond two or three years ahead and offer a longer pipeline so we can invest in people’s careers.

"We are also committed to a more inclusive approach to our recruitment processes, by proactively looking to hire from those disadvantaged and hard to reach communities.

"Working together on potential collaboration projects and developing strategic workforce planning, taking community requirements into account, with targeted training and development, will be key to meeting all our plans and aspirations."

Members of the committee noted the contents of the report.