Funding secured for NDA backed project set to transform Cumbria’s economy

The Industrial Solutions Hub (iSH) at Cleator Moor is one of 4 projects to receive support from the £40.9 million Cleator Moor Town Deal.

It means the industrial campus can now go ahead, delivering benefits for local businesses and communities.

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and Sellafield Ltd have pledged a combined £11.2 million of match funding to the project plus a potential further £11 million, subject to achievement of future milestones.

That was key to unlocking government support via the Department for Levelling Up, Communities and Housing’s Town Deals initiative.

Separately, Sellafield Ltd has contributed £3.1 million to projects under the Millom Town Deal, which has also received government backing.

NDA Chief Executive, David Peattie, said:

This is tremendous news for our community in Cumbria.

We invest almost £15 million each year to assist our site communities in delivering significant social and economic change.

The iSH will create jobs and opportunities for generations to come and provide a space for organisations to collaborate and deliver innovative solutions to global industry challenges.

We’re looking forward to working with our partners to bring this potentially transformative project to fruition.

Martin Chown, Sellafield Ltd chief executive said:

The iSH will play a crucial role in helping us deliver our purpose of creating a clean, safe environment for future generations.

It will allow us to take complex engineering challenges off the Sellafield site and into the community where we can collaborate, innovate, and make progress on our highest priority projects.

We’re already seeing the benefits of this approach at our Engineering Centre of Excellence at Cleator Moor. The iSH will allow us to build on this and create even greater value for Sellafield Ltd, our community, and the UK.

Our funding also played a key role in the securing of government backing for the Millom Town Deal which is fantastic news for another part of our community.