§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what estimate she has made of the effect on the number of people employed at the thermal oxide reprocessing plant at Sellafield of the delayed start-up; and if she will make a statement.
§ Mr. EggarI have been asked to reply.
I am advised by British Nuclear Fuels plc that nearly 2,900 contracted and agency staff currently work at the thermal oxide reprocessing plant at Sellafield. Delays to the start-up of the plant will result in premature reductions in this number, the timing of which will depend on the extent of such delays. BNFL has already announced that 100 jobs will be lost at the beginning of January 1993 and has written to contractor companies to remind them of their terms of employment and advise that further redundancies may be necessary. BNFL has estimated that some 3,000 permanent jobs in the company and its suppliers will be sustained by THORP.