This weekend marks 70 years since Calder Hall put West Cumbria on the global stage and helped usher Britain into the nuclear age.
Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the Sellafield station on October 17th 1956, beginning a nuclear legacy that has shaped the county’s economy, workforce and identity for generations.
The station stopped generating electricity in 2003 and has since been defuelled and decommissioned. Demolition is now underway, releasing land to support Sellafield’s nationally important mission.
Seven decades later, Pioneer Park is building on those foundations to ensure West Cumbria remains at the forefront of the UK’s energy and technology future.
Pioneer Park is a nationally significant new nuclear, clean energy and technology opportunity being developed on 200 acres of land adjacent to Sellafield, brought forward through a partnership led by BEC alongside the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, Cumberland Council, Sellafield Ltd, Josh MacAlister MP and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
Michael Pemberton, Chief Executive of BEC, said: “The 70th anniversary of Calder Hall gives us an opportunity to recognise the generations of people who established West Cumbria as a centre of nuclear expertise, but it should also make us look ahead and ask what the decades ahead could bring.
“Pioneer Park presents an incredible opportunity to harness the skills, infrastructure and supply chain that already exist here and use those strengths to attract new investment, new industries and new opportunities for our communities. The scale of opportunity we are presenting is seismic, with an ambition to unlock up to £12 billion of private investment into West Cumbria.”
The development’s vision is to create a hub for advanced nuclear technologies, clean energy generation, AI capability, high-performance computing and associated industries, attracting major private investment and creating long-term opportunities for local people and businesses.
“We’ve spent the last six months undertaking a rigorous masterplanning programme alongside extensive community, stakeholder, government and industry engagement. Within the next two months, that work will set out a clear framework for how Pioneer Park can move towards delivery, including how the development could be publicly enabled and attract significant private sector investment,” added Michael.
The plans for Pioneer Park align with the Advanced Nuclear Framework that the UK Government is currently progressing. Josh MacAlister, MP for Whitehaven and Workington, said: “Seventy years ago, Calder Hall put West Cumbria at the centre of the world's nuclear future. Generations of local people went on to help power the nation, building an extraordinary concentration of nuclear skills, expertise, and industrial capability on our doorstep.
“For the last two decades, Sellafield has led the way in the hugely important work of decommissioning Britain's earliest nuclear facilities. But decommissioning cannot be our only future. We need to build on that proud legacy and ensure the next generation has the same opportunities the nuclear industry created for generations before them.
“That's what Pioneer Park is about. We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to bring new nuclear power, advanced manufacturing and new industries to West Cumbria, attracting billions of pounds of investment and creating thousands of skilled, well-paid jobs.
“I'm working closely with government and our local partners to turn that ambition into reality. Seventy years after Calder Hall made history, I want West Cumbria to be at the forefront of Britain's nuclear future once again.”
The project also supports Cumberland Council’s Economic and Inclusive Growth Strategy. Leader of Cumberland Council, Cllr Mark Fryer, said: “Our Economic and Inclusive Growth Strategy identifies Pioneer Park as a key strategic investment. This will build on our strengths as an area whilst supporting the diversification of the local economy with the aim of providing greater opportunities for people and places to fulfill their potential.”
Calder Hall’s anniversary comes as Pioneer Park’s masterplanning program, delivered by BEC and Mott MacDonald, enters its final stages, with completion expected within the next two months, providing the foundation for the next stage of the project, including further work on investment, infrastructure, potential developers, and delivery.
