A BRAND new nuclear power station could be built in Cumbria creating an estimated 21,000 jobs.

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has reached an agreement today with Toshiba and its partner, GDF Suez, over land owned by the NDS at Moorside, near Sellafield.

This, said a spokesman for the NDA, is a ‘key step forward’ in enabling the development of a new nuclear power station on the site.

"This is a significant step forward for the plan to establish new nuclear in West Cumbria,” said NDA chief executive officer, John Clarke.

“Together with our nuclear partners we are seeing the emergence of West Cumbria as a centre of nuclear excellence across the whole span of the industry from new build to decommissioning and waste management."

Toshiba and GDF Suez intend to build three reactors at Moorside, to come online from 2024.

They will deliver around 3.4GW of new nuclear capacity - which is enough to power up to six million homes.

It is estimated that the project will result in 21,000 jobs over the construction period, including peak on-site employment of more than 6,000 people.

In the operational phase the three reactors will sustain around 1,000 permanent jobs over the course of the reactors' lifetimes.

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