Saturday, October 28, 2006
Scot Exec Commitment to Dounreay
I have been following the debates in Parliament about the economic and social impact of decommissioning at Dounreay with great interest.
It has been great to see so much focus brought to the issue after considerable delay and the debates have helped focus minds on this tremendous threat.
I am particularly pleased Alan Wilson has committed the Executive to supporting the initiatives currently underway and has very sensibly not ruled out further serious involvement in the local community by the nuclear industry.
Both Maureen Macmillan and myself raised these issues with him recently.
Whilst the focus is on Dounreay I think it important to remember Caithness and Northern Sutherland have a huge amount to offer; this is not a case of a region on its knees. The area has one of the most impressively educated and trained work forces, tremendous geographical advantages and a serious local commitment to action. There is a lot on offer and greater efforts need to be made to make this fact better known and quickly.
I shall be speaking to Peter Peacock soon to raise with him the issue of training and skills for young people who will be harder hit by decommissioning than other age groups.
We must work now to protect their futures.
It has been great to see so much focus brought to the issue after considerable delay and the debates have helped focus minds on this tremendous threat.
I am particularly pleased Alan Wilson has committed the Executive to supporting the initiatives currently underway and has very sensibly not ruled out further serious involvement in the local community by the nuclear industry.
Both Maureen Macmillan and myself raised these issues with him recently.
Whilst the focus is on Dounreay I think it important to remember Caithness and Northern Sutherland have a huge amount to offer; this is not a case of a region on its knees. The area has one of the most impressively educated and trained work forces, tremendous geographical advantages and a serious local commitment to action. There is a lot on offer and greater efforts need to be made to make this fact better known and quickly.
I shall be speaking to Peter Peacock soon to raise with him the issue of training and skills for young people who will be harder hit by decommissioning than other age groups.
We must work now to protect their futures.
# posted by John McKendrick @ 4:50 AM 
