A PLANNED National College of Nuclear is 'critical' to the future of West Cumbria, the team behind it says. 

Proposals for the college, which would be built next to Lakes College at Lillyhall, have been lodged with Allerdale council. 

The project involves Lakes College, Sellafield Ltd and the University of Cumbria and the planning application said the college was "of critical importance' for the delivery of the UK energy strategy."

If the application is successful, funding requirements by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills would see the new building finished by spring 2017 and open in September the same year. 

With a declining skills base in the area, employers are saying it's essential new entrants to the nuclear industry are being trained up and existing workers given new or stronger skills. 

The skills gaps are most prevalent in skilled trades and among managers, directors and senior officials. 

With the decommissioning work being done at Sellafield and the three new reactors planned for Moorside, the anticipated demand for jobs in the county's nuclear sector will be over 7000 by 2024. 

Half of those posts will be in electrical or mechanical engineering. 

In addition, there will be 3,200 new civil engineering jobs and over 1,000 administration posts.

The new college will be able to accommodate up to 10 more staff and 340 students at any one time.