British nuclear plant decommissioning company Magnox said Thursday that it would cut 1,600 jobs at 12 different nuclear power stations, none of which, with the exception of Wylfa on Anglesey in North Wales, is still in production.
The Wylfa plant is scheduled for shut down in 2016.
Magnox said the job layoffs were long expected. “The mission to safely decommission the Magnox sites has always predicted reducing staff numbers over the coming years,” the company said in a statement.
The company said it would attempt to find as many workers as possible who would opt to retire or leave on their own. Magnox also said it would attempt to retrain workers for new positions.
“We are now going through a period of formal collective consultation with our recognized trade unions and individual consultation and counseling staff before an appropriate best fit exercise begins,” the company said.
The staff reductions involve workers at 12 facilities, including Berkeley, Gloucestershire; Bradwell, Essex; Chapelcross, Dumfriesshire; Dungeness A, Kent; Harwell, Oxfordshire; Hinkley Point A, Somerset; Hunterston A, Ayrshire; Oldbury, Gloucestershire; Sizewell A, Suffolk; Trawsfynydd, North Wales; Winfrith, Dorset; and Wylfa, Anglesey, North Wales.
The layoffs are expected to go into effect through September 2016.
The company operates under the parent company Cavendish Fluor Partnership, which took over a 14-year Nuclear Decommissioning Authority contract in September 2014.
Cavendish Fluor is a partnership between Babcock International’s British division Cavendish Nuclear and U.S. company Fluor Corporation.