Sellafield's Olympic torch-bearer

Friday, 23 March 2012

Among the people chosen to carry the Olympic Flame across Britain to London 2012 is Mike Park, a land surveyor at Sellafield who has been recognised for 28 years of mountain rescue work.  

Mike Park will carry the flame through Cockermouth on 21 June

Park is leader of Cockermouth Mountain Rescue Team, a charitable and voluntary organisation based in Cumbria, the county in the north west of England where his workplace Sellafield is sited.

As a land surveyor, Park helps to make sure that the various operation, decommissioning, clean-up and storage programs at Sellafield have the proper space for their facilities. As a member of the rescue team, Park has the support of Sellafield managers to leave at a moment's notice to perform emergency duties on the potentially lethal terrain of the Lake District.

Nominating Park for the honour, fellow rescue volunteer Steve Brailey said, "Over the last few years Mike has led our 40 team members through some of our most challenging rescues including the Cockermouth floods in 2009, the West Cumbria shootings 2010, and the Keswick school coach crash in 2010."

The Cockermouth team includes ten Sellafield staff, Park told World Nuclear News, while a further 20 Sellafield employees volunteer for the region's 11 other rescue units. "It's really humbling to get the support we do from the local community and I'm honoured to represent the team and carry the torch through the town," said Park.

"Sellafield has been really supportive - this is the unseen part of what Sellafield is pushing back to the community."

Mike Park

In June 2011 Park was also awarded an MBE in Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's birthday honours list.

London 2012 begins on 27 July, and will be predominantly powered by nuclear thanks to EDF Energy's commitment to supply the Games entirely with low-carbon electricity.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News