nuclear-news

UK government keen to take control of Anglesey site for Westinghouse to build Wylfa nuclear power station

The British government is seeking to take control of a key site in Wales
earmarked for a nuclear power plant as part of wider plans to revamp
nuclear technology for the UK.

State-owned Great British Nuclear is in
early-stage discussions with Hitachi, owner of the land in Wylfa in
Anglesey, an island off north Wales, to buy the site with a view to finding
a new private sector partner to develop a station there.

The site has been
in limbo since Hitachi abandoned plans to build a new reactor there in
January 2019 after failing to strike a financial agreement with the British
government. The Japanese industrial group eventually wrote off £2.1bn on
the project. It also stopped work at a second site in Oldbury, South
Gloucestershire.

Ministers are now determined to revive plans to use the
Wylfa site for new nuclear power to help replace Britain’s current ageing
fleet of nuclear reactors. One minister confirmed that tentative
negotiations with Hitachi had already begun although they acknowledged the
deal might not be finalised until after the election later this year.

The land is thought to be worth about £200mn, but there are expectations that
Hitachi could settle for a lower price given the site is fallow. A
consortium led by the US nuclear company Westinghouse and construction
group Bechtel has proposed building a new plant there using
Westinghouse’s AP1000 reactor technology. It is thought the site could
also host small modular reactors.

 FT 11th Feb 2024

https://www.ft.com/content/2e7928c7-ad7f-4ac4-88d8-8cde95ee1a00

 Telegraph 11th Feb 2024

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/02/11/britain-aims-to-revive-plans-nuclear-power-station-wales

 Bloomberg 11th Feb 2024

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/uk-in-talks-with-hitachi-over-welsh-nuclear-plant-site-ft-says-1.2033580

 Energy Voice 12th Feb 2024

UK in talks with Hitachi over Welsh nuclear plant site

 City AM 12th Feb 2024

February 14, 2024 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, UK