Powering ahead: An artist’s impression of the proposed nuclear power station on the Wylfa site on Anglesey in North Wales
Plans for a nuclear power plant in North Wales look set to be revived almost four years after the project was shelved.
Jeremy Hunt said the Government has bought the Wylfa site on Anglesey and a second at Oldbury-on-Severn in south Gloucestershire from Hitachi for £160million.
The Japanese firm walked away from building the plant at Wylfa in September 2020 having suspended the project the year before due to rising costs.
But yesterday the Chancellor, who referred to the island by its Welsh-language and constituency name, said: ‘Ynys Mon has a vital role in developing our nuclear ambitions.’
Ministers are also pressing ahead with plans for small modular reactors (SMRs) with six companies including Rolls-Royce bidding to win the contract.
These will complement Somerset’s Hinkley Point C and Suffolk’s Sizewell C nuclear power stations.
Virginia Crosbie, MP for Ynys Mon, said: ‘I could not be more thrilled to hear those words come from the Chancellor today.
‘What it means is that we will have a new nuclear plant at Wylfa. Ownership of the land is the key to unlock it and it has happened.
‘What a victory for Ynys Mon. Bright days lie ahead with huge investment and high-quality and high-paid jobs coming.’
Tom Greatrex, chief executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, said: ‘This is a pivotal moment for the future of nuclear in the UK and should mark the beginning of new projects at these sites.’
The all-Party parliamentary group on nuclear energy last year described Wylfa as ‘the best site in Europe for large-scale nuclear’.
