Wylfa in north Wales is the preferred location for a major new nuclear energy development, the government has announced.
Ministers are beginning talks with international energy companies to explore building the UK’s third mega nuclear power plant at the Anglesey site, according to the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).
The department said the gigawatt nuclear plant could provide enough clean energy for six million homes for 60 years.
Britain aims to generate a quarter of all electricity – around 24 GW – from local nuclear power by 2050.
The target is part of the government’s plan to improve energy security and achieve the net zero target.
Currently, the UK generates around 15% of its electricity needs from nuclear capacity.
The Wylfa project could be similar in scale to Hinkley in Somerset and Sizewell in Suffolk, with the hope of bringing thousands of jobs and investment to the area.
Labor has accused the government of “hesitation and delay” on new nuclear power at Wylfa, after Japanese giant Hitachi pulled out of a previous project there in 2019 due to rising costs.
Wylfa’s Magnox dual-reactor nuclear power plant, which came into operation in 1971, stopped generating power at the end of 2015 and was decommissioned.
Energy Security Secretary Claire Coutinho said: “Anglesey has a proud nuclear history and it is only right that it can once again play a central role in boosting the UK’s energy security.
“Wylfa would not only bring clean, reliable energy to millions of homes – it could create thousands of well-paid jobs and bring investment to the whole of North Wales.”
The UK is working to expand nuclear power through traditional large-scale plants as well as small modular reactors (SMR), which its supporters hope will be faster and cheaper to build.
Great British Nuclear intends to announce the winning bidders in the tender process to build SMRs by the end of this year.
But this is after the spring calendar that the government established last October to announce successful companies.
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Tom Greatrex, chief executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, said the government is “absolutely right” to pursue more large-scale nuclear power alongside the SMR programme.
He said: “Wylfa is the best site in Europe for a large nuclear project: it has an existing grid connection, the ideal solid foundation for a nuclear power plant, superior access to cooling water and some work to clear the site for large installations. scale. construction has already been done by the previous developer.”
Shadow Labor Minister Alan Whitehead said: “We welcome the fact that the government is finally moving forward with a nuclear project identified by the last Labor government.
“But that should be the minimum – and celebrating an interim step in 2024 on a project that should have been underway in 2010 says everything about this tired, slow-moving government.”
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