Island has power to prosper and retain our young people
MTAE hi’n Wythnos Niwclear yn y Senedd felly dwi wedi manteisio ar y cyfle i dynnu sylw at Ynys Môn fel un o’r safleoedd gorau nid yn unig ar gyfer arwain datblygiadau pŵer niwclear newydd y DU ond hefyd fel ceffyl blaen yn ein chwyldro diwydiannol gwyrdd. HIS week is Nuclear Week in Parliament and I have used it as an opportunity to continue to raise Ynys Môn as a prime location not just to lead the UK’s new nuclear power generation but our green industrial revolution.
As a constituency with a nuclear facility in it, Anglesey has benefitted from the prosperity and prestige that a nuclear plant can bring.
In 1963, the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) selected Wylfa as the site of the last Magnox power station.
In 1971 Anglesey Aluminium started operating with dedicated transmission lines from Wylfa which provided over 250 MW of cheap, clean and reliable power to the facility.
Between them, the smelter and the power station employed over 1,000 people directly in high quality, well-paid, longterm careers.
Many thousands more were indirectly employed in hospitality, services, maintenance and support roles which helped to sustain the island’s services and hospitality sectors outside of the tourist season.
Anglesey Aluminium closed in 2009, unable to secure a future supply of cheap energy, and the plant at Wylfa finally shut down for good in 2015.
The loss of both has hit Anglesey hard; in the past few years we have witnessed great decline in the region, exacerbated further as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating effect on our tourism industry.
Since becoming your MP I have been vigorously campaigning for a new nuclear plant at Wylfa – the ‘best site’ in the UK for new nuclear build.
Our land, grid connection, proximity to the coast, but above all our people make this a great site for a new nuclear facility.
I work very closely with Magnox and Horizon Nuclear Power and recently welcomed a number of companies to the island to explore the possibilities Wylfa may bring for both small and large scale reactors, including Rolls-Royce, Bechtel and Westinghouse.
In addition to Wylfa, we have: industrial sites such as Orthios Eco Park (on the former
Anglesey Aluminium site) and the former bromine plant at Octel which can develop sustainable manufacturing and industrial processes using the clean, cheap and abundant energy produced,
the Chancellor announced £4.8m in the March budget for the Holyhead Hydrogen Hub to investigate the production of hydrogen clean energy,
the National Nuclear Laboratory’s new Welsh office at M-SParc,
Bangor University’ s commitment to Anglesey through M-SParc and its twinning with the Nuclear Futures Institute,
the potential for a National Thermal Hydraulics Test Facility to be sited on the island, creating a global centre of excellence,
Grŵp Landrillo-Menai’s engineering and energy campus in Llangefni which has unique facilities for training construction and operational teams for new energy build,
the opportunity to create innovative hubs which will boost global trade, attract inward investment and increase prosperity generated through freeport status,
groundbreaking renewable energy projects such as Morlais, Minesto and Orthios.
A new large-scale nuclear plant would support around 10,000 jobs at the peak of construction and hundreds during operation, in addition to thousands
of indirect opportunities. With an operational life of 80 years, such a plant would bring with it well-paid and secure jobs for many generations of families.
The addition of small and advanced modular reactors would increase this still further. Anglesey would be well placed as a base for businesses exploring the potential of nuclear technology for space, medicine and energy applications, alongside the opportunities offered by other renewable energy production.
The abundance of cheap, affordable energy would encourage our local manufacturing industry to grow and prosper once more.
By creating new employment, we create new opportunities for our young people on Anglesey. I sometimes hear that these jobs will be taken by people not local to the area.
This is a slight to the fabulous facilities and people we have in our schools, local Colleges and Universities who attract funding and world leading researchers to our shores.
The sad fact is that today, with little prospect of local employment, our young people leave the island to seek work and rarely return, and with them they take our Welsh language.
We need to provide good local employment prospects for our young people to stop this
from happening and protect the islands native tongue and culture.
The companies I am speaking with do not want to only bring work here - they also want to bring training academies, schools programmes and apprenticeships which will give our young people the skills they need to step into jobs in these industries.
We need a strong and green recovery to restore Ynys Môn to its rightful place as Môn, Mam Cymru.
Combining renewable technologies with nuclear capability to produce electricity, heat, hydrogen and synthetic fuels would make the island a leader in the green industrial revolution… but this time we will be powering not only Wales but the UK.
My final thought is for our young people who have had to leave home to find experience and employment elsewhere – keep in touch – Môn Mam Cymru will soon be calling you home…
This Saturday I will be holding my next physical surgery in Canolfan Thomas Telford, Menai Bridge.
If you live locally and have a concern you need help with, want to let me know about local success stories, heroes, events or businesses, or want to say hello and introduce yourself, do please call 01407 644 645 or email virginia.crosbie.mp@parliament.uk to book a slot.
I want to be the best MP I can for Anglesey and that means being accountable to you, so this month I will be sending my Annual Report out to every resident household on Anglesey detailing some of the significant work I have done thus far.
The report and its distribution has not been funded by the tax payer.
Each month I also send out a free monthly e-newsletter which thousands across Anglesey read.
Register to receive your copy at www.virginiacrosbie.co.uk/ newsletter.
If you need my help you can contact me in any of the following ways: visit 19 Stanley Street, Holyhead; phone 01407 644 645; email virginia.crosbie. mp@parliament.uk or visit my website: www.virginiacrosbie. co.uk.
Bob mis dwi hefyd yn anfon e-gylchlythyr misol am ddim sy’n cael ei ddarllen gan filoedd o bobl ledled Ynys Môn. Cofrestrwch i gael eich copi chi yn www.virginiacrosbie.co.uk/ newsletter.
Os bydd angen fy help arnoch chi, gallwch chi gysylltu â mi drwy’r dulliau canlynol:
ymweld â 19 Stryd Stanley, Caergybi ffonio 01407 644 645 e-bostio virginia.crosbie. mp@parliament.uk
edrych ar fy ngwefan www. virginiacrosbie.co.uk.