Call to regain momentum on Wylfa Newydd and avoid‘disastrous’wait
“MOMENTUM has been lost” on making Wylfa B happen since Westminster launched its nuclear strategy less than a year ago, a UK Government advisor says.
The UK Government’s British Energy Security Strategy was unveiled in April 2022. It set out ambitions for 24GW of nuclear energy by 2050 and the creation of Great British Nuclear (GBN).
But GBN has still not been launched and Simon Bowen, advisor to the UK Government on the establishment of GBN, says “it will be disastrous if we waited another two years” because the “whole of the industry will lose faith”.
He made those comments to the Welsh Affairs Committee.
Now its chairman Stephen Crabb has written to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to express his concerns.
The previous bid to develop Wylfa Newydd collapsed when Hitachi withdrew after failing to reach an agreement with UK Government over funding for the multi-billion pound project.
In the letter, Mr Crabb said: “The Strategy named Wylfa, North Wales, as a potential site for a new nuclear project.
“Since then, we have heard of growing concerns of a loss of momentum in delivery of the Government’s Strategy and consequently, further uncertainty over the future of the Wylfa site.
“We have heard from a wide range of industry representatives that Wylfa is considered the best site in the UK for new nuclear development.
“Indeed, it is difficult to see how Government can deliver its nuclear ambitions without taking forward a project at Wylfa.
“There is a strong view within the Committee that Wylfa should be the next GW scale site in line after Sizewell C so that North Wales can benefit from the economic impacts of a large-scale infrastructure project, which will bring highly skilled and well-paid, long-term job opportunities to a rural area of the UK.
“We have heard strong calls from the finance and skills sectors as well as from technology developers for a programme for nuclear which sets out which technology (GW or Small Modular Reactors) the Government wants to be built, where and when.
“The majority of members of the Committee are of the view that the Great British Nuclear arms-length body should be launched as soon as possible, with a mandate to deliver such a programme, in order to provide much needed clarity to the whole industry.”
Mr Crabb added: “The UK Government’s British Energy Security Strategy sent positive demand signals to the nuclear energy sector. But since its publication in April last year, we have heard very little as to how the target to generate 24GW of nuclear energy by 2050 will be accomplished.
“Nuclear energy could hold the answer to reliable baseload as we transition away from oil and gas.
“With mounting household bills and the spiralling costs of fossil fuels, there is a unique opportunity to galvanise the low-carbon energy sectors.
“Instead, the nuclear energy sector has been waiting to know the ‘when and where’ for nuclear power stations in the UK.
“By siting the UK’S next nuclear power station at Wylfa, highly skilled, long-term jobs will be supported in a rural area of the UK.
“I urge the UK Government to act now, and to launch Great British Nuclear to drive progress forwards.”