This is not another false dawn – nuclear minister
THE minister for nuclear energy says this week’s Budget news is not another “false dawn” for Wylfa and that he was “supremely confident” new nuclear would be developed at the site.
On Wednesday, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced a £160m deal had been reached with Hitachi to buy sites at Wylfa and Oldbury in Gloucestershire – with a final signoff expected this summer.
UK Government minister Andrew Bowie also visited the Anglesey site to reiterate the government’s commitment to bringing nuclear development to the land.
He said no decision had yet been made on whether that would be SMR (Small Modular Reactor) or a large gigawatt plant.
Hitachi has owned this site and Oldbury since 2012 after buying Horizon Nuclear Power from RWE for £700m after a competitive auction. But they failed to reach a funding agreement with the government to develop the site.
The minister was asked whether a lack of private sector interest this time round had prompted the government to step in. But he rejected this and said there was strong developer interest but the government had chosen to take control of the land.
He said decisions will be made later this year on the direction of the site and prep work and community engagement will start very soon.
“This gives certainty and security to the area and to our Great British Nuclear revival,” he said during his visit on Thursday.
“We are investing more in nuclear than any at point in the last 70 years and Wylfa will be at the heart of that. We will give more details on exactly what we will do in due course.
“Today is about the fact we have secured this site and we are going to proceed and use this site to the benefit of the entire country and specifically to the benefit of the local area, there will be jobs and it will be good for the economy. Prep work will start on the site later this year. Developers will be talking about how will we develop it and there will be more details later this year.”
He added: “This site has a future. The site will be developed for new nuclear projects, no decision as been made(on type of technology). We have our SMR process and there is the possibility of SMR but we also announced that we would be looking at further gigawatt schemes after Sizewell, and Wylfa remains an attractive proposition for that too.
“Many people say, and I agree, that Wylfa is the most attractive site for new nuclear build for SMR or gigawatt in Europe so all options are on the table.”
He rejected concerns there is not the same interest as back in 2012 when a number of multi-national firms bid for the site.
He said: “There is massive interest in Wylfa. We, the government, decided that we want to take control of this site, we wanted to give the community, the country and the nuclear sector confidence that we were committed to this investment and to ensuring that work goes ahead. That meant taking this major step forward in securing the land for the government which really underpins the foundation on which the private sector will be able to build.
“There will be new nuclear development at Wylfa – I am supremely confident of that and I can’t wait to get back here to see work beginning on the site on whatever technology when that time comes.
“There have been false dawns before and hopes have been dashed – what I want to say today is that those days are behind us, this is not another false dawn.
“We have committed hundreds of millions of pounds to this project to secure the site and I look forward to seeing work commence.
“Final sale agreement should be agreed by the summer and prep work should start later this year and we will set up community forums on the island.”