Kwarteng leads push for nuclear power plant in Anglesey to help combat energy crisis. Ministers in talks with Westinghouse to build plant that could supply power to six million homes. A new nuclear power plant is being slated for Wales as ministers grapple with the energy crisis. Ministers are in talks with the American energy corporation Westinghouse to develop a multibillion-pound largescale plant in Anglesey, according to a report in The Times. If given the green light the new plant will have the capacity to supply more than six million homes with power. The plant at Wylfa, which could be operating by mid-2030, is being proposed in addition to the under-construction Hinkley Point nuclear plant in Somerset. A proposed new reactor at Sizewell in Suffolk is also in the works. Plans to build a plant at Wylfa collapsed last year after the Japanese firm Hitachi pulled out of the project.

Telegraph 24th Sept 2021 read more »

Ministers are backing a multibillion-pound plan to build another large-scale nuclear power plant in Britain to ease pressure on electricity supplies as the country moves towards net zero. The government is in discussions with the American nuclear reactor manufacturer Westinghouse about a proposal to develop a new plant on Anglesey in Wales. Ministers are understood to be increasingly concerned that existing nuclear projects will not provide the power needed to meet carbon reduction targets. The government has committed to taking a final investment decision on at least one new nuclear power plant by 2024. However, sources said there was growing backing to give the go-ahead to two. An attempt to build a nuclear plant at Wylfa collapsed last September after the Japanese company Hitachi pulled out.

Times 24th Sept 2021 read more »

Reuters 24th Sept 2021 read more »

Daily Mail 24th Sept 2021 read more »

Independent 24th Sept 2021 read more »

The UK Government are in talks to build another large-scale multi-billion pound nuclear power plant in Wales. The new plant on Anglesey in Wales is being discussed with reactor manufacturer Westinghouse, as part of efforts to reduce the UK’s carbon emissions to net zero by 2050. A new nuclear power plant at the decommissioned Wylfa site could become operational in the mid-2030s and generate power for six million homes. The UK Government plans could scupper those of the Welsh Government, who had been eyeing Wylfa as the location of a small modular reactor. Trawsfynydd has also been considered as a possible location. Anti-nuclear campaign groups PAWB and CADNO have opposed plans for any more nuclear power and said that the sites should be the focus for the development of renewable and sustainable technologies. “There is not enough proof that the technology will have been developed enough to make a difference in the critical fight against climate change in time,” they said. “In addition, limited public resources that support nuclear mean that those resources are not available to truly green and sustainable technologies. “Climate change, homelessness, poverty, inequality – these are the complex problems of our time. The nuclear obsession does nothing to solve these problems; it adds to them. ”

Nation Cymru 24th Sept 2021 read more »

Two rival proposals to revive the Wylfa Newydd nuclear power plant on Anglesey have been revealed. The alternative proposals were tabled by American engineering giant Bechtel and UK-based clean energy developer Shearwater Energy during a Welsh Affairs Committee evidence session on Wylfa yesterday. It comes after Horizon Nuclear Power officially withdrew its planning application for a £20bn power station at Wylfa in January after funding challenges. Bechtel claims that its funding model for the proposed Wylfa Newydd nuclear power plant could provide an alternative to the previous developer-led approach to nuclear projects. Bechtel’s proposal is for a two-year plan to deliver the front-end engineering design with government funding which could then “create the conditions” to attract potential investors and a developer. Government-backed funding during the first phase of the project would allow a developer to recover pre-final investment decision costs and could be achieved through modification of the proposed RAB funding model or through another mechanism of cost recovery. Once secured, the developer would then lead the project through the final investment decision, construction, commissioning and start-up. According to Bechtel, an initially state-led project is more likely to succeed due to large capital investment requirement before return. At the evidence session, Bechtel president of the nuclear, security and environment division Barbara Rusinko emphasised the “need for government intervention to get project across the line” and called for funding to be included in October’s comprehensive spending review. Bechtel’s new proposal would use two AP1000 reactors from manufacturing company Westinghouse, and be capable of delivering clean power to the latest carbon budget commitments by 2035. The power plant would be modelled on Plant Vogtle in Georgia, where two AP1000s are set to begin generating in 2022. Meanwhile, Shearwater Energy director Simon Forster outlined his firm’s proposals to use both the existing Wylfa Magnox site – which is being decommissioned – and the Wylfa Newydd site. Shearwater proposes trialling 12 77Mw reactors on the Magnox site and has nearly completed a feasibility study. The company hopes to have definite costs and a construction schedule “this year” but Forster said the plant could generate 1Gw of power. On the Wylfa Newydd sited the firm proposes 10 BWRX-300 SMR reactors. It has submitted a proposal for this to GE Hitachi and a cost estimate to BEIS. Construction could start in 2025, and the project could generate power by 2028.

New Civil Engineer 24th Sept 2021 read more »

On Thursday, official Declan Burke said the talks with consortiums proposing nuclear developments were about “better understanding the propositions”. Mr Burke, Director of Nuclear Projects and Development at the government’s Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy department, was giving evidence to the Welsh Affairs Committee on Thursday. He described the talks as “exploratory, they’ve brought forward potential proposals for developing the site”. Discussions concerned the “makeup of the consortia, their experience”, he said. For example, Mr Burke said, his department had been speaking to a consortium involving US engineering firm Bechtel, which proposes building a Westinghouse AP1000 reactor. Talks have also taken place with UK-based Shearwater Energy, he said, which has hybrid plans for small nuclear reactors and a wind farm.

BBC 23rd Sept 2021 read more »

A number of UK pension funds have expressed interest in building another nuclear power plant amid new reports that US firms are keen to revive a project in North Wales. Several UK-based pension funds have expressed interest in the Wylfa nuclear plant in Wales, according to a prospective developer of the site. Seven months ago, contractor Horizon Nuclear Power officially withdrew its application to build a facility at Wylfa Newydd in Angelesey. Simon Forster, director of UK clean energy Shearwater, which is interested in taking on the project, told MPs yesterday he was in contact with a “group of pension funds who are very keen to invest” in the project. Shearwater was one of two prospective developers that appeared in front of the committee, alongside a joint proposal by US companies Bechtel and Westinghouse to build a new nuclear power plant in north Wales.

Daily Business 24th Sept 2021 read more »