Nuclear power: Great Britain is moving ahead with its third major reactor project

The British government has designated Wylfa in North Wales as the site for a new nuclear power station. The British government has announced plans to build a reactor there with a capacity similar to the one currently being built at Hinkley Point by the French company EDF. The nuclear power plant at Wilfa is expected to operate for 60 years and provide energy to six million households.

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The government has not said whether an EPR will be built at Wilfa like Hinkley Point C. He is now starting discussions with companies about the project. If this is implemented, Wilfa will once again become a site for a nuclear power plant. Two reactors operating there since the early 1970s were shut down in 2012 and 2015.

In the middle of this month The British Guardian reported, South Korean energy supplier Kepco has spoken to the British government about a project in Wilfa. If Kepco is involved, the APR1400 reactor could be built on the north Welsh coast. The United Arab Emirates implemented one of these in 2021.

A previous plan for a nuclear power plant

Plans to reactivate Wylfa as a nuclear power plant site are not new. Horizon Nuclear Power announced plans to build a new nuclear power plant there in 2009. Horizon withdrew as Hitachi did not want to participate as an investor in the project as originally planned.

Great Britain wants to increase the capacity of electricity produced there by nuclear power from 6 to 24 GW by 2050. The government announced the plans in January this year. Nuclear power is essential for Britain to become climate neutral, the roadmap says. Independence from Russia is also important. That is why the British government wants to invest 300 million pounds (nearly 350 million euros) in a British uranium enrichment plant. From 2030, it does not want to buy uranium or fuel rods from Russia and wants to set up alternative supply chains with international partners.

In January, construction of a new EPR at Hinckley Point would cost £46 billion (€53 billion), not the originally planned £34 billion.

(Processor)