Nuclear: Hitachi 'withdraws' from £20bn Wylfa project | BBC

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Plans for a £15-£20bn nuclear power plant in Wales have been scrapped.

Work on the Wylfa Newydd project on Anglesey was suspended in January last year because of rising costs after Hitachi failed to reach a funding agreement with the UK government.

Isle of Anglesey council said the company had now confirmed in writing it is withdrawing from the project.

Council leader Llinos Medi said: "This is very disappointing, particularly at such a difficult time economically."

Hitachi shelved the scheme, the biggest energy project ever proposed in Wales, over funding issues.

Anglesey council said it had received a letter from the Tokyo-based parent company confirming its decision.

Developer Horizon Nuclear, which is owned by Hitachi, said it would not comment.

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The UK government also declined to comment but the Welsh Affairs Committee has said the Wylfa nuclear power project withdrawal is "a blow for Wales and the UK's ambition to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050."

"This was set to be the largest energy project Wales had ever seen with a positive impact on skills and employment in the region," said committee chairman Stephen Crabb MP.

"With the nation's remaining nuclear plants ageing and the need for low-carbon, high yield plants needed to replace them urgent, it has never been more important than now to ensure energy security."

Mr Crabb added that Hitachi had given "reassurances" of its commitment to the project over the summer "that gave hope to the workers who'd be needed to construct it and the high-skilled employees who would run it".

Developers said the plant would create up to 9,000 jobs during the construction phase and have a 60-year operational life.

Campaigners against the project - a replacement for the original Wylfa plant shut in 2015 after 44 years of service - welcomed Hitachi's move claiming a "nuclear power station would have endangered lives on Anglesey and beyond".

The People Against Wylfa B action group said: "It would have ruined the environment over an area which is 10 times greater than the current site."

It called on Hitachi to "ensure that no nuclear scheme will happen on the site in the future" and return the site to its "former state, for community benefit".

"Proposals to develop green energy schemes would be an area where Hitachi's expertise could create many jobs here," the group added.

Anglesey council has called for a meeting with the Welsh and UK governments to discuss the future of the site...

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Disappointment across North Wales after Wylfa nuclear decision

KEY figures across North Wales have expressed disappointment at the news of Hitachi’s decision to scrap plans to develop a nuclear power station at Wylfa on Anglesey.


Hitachi poised to abandon Welsh nuclear project

Japanese conglomerate Hitachi (TYO: 6501) is set to pull out of plans to build a nuclear power station at Wylfa Newydd on the island of Anglesey, off the north coast of Wales.

A formal decision is expected at Hitachi’s board meeting in Tokyo on Wednesday. The isle of Anglesey council however confirmed that Hitachi had written to them to confirm that it would be withdrawing from the project.



UPDATE 1- Hitachi to exit stalled British nuclear power project - Mainichi newspaper


TOKYO, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Japanese conglomerate Hitachi Ltd will completely exit a stalled British nuclear power project, the Mainichi daily newspaper reported on Tuesday, a withdrawal that would deal a blow to Britain’s plans to replace aging plants.


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