Keir Starmer has announced that the UK’s first small modular nuclear plants will be built in North Wales – but immediately faced a backlash from a US manufacturer of choice.
Wylfa on the island of Anggeley, or ynys môn, will be home to three small modular reactors (Smrs) to be built by the British Manufacturer – Royce SMR. The government said it would invest £2.5bn.
Smrs is a new – and not yet realized – technology that seeks to create nuclear power stations in factories at low costs and installation costs. Rolls-Royce plans to build reactors, each capable of generating 470 megawatts of power, mainly at Derby.
The government also said that Great Britain Energy – Nuclear (Gbe-N) will report on potential sites for additional reactors. They will follow the 3.2GW Reactors being built by the French-owned EDF at Hinkley Point C in Somerset and Syelwell C in Suffolk.
The Labor government under Stillmer embraced nuclear power in the hope that it would turn carbon dioxide-free electricity into a huge new Smrs export industry.
However, it faced the hope of the US, sighing that its ally had forgotten the US Westinghouse Electric Company when choosing the manufacturer for the Wylfa reactors.
Ahead of the publication of the UK Airterment, Ambassador Warsador Warren Stephens published a statement saying that Britain must choose “a different path” in Wales.
“We are very disappointed by this decision, not least because there are cheaper, faster and approved options to provide clean, safe energy in the same location,” he said.
The Trump administration last month signed an $80bn (£61bn) deal with Westehouse, which has struggled financially, to build the much larger reactors proposed by Wylfa. Under the terms of that deal, the Trump administration could end up taking a stake in the company.
A source close to the UK government said: “This is the right choice for Britain. This is our lining up SMR program in Brangko and we have chosen the best site for it.”
While the ambassador’s intervention is unlikely to change the future of Wylfa, it could put pressure on the UK to choose Westuneshouse if it goes ahead with future reactors.
It is understood that Torness, to the east of Edinburgh, and Hunterston, to the west of Glasgow, will be considered as multiple reactors. A source close to the energy Secretary, Ed Miliband, said that the government wants to produce nuclear power in Scotland, despite the opposition of the ruling Scottish National Party.
Wylfa generated nuclear power from 1971 until 2015, when its last reactor was shut down. Japan’s Hitachi tried to build a new plant there, but these efforts collapsed in 2019 after it failed to approve government funding. Gbe-N bought the site from Hitachi.
Starmer said: “Britain used to be a world leader in nuclear power, but years of neglect and inertia mean places like Angle.
“This government has not only reversed itself, bringing thousands of guaranteed jobs, driving billions in investment and providing cheaper energy payments for a long time.”
However, Sharon Graham, general secretary of integration, said that the construction of three small reactors rather than one larger one at Wylfa is a mistake because it does not count in British jobs. The union represents some workers in the nuclear industry.
“Failure to support a Gigawatt Nuclear Power Station at Wylfa is a huge missed opportunity to ensure the UK’s energy security,” he said.
However, the confirmation of a UK site would be another welcome step for Rolls-Royce, the FTSE 100 MOVER of the government’s preferred developers in June.
It owns the majority of Rolls-Royce SMR, along with Qatar’s Sovereign, the US energy company Constellations, and the Czech Utility CEZ, which may order six of the reactors.
Rolls-Royce SMR has more than 1,000 employees, running to create a technology installation also in Temelín in the Czech Republic.
Tom Greatrex, Chief Executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, a lobby group, said the Wylfa project was “an exciting opportunity for a UK technology and skills workforce”.
He added: “To achieve the amount of nuclear capacity the country needs for a safe, reliable and smart electricity mix, we need more and less reactors.
“There are other projects that use different reactor technologies, and there may be additional plants stolen-scale more than the allies C. including the US, a part of the delivery of the ambition.”