Wylfa nuclear plans ahead, creating jobs in anglesey

A first-of-its-kind nuclear power station to be built in Anglesey, bringing 3,000 jobs and billions of pounds of investment.

The Wylfa plant, on the north coast of the Welsh Island, has its first three small modular MOCs (SMRs), although the site could go ahead with up to eight.

Work should begin next year with the goal of generating power by the mid-2030s.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “Britain used to be a world leader in nuclear power, but years of neglect and abandonment are like angeney like angle.”

The news was also welcomed by the first minister Morgan, who said that he “pressed the case at every opportunity for the incredible benefits of Wylfa.

Using the Welsh name for anglesy, he described it as “The Moment Yns Môn and all Wales are waiting for”.

The project, which could power about three million homes, will be built by the publicly owned Great British Energy-Nuclear and supported by a £ 2.5bn investment from the UK government.

Simon Bowen, Chaird of Great British Energy-Defery-Nuclear, said: “This is a historic moment for the UK, and another important step forward in nuclear energy.

“These first Smrs in Wylfa will lay the basis for a fleet-based approach to nuclear development, strengthening nuclear independence and strengthening long-term investment in the local economy.”

The company is also tasked with identifying potential sites for another large nuclear power plant, to be built in Hinkley in Somerset and Soldwell in Somerset, with power equivalent to six million homes.

It will report in the autumn of 2026, and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has asked officials to consider sites across the UK, including in Scotland.

It is unclear whether the SMR plans, which are smaller and more straightforward to build, rule Wylfa from when it was considered the preferred location in 2024 by the previous conservative government.

The decision to opt for small modular reactors at WYFA was criticized by US Ambassador Warren Stephens, who said he was “very disappointed” in the decision.

He prompted the ministers to provide a large plant, with the strong present Westuninghouse building a new Gigawatt Station on the site.

“If you want to get the shovels in the ground as soon as possible and make a big step to solve the energy prices and have different nuclear methods,” said Mr. Stephens.

An industry expert described the announcement as “unbelievable”.

Prof Simon Middleburgh, Director of the Nuclear Futures Institute at Bangor University, said: “They are smaller than a modular reactor in a place to focus like a chair like an ikea chair.”

The planned SMRS “complements” the existing Grid capacity at the Wylfa site, offering a similar power output as the decommissioned one, he added.

There are “some more hurdles to go through”, he warned – from getting regulatory approval, building the factories needed to build the smrs and training the workers to run them.

Opponents of the project point to the fact that a long-term storage facility for nuclear waste in the UK has not yet been agreed and say the investment in new energy methods – wind, wave and tidal – is what angleyey needs.

Dylan Morgan of the anti-B campaign people said the proposed smrs were far from “small” and were in fact “an unnecessary development of an inefficient technology”.

“Modular reaction technologies are targeted by many international companies but are only planned on paper,” he said.

Wylfa beat competition from another site in Datungbury in Gloucestershire, with reactors designed by British Engineering Firm friends, expected later this year.

The UK government says the plant will help deliver energy independence.

The old nuclear power plant in Wylfa was put into operation in 2015 and previous plans for a large-scale replacement fell through in 2021.

The company behind the scheme – Japan’s Hitachi Industries – cited spiraling costs and a failure to reach a UK funding agreement.

Sasha Wynn Davies – Now Chairwoman of the Wales Nuclear Forum – works as a senior manager of plans.

“I will never forget going to the secondary school in Amlwch and telling some of the young pupils and students there not to develop as a project,” he said.

“I will never forget their faces as they are very sad for their hopes for the future but also for their parents and what this means in the economic and social area.

“So now let’s hold that our time will come again and there will be hope for our youth.”

There is a big political component to the announcement, with the Labor leadership in Westminster keen to show that it means business when it comes to infrastructure projects infrastructure projects infrastructure projects infrastructure projects infrastructure projects infrastructure projects

In Wales, the first minister is pushing for a fix for Wylfa – and the announcement comes just six months before the general election.

Morgan is trying to strike a balance: the difference of the Welsh Party from Labor, but also pushing for more funding, more accountability of powers and big investments from his partners in the UK.

He certainly got the latter, although many other issues – such as reforming the way the Welsh energy body is funded and owned – remain unresolved.