Second UK nuclear plant shelved as Hitachi quits over cost issues
By Caoimhe Toman
Date: Thursday 17 Jan 2019
(Sharecast News) - Japanese giant Hitachi has announced it will halt work on a £20bn nuclear plant in Wales after failing to agree prices for electricity production with the UK government.
Duncan Hawthorne, CEO of Hitachi's Horizon Nuclear Power unit, said; "I am very sorry to say that despite the best efforts of everyone involved we've not been able to reach an agreement to the satisfaction of all concerned.
"As a result we will be suspending the development of the Wylfa Newydd project, as well as work related to Oldbury, until a solution can be found. In the meantime we will take steps to reduce our presence but keep the option to resume development in future."
At a Hitachi board meeting the halt was decided due to mounting costs, with the company taking a £2.14bn hit from the decision, according to the Guardian.
The axing of the nuclear plant could put thousands of jobs at risk if the Wylfa Newydd facility in Anglesey is finally scrapped. It will also mean around 9,000 construction jobs for building the two nuclear reactors will not exist in the near future.
Environmental campaigners said the suspension of the plant should lead the government to reconsider a new direction for the UK's energy policy more focused on renewables.
"Hitachi's confirmation that no solution has been found for its UK nuclear programme despite already spending £2bn on it tells you all you need to know about the economics of nuclear power," said Dr Doug Parr, chief scientist for Greenpeace UK.
"In the meantime renewable energy costs, especially offshore wind and solar, have plunged dramatically, while new smart technologies including storage have arrived on the scene. A clever move now would be for the government to accept that the nuclear bet didn't pay off, stop holding back renewables and have an urgent rethink about the future of UK energy," he added.
Justin Bowden, national secretary for energy at the GMB union, said: "Hitachi's announcement, coming so soon after the Moorside fiasco, raises the very real prospect of a UK energy crisis."
"This decision has nothing to do with costs. The planned reactor at Wylfa is not the 'first of a kind', and this fact - combined with the government stake - would ensure Wylfa was built at a cost much lower than Hinkley Point C currently under construction in Somerset.
"At the end of the day, it is a basic function of the government to guarantee we have enough electricity for our homes and industries and history shows that voters do not forgive or forget when the lights go out."
Hitachi becomes the second firm in the last two months to abandon major nuclear projects in the UK and triggering a "UK energy crisis".
Email this article to a friend
or share it with one of these popular networks:
You are here: news
10 Lower Thames St,
London EC3R 6EN