Wylfa on Anglesey in North Wales has been selected as the site to build the UK’s first small modular reactor nuclear power station. 

The project is expected to support up to 3,000 jobs in the local community at peak construction, underpinned by billions of pounds of infrastructure investment out to the mid-2030s.  

This is the most significant industrial investment in North Wales for a generation. 

The UK’s first small modular reactors – mini nuclear reactors which are smaller and likely quicker to build than traditional nuclear power stations – are expected to deliver power for the equivalent of around 3 million homes.  

The SMRs will be backed through Great British Energy-Nuclear, which will give the British people a stake in a leading-edge technology that has global export opportunities and builds a vital sovereign capability for the country.  

After no new nuclear power plants were built in the UK between the mid-1990s and the 2020s, nuclear power is now enjoying a comeback in the UK. In the Spending Review, the government confirmed major investment in Sizewell C, which will provide power for 6 million homes and 10,000 jobs, as well as over £2.5 billion funding for the country’s first SMR programme. 

Find out more: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/north-wales-to-pioneer-uks-first-small-modular-reactors

by UKGovNews

13 comments

  1. Good. Far better than littering the countryside with foreign owned wind farms.

  2. This great. We should have been building them a decade ago, they are the perfect supplement to wind and solar, and needed as we transition to green energy.

  3. There’s already a Magnox nuclear power station undergoing decommissioning at Wylfa, so hopefully a new-build can keep and grow the nuclear expertise in the area.

  5. Good news, as usual with the UK too late to the party but will help local economy as well.

  6. If nuclear is the answer you are asking the wrong question

  8. There’s not an awful lot to be cheerful about in the country these days but I applaud this decision 👏🏼

  10. This is very vague stuff, it doesn’t say how many homes *this* reactor will power, just how many SMRs are “expected” to power. Nor does it say the expected actual cost, just the amount of investment. It’s interesting, but none of this is a viable energy solution at this stage, it’s research into something that might prove viable in the future.

  11. Good! Keep manufacturing in the uk, dont let the americans build our infrastructure for us

  13. Whilst I think this is great news for the region, it’s also a massive shame because Wylfa is a prime location for a gigawatt scale power station and they had cleared a large area for Wylfa Newydd.

    Hopefully long term this becomes a site for multiple SMRs.

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