Hitachi to Build the Next Generation of British Nuclear Power Plants

The Japanese company Hitachi has signed a £700 million deal to buy Horizon Nuclear Power, which will give them the ability to construct the next generation of nuclear power plants in the UK; a deal that may have been influenced due to the collapse of the Japanese nuclear industry.

Horizon had the rights to build reactors at Wylfa on Angelsey in Noth Wales, and Oldbury in Gloucestershire, all of which now pass on to Hitachi, who have announced plans to build between two and three new nuclear power plants at each site as part of, what it calls, “a 100 year commitment.”

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Mike Clancy, the general secretary-designate of the Prospect union, has said that “the Horizon venture is an important milestone in securing future low-carbon energy generation capacity within the UK and its importance to local and national economies cannot be overstated. While Hitachi's advanced boiling water reactor design has yet to undergo the UK's generic design assessment approval process, it is a proven technology and therefore any construction in the UK will benefit from lessons learned from its construction in Japan.”

David Cameron, the British Prime Minister, remarked, “I am determined that Britain competes and thrives in the global race for investment. This is a decades-long, multibillion pound vote of confidence in the UK, that will contribute vital new infrastructure to power our economy. It will support up to 12,000 jobs during construction and thousands more permanent highly skilled roles once the new power plants are operational, as well as stimulating exciting new industrial investments in the UK's nuclear supply chain.”

By. Joao Peixe of Oilprice.com