Yn y gyllideb yr wythnos ddiwethaf cawsom y newyddion gwych bod Llywodraeth y DU wedi buddsoddi £160m i brynu safle Wylfa gan Hitachi drwy Great British Nuclear.
Fy mhrif flaenoriaeth, o’r eiliad y sefais yn yr etholiad fel eich Aelod Seneddol, oedd dod â swyddi a buddsoddiad i Ynys Môn, a sicrhau niwclear newydd i Wylfa oedd y prif darged. Bu’n rhaid i fy nhad adael Cymru i geisio dod o hyd i waith ac rwy’n benderfynol na fydd yn rhaid i eraill wneud yr un fath.
In last week’s budget we received the game-changing news that the UK Government has invested £160m to secure the Wylfa site from Hitachi through Great British Nuclear.
My absolute top priority, from the moment I stood for election as your Member of Parliament, was to bring jobs and investment to the island of Anglesey and bringing new nuclear to Wylfa has been the Holy Grail. My Dad had to leave Wales to find work and I am determined that others do not have to.
I could not have been more delighted when the Nuclear Minister, Andrew Bowie, visited Wylfa last week and said “This is a major step forward for the UK’s nuclear revival. We are bringing nuclear back to the historic sites of Wylfa and Oldbury – and with it jobs, investment and clean energy”.
Earlier this year, the UK Government published its Civil Nuclear Roadmap, setting out plans to boost the UK’s energy security and achieve net zero carbon emissions with up to a quarter of Britain’s energy produced from nuclear power by 2050. Access to nuclear sites is a critical factor in achieving these nuclear ambitions, which includes deploying Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and exploring a further large-scale reactor project after Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C.
This ambition is being carried out through Great British Nuclear, whose Chief Executive is Anglesey native Gwen Parry-Jones. She declared this latest Wylfa news “a landmark for new nuclear development in the UK”.
Wylfa is recognised as probably the best site for new nuclear in Europe and, since Hitachi announced it would not be proceeding with its new nuclear plans at the site three years ago, I have been consistently pressing the Government to take action.
Securing the site is the next crucial step we had to take to get projects going at Wylfa. Getting the land unlocks as much as 4 GW – maybe more – of potential nuclear capacity.
We know that Horizon was planning to deploy nearly 3 GW at Wylfa, which would have meant 9,000 jobs in construction and 900 in operation for our island. This announcement revives that hope.
As the landowner the UK Government and Great British Nuclear can make a serious offer to prospective vendors large and small about Wylfa with the promise of hundreds of high-quality, long-term, well-paid and skilled careers for generations to come.
Wylfa has a long history of hosting the UK nuclear industry and our island has experienced the enormous benefits that nuclear power can bring to our local and regional economy.
The next step is ideally for the UK Government to name Wylfa as the site for the next large-scale nuclear project after Sizewell C. That will bring the most economic benefits to Ynys Môn, and Wylfa is head and shoulders above any other site for large-scale deployment.
With that, we could get on quickly with a selection process from the three possible vendors and use the work already done by Horizon to accelerate development and early construction work.
Otherwise, the Government should specify that Wylfa will be the first SMR site, and get those technologies chosen and contracts awarded. The Small Modular Reactor (SMR) competition is part of the government's plan to revive nuclear power. EDF, GE-Hitachi, Holtec, NuScale, Rolls-Royce SMR and Westinghouse all have SMRs that have been selected by GBN to go forward to the next stage.
Underpinning it all, I will be asking for a UK Government commitment to take a minority equity stake in a Wylfa project combined with the RAB funding model. Our community has seen past projects fall by the wayside because of financing issues and I am not prepared for my constituents to experience that disappointment again.
You have seen me over the past four years consistently raise Wylfa and Ynys Môn in the House of Commons, urging the UK Government to make progress on Wylfa. I have held debates, asked questions, convened meetings, made speeches, lobbied Ministers and set up and chaired the Nuclear Delivery Group – all with this prize in my sights on your behalf.
As the Chancellor said in his budget statement ““Ynys Môn has a vital role in delivering our nuclear ambitions, and no one should take more credit for today’s announcement than my tireless, tenacious and turbocharged Honourable Friend the Member for Ynys Môn”.
However, more hard work is needed to ensure further progress is made and spades are in the ground as soon as possible and I have no intention of taking my foot off the pedal yet. I will continue to pester and prod and make a nuisance of myself in a turbo-charged way to ensure the pace is kept up.
Work now needs to take place to ensure that all our communities benefit from this development in terms of infrastructure and ensuring the jobs go to islanders wherever possible. So, My Local Jobs for Local People Campaign will be going up a notch or two as I make sure that any companies investing in Wylfa prioritise local people to take the jobs on offer.
I will also continue to work with local educators like Grŵp Llandrillo Menai, M-SParc, Bangor University, WOW Training, local schools and Môn CF to make sure that companies investing here work with them to develop the skills local people will need to take those jobs.
This is a fantastic opportunity for our young people to stay here and enjoy good quality careers – and not have to leave the island in search of work. It is a great opportunity for our current workforce to reskill if they wish for potentially better paid employment. It is also a chance for those who have left the island to return to work in their community. In doing so we can ensure that our Welsh language and culture thrives here on Ynys Môn.
Two of my key priorities over the past four years have been: Bringing New Nuclear to Wylfa and Delivering a Freeport on Anglesey. In March 2023 we had the news about Anglesey getting Freeport status and in March 2024 we have this fantastic news about Wylfa.
I have worked so hard here and in Westminster to deliver on both and I hope that you will join me in celebrating the latest fantastic milestone in our journey together.
Let me know your thoughts on Wylfa by completing my survey at https://www.virginiacrosbie.co.uk/campaigns/delivering-new-nuclear-ynys…;
