I am delighted that, after much hard work, on 22 May 2024 the UK Government gave a firm commitment to a gigawatt new nuclear plant at Wylfa.
Following the purchase of the Wylfa site by Great British Nuclear (GBN) in March 2024, this latest announcement gives local people the secure and stable future I have been fighting for.
In the long term, this announcement will bring investment of around £20bn and leaves the door open for additional small modular reactors on the same site.
It will also mean around 8,000 construction jobs and 800 steady state quality careers will be created at new Wylfa alongside hundreds more secondary and supply chain jobs.
This skilled employment will enable our young people to afford their own homes, stay in their communities and keep the Welsh language and culture alive.
The highlights of my work to get Wylfa to this point include:
- 2022: The UK Government's British Energy Security Strategy the UK Government names Wylfa as a key site for one of its eight proposed new nuclear power plants.
- 2022: I sit on the Nuclear (Financing) Bill Committee which puts in place new legislation to address the financing of new nuclear.
- 2023: The UK-wide Future Nuclear Enabling Fund was launched from Wylfa showing how significant the UK Government believes the site to be2023: The creation of Great British Nuclear as the UK Government's flagship for delivering new nuclear to the UK to meet its Nuclear Roadmap commitment of 24 gigawatts (GW) of electricity from nuclear by 2050.
- 2024: The purchase of the Wylfa site by Great British Nuclear.
In addition I have:
- brought six UK Government Ministers, including the former Prime Minister, Secretaries of State for BEIS and Wales, the Energy Minister and the Nuclear Minister, to visit Wylfa and meet local people,
- brought key nuclear developers including Bechtel and Rolls-Royce to Wylfa and other local brownfield sites so that they can see the potential opportunities.
- set up and chaired the Nuclear Delivery Group and the APPG for small modular reactors.
This is an exciting time for the prospects of Wylfa.
