Japanese firm Hitachi has agreed to build the next generation of UK nuclear power plants in a £700 million deal. The move comes as E.on-owned Horizon Nuclear Power (which Hitachi has just bought) and RWE exit our nuclear power industry.

Plans are already afoot to build two new power stations at sites where existing plants have already been, or soon will be, decommissioned – Wylfa in Angelsey and Oldbury, near Bristol.

Announcing the Hitachi deal, Prime Minister David Cameron commented: ‘This is a decades-long, multi-billion 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.’

Wilding says: ‘Whilst many people want to see nuclear power taken off the UK’s agenda, it’s a fact of life that nuclear will play a vital part in the generation mix for the foreseeable future. And these two power plants will give a much-needed boost to the economies and job markets of both these areas.’

Source: Brookson