It has been reported in the Japanese press that the struggling nuclear arm of Hitachi is proposing to postpone the Welsh nuclear power station at Wylfa by two years to 2027. The new delay is rumoured to be due to lack ability to raise finance – despite reportedly very generous support from UK government – and the risk of spiralling costs that company is refusing to absorb. The company is due to have a board meeting by the end of May where they decide whether to continue with the project given the UK government’s financial offer. Over the last few weeks, Hitachi has leaked to the Japanese press that the UK government has doubled their offer of public support for their new reactor at Wylfa to around £13 billion, that Hitachi are now also asking for price guarantees for the electricity, that the costs have risen dramatically, and most recently, that the project has been delayed by two years. The UK government states it doesn’t recognise the reports from the Japanese press but is refusing to outline what or whether a financial deal has been offered to the company. Dr Doug Parr, Chief Scientist for Greenpeace UK said: “The financial debacle that was the Hinkley deal is at risk of becoming just a starting point for new deals. Overseas nuclear companies want to build even more expensive plants than Hinkley in the UK, but with additional new demands for taxpayer support. Our government needs to realise that we should not be asked to fund the nuclear industries of other nations who want to build reactors in the UK because the public in their own backyards has rejected them. It makes absolutely no sense to waste billions on expensive and outdated nuclear power stations when technologies like offshore wind can do a similar job faster and cheaper. Nuclear is an energy landline in the age of smartphones, chaining us to a slow, expensive, out-of-date technology while the world moves on to the interconnected, reliable, high tech system that will power our homes for generations to come.”
Greenpeace 21st May 2018 read more »
