The Hitachi board has pulled the plug on a proposed two-reactor nuclear project in Wales after mounting costs proved the ultimate deterrent to the unwelcome nuclear plan. Technically, the Wylfa B nuclear power plant on the island of Anglesey is "frozen," but newspaper headlines are proclaiming that the Japanese company has scrapped the project. The death knell of Wylfa B will likely put an end to a second Hitachi nuclear power project in the UK at Oldbury.
The news was welcomed by People Against Wylfa B (PAWB) who have been campaigning for years to stop the project which would have torn up land and habitat, contaminated the local environment, and brought a huge influx of workers from elsewhere, despite the promise of "local jobs." Horizon, Hitachi's UK subsidiary, was likely hoping the UK government would further sweeten the deal financially, but the May government is embroiled in Brexit chaos and unlikely to address the Wylfa issue any time soon.
In a press release, PAWB said: "The news is a relief for all of us who worry about the future of our Island, our country, our language, our environment and indeed renewable energy.
"PAWB has warned for years that the costs associated with the Wylfa project would be likely to prove fatal to the project, but we were ignored. Consequently millions of taxpayers’ money from the Island, Wales and the UK was invested to back Wylfa B. In addition huge political capital has been invested, and there has been a failure to have a mature public discussion about the project other than in terms of cash and jobs.
"The legacy of this is that over a decade has been wasted on Wylfa, with very little alternative economic planning in evidence. Our young people have been promised jobs on very shaky foundations. Good land has been destroyed to create infrastructure to back the project.
"It is time for politicians and officials from the UK Government, the Welsh Government and Anglesey to admit
that they were wrong. Wales is rich in natural resources which can be used to create a vibrant and sustainable energy future, and above all else create more jobs in less time than Wylfa would have done."