Thousands Of Jobs Generated By Nuclear Plans
Plans to build a new nuclear reactor at Oldbury could create over 6,000 jobs
Two nuclear power sites have been earmarked in the UK after Horizon Nuclear Power - which was a joint venture set up between E.On and RWE - was bought by Japanese technology company Hitachi.
Jobs are not all that would be provided by the new reactor at Oldbury. When combined with another site in Anglesey, it could generate enough power for 14 million homes.
Earlier this year the old Oldbury reactor near Bristol was switched off and the companies announced they would be looking for a new owner as the development was not going ahead.
Leon Flexman, Head of Communications at Horizon Nuclear Power, said: "The technology that Hitachi brings is the most advanced form of nuclear reactor that's been built so it has extremely good safety features and is very reliable. It's also a lot smaller that some of the other potential options. Once you've built a nuclear power station it generates a lot of low carbon electricity almost constantly so once you get past the build phase it becomes very economic to run.
He added that there were a lot of benefits of nuclear power, including "affordability, security and sustainability".
But local anti-nuclear campaign group Shepperdine Against Nuclear Energy said that the decision is "saddening". Reg Illingworth from the group said: "We are sad that after E.On and RWE have decided to give up building new nuclear in the UK that Hitachi have decided to buy the sites that are owned by Horizon Nuclear Power.
"We do not want it to become another Fukushima."
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