Public consultation completed for UK’s Wylfa Newydd project

The UK's Horizon Nuclear Power has completed the public consultation process for its Wylfa Newydd nuclear power plant project. Hundreds of people from across Anglesey and North Wales took part, offering views and opinions which Horizon said will help finalise its new nuclear plans.

The UK's Horizon Nuclear Power has completed the public consultation process for its Wylfa Newydd nuclear power plant project. Hundreds of people from across Anglesey and North Wales took part, offering views and opinions which Horizon said will help finalise its new nuclear plans.

How the Wylfa Newydd plant could look alongside the existing Wylfa plant (Image: Horizon)

Running from 31 August to 25 October, this was Horizon's second and final stage of consultation on the project as a whole.

Horizon said on 26 October: "Local people were sent information by post, invited to view plans, leave feedback online, read through copies of documents displayed in key locations across the region and attend public exhibitions and drop-in events to discuss the proposals with Horizon’s team."

The company sought the public's views on the project in general as well as on a number of specific subjects, including temporary accommodation for construction workers, strategies for creating jobs and developing skills, plans for off-site facilities and its approach to safeguarding and championing the Welsh language.

Duncan Hawthorne, Horizon's CEO, said: "I'd like to thank everybody who has taken the time to find out more about what we're proposing and tell us what they think. All the feedback will be carefully considered by the Horizon team as we finalise our plans. Even though this formal consultation is now complete we'll keep on listening to the views of local people to make sure we find the best way to deliver the opportunities and benefits that local people want."

The feedback gathered from individuals and organisations during the consultation will now be analysed in detail by the Horizon team as it prepares to submit its planning application - the Development Consent Order - next year. Consultation will continue on specific aspects of the project throughout the rest of this year and into 2017 as company finalises proposals for specific ‘associated developments’ which require local authority planning permission.

Horizon announced in August it will provide funding towards the construction of a new Engineering Centre of Excellence at a college on the Isle of Anglesey. The facility will be used for the training of apprentices for the Wylfa Newydd nuclear power plant.

Horizon expects to have all the required licences and permissions in place by 2018 for the construction of two Advanced Boiling Water Reactors at Wylfa Newydd.

Established in 2009 and acquired by Hitachi in November 2012, Horizon aims to provide at least 5.4 GWe of new capacity across two UK sites - Wylfa and Oldbury - by deploying Hitachi-GE UK ABWRs. It expects the first unit at Wylfa to be operating in the first half of the 2020s.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News