UK public have say on revised Wylfa Newydd design

Horizon Nuclear Power has today launched the third formal consultation on its planned Wylfa Newydd nuclear power plant on the Isle of Anglesey. The public will be able to give their opinion on the latest proposals for the project, including a more compact plant design.

Horizon Nuclear Power has today launched the third formal consultation on its planned Wylfa Newydd nuclear power plant on the Isle of Anglesey. The public will be able to give their opinion on the latest proposals for the project, including a more compact plant design.

Wylfa Newydd's footprint will be reduced through more shared buildings and facilities (Image: Horizon)

The company said that since it last consulted on the project, between August and October 2016, the project has "gone through an important period of review". This has reflected two key stages in the on-going development of the project: the appointment in May 2016 of Menter Newydd as its engineering procurement and construction joint venture partner; and Horizon's consideration of previous consultation feedback.

Horizon CEO Duncan Hawthorne said, "In this third stage of consultation, we're focusing on the areas that have changed or where there are new proposals. The changes we're proposing will enable us to streamline our construction schedule, reduce the number of construction workers we need to bring in and temporarily house, and cut the number of development sites we need."

Under the latest proposals, the layout of the Wylfa Newydd plant has been altered to make construction and operation of the project more compact and efficient, Horizon said. The main plant buildings are now located on a single 'power island' rather than in two independent areas, thereby reducing the overall site area. In addition, some of the buildings, structures and features of the plant have been reduced in number.

Horizon said the construction process "now adopts a more modular technique", which reduces the construction program and requires fewer construction workers on site. It is now proposing constructing one larger radioactive waste storage facility to serve both reactors, rather than two separate smaller buildings. Horizon said the landscape mounds have also been reviewed "to give a more natural shape to the landscape".

All three of Wylfa Newydd's off-site facilities - the alternative emergency control centre, the environmental survey laboratory and the mobile emergency equipment garage - have been consolidated on a site at Llanfaethlu. This, Horizon says, reduces the number of development sites associated with the project.

The latest consultation will run until 22 June, during which time Horizon has organised a series of public exhibitions and consultation events across Anglesey and North Wales.

Hawthorne said, "To make this project the best it can be it must be investable, constructable, and deliver a world-leading operating power station. Wylfa Newydd must also be a welcome addition to the community which Anglesey and the wider region can be proud of."

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 Newydd to be operating in the first half of the 2020s.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News