800 jobs at new nuclear plant near Bristol
The firm behind moves to build new nuclear reactors near Bristol said up to 800 permanent jobs could be created through the massive project, with thousands more involved in the construction phase.
But Horizon Nuclear Power, the name given to the joint venture created by power firms Eon UK and RWE npower, will only be able to press ahead with its proposals if the Oldbury-on-Severn and Shepperdine area, near Thornbury, is included in the Government's nuclear national policy statement.
So far the location has only been identified as a potential site but Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband was today due to make a series of major policy statements about a new generation of atomic plants.
Horizon Nuclear Power, which will start operating next week, wants to develop land it has already bought next to the existing Oldbury nuclear power station, which is coming to the end of its generating life. It is also behind a scheme to build a station at Wylfa on Anglesey.
It wants to develop 6,000 megawatts of new nuclear capacity in the UK – enough to power a city the size of Greater London – by 2025 and hopes to get its first reactor online in about 2020.
Horizon said it expected to spend more than £15 billion on power plants, creating about 11,000 jobs in total.
Horizon's chief operating officer, Alan Raymant, said: "We've met a lot of local people and groups around our site at Oldbury and we'll maintain an open, no surprises approach."
"Technical investigations and ecological studies are progressing well and we'll shortly be engaging further with local organisations and the public on the detailed studies required to prepare any future consent applications.
"Without question, nuclear energy will form a vital part of Britain's low carbon future and Horizon Nuclear Power will play a key role in delivering new nuclear stations, helping achieve the UK's stretching environmental targets.
Mr Raymant said the company was also progressing with a competitive tender process with Areva and Westinghouse over the reactor design, which will have a 60-year lifespan.
Mr Raymant said: "Choosing our reactor supplier is a significant milestone and the technical and commercial evaluation of our options is well underway.
"A team of nuclear experts from across RWE and Eon has been put in place to support this process, with the aim of selecting a preferred supplier for exclusive negotiation early in the new year."
Horizon will have its headquarters near Gloucester but it is also looking to open a local office in Oldbury and another at Wylfa.
Meanwhile, Almondsbury-based contractors Hydrock are continuing site investigations on the South Gloucestershire land and a further round of public exhibitions are due to start later this month to give an update on progress.
They include one in Oldbury Memorial Hall on Saturday, November 21, from 10am to 6pm; at Berkeley Town Hall, in Salter Street, from noon to 8pm on Tuesday, November 24, and at the Cossham Hall, in Chapel Street, Thornbury, from 10am to 6pm on Saturday, November 28.
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by Tom, Bristol
Monday, November 09 2009, 5:22PM
“Small admission from the last post: "the average size nuclear power station produces enough nuclear waste in ONE YEAR to fill a London taxi and no more". Some of the media in the past have grossly misled the public over this.”
by Tom, Bristol
Monday, November 09 2009, 5:19PM
“Steve, the average size nuclear power station produces enough nuclear waste to fill a London taxi and no more. It remains dangerous for 600 years after which it is no more radioactive than the uranium it originated from. As I said earlier, Tony Blair demonised nuclear power and so did the media. That has cost this country billions of pounds wasted on alternatives that are nowhere near as green as nuclear. Fortunately this is one of the few decisions Gordon Brown has got right.”
by derek, Not in Briz
Monday, November 09 2009, 3:06PM
“Whatever happened to that great scheme to utilise the huge ebb and flow in the Severn estuary? Next to the Bay of Fundy it has the largest in the World.The great dams in the World use the flow of rivers for electric power,why on earth can`t we?”
by wibble, meh
Monday, November 09 2009, 2:50PM
“If we were starting out with a blank piece of paper then a lot of the ideas Anita is proposing would be great (although I must admit looking out of the window today its not the best advert for solar power)
The problem is, and it's a big problem, the government have taken their eye off the ball regarding the national energy supply. Some of the older nuclear power stations are due for decommission and this is going to leave the country with a very big hole in our energy supply.
While renewables are commendable and should be researched and implemented as much and as fast as possible, the truth is that they are not going to produce energy in the scale required in the available time frame to make up what we need.
This Government have now realised how deep we are in it and have to decide from the following.
a) start building new nuclear plants - now, no questions asked - too late for that
b) start burning lots and lots and lots of coal of which we have plenty. (global warming ..)
c) import increasing expensive oil and gas (depletion means we now use more than we produce in the north sea) - this leaves us vulnerable as we would rely on foreign suppliers sell and ship to us
d) we start having brown/blackouts on a regular basis.
We are right in it and no easy solutions to make our way out. Nuclear power may not be every bodies cup of tea but if it comes a choice of sitting in the dark or nuclear power I think most people will put up with nuclear power.”
by Steve, Glastonbury
Monday, November 09 2009, 2:40PM
“So we just bury the waste in Tom's garden then... sorted”