American Nuclear Giant Poised To Resurrect Defunct Welsh Coast Power Site

Westinghouse wants in on Britain’s nuclear game. The American nuclear giant is chatting up UK government officials about building at least two massive reactors at Wylfa on the Welsh coast. Maybe four if things go well. Their pitch? The AP1000 reactor design, which they swear will be running by the mid-2030s.

American nuclear giant Westinghouse eyes Welsh coast for massive reactor project, promising power by mid-2030s.

The site’s got history. Wylfa’s two old Magnox reactors cranked out power for 44 years before shutting down in 2015. Since then, it’s been a graveyard of failed nuclear dreams. Hitachi tried to build something new there. Gave up in 2020. The UK government bought the site from them this year, apparently believing the third time’s the charm.

Location matters. Anglesey‘s got the land, the right geology, and importantly, the sea. You need oceans of water to cool these beasts. The original planners knew this back in 1971. Still true today. Unlike geothermal energy with its impressive 96% capacity factor, nuclear faces different implementation challenges. Meanwhile, another American company, Last Energy, wants to build four microreactor power plants at an old coal site in Bridgend County, targeting industrial customers directly.

Westinghouse is pushing hard on their AP1000 tech. Pressurized water reactors with passive safety features and modular construction. Sounds fancy. They claim it’s cheaper and faster to build than the competition. We’ll see. Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C are using different reactor tech from EDF, and they’re supposed to fire up around the same time. Race is on.

The numbers look good on paper. Westinghouse estimates the whole project will cost £22bn for a 4.4GW plant. Power for millions of homes. Jobs for Wales. Economic boost for Anglesey. All the usual promises when someone wants to build something nuclear. At least the locals know the drill – they’ve been in the energy game for decades.

Government officials seem interested. They’re weighing whether to go big with traditional reactors or try those trendy small modular ones everyone’s talking about. Westinghouse clearly wants them thinking big.

The old Magnox reactors are obsolete now, slowly being taken apart piece by radioactive piece. But if Westinghouse gets its way, Wylfa won’t stay quiet for long. The American company sees opportunity where others saw failure. Bold move. Let’s see if it pays off.