Future of UK nuclear // Bloomberg

A recent feature about the future of UK nuclear energy for Bloomberg.

The Wylfa Power Station on Anglesey, began decommissioning seven years ago, soon after the closure of the aluminium works. Hundreds of jobs were lost and the island was left to rely on tourism, its port and agriculture. Now, the Wylfa site, along with Trawsfynydd in Snowdonia, is a favourite to host a small modular reactor (SMR) – part of Boris Johnson’s plan to increase nuclear energy production, as well the government’s “levelling up” policy. 

Conservative MP, Virginia Crosbie, won the seat in 2019. It had previously been held by Plaid Cymru then Labour. Crosbie believes the SMR would boost the local economy and revitalise the island’s prospects . 

However, the plan isn’t without opposition. Local anti-Nuclear campaigner, Roger Idris, is more skeptical, “when you have an area, which has essentially been economically neglected for generations, then in desperation, people will accept whatever’s going.”