Moorside Nuclear Plant Consultations Begin

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Public consultations have begun in the U.K. on the proposed Moorside power project, which will be Europe's largest new nuclear plant when commissioned in 2024.

The 10-week process was kicked off by developer NuGeneration Limited (NuGen) (West Cumbria, England), with the first of 21 public exhibitions at the newly opened Moorside Information Centre in Whitehaven's Civic Hall. Moorside, which is located near the former Sellafield nuclear plant in Cumbria, will have three reactors with a total generating capacity of 3,400 megawatts (MW), enough to power 6 million homes, or approximately 7% of the U.K.'s total electricity needs.

"The Moorside Project will have a positive transformational effect on the whole of Cumbria," said Sandy Rupprecht, chief executive officer of NuGen. "The prospects for employment, skills development and involvement of local supply chain companies are considerable. How we take forward positive and sustainable transport, employment, supply chain, accommodation and construction solutions are of key importance locally. That is why we want to know the public's point of view."

The project aims to use three AP1000 nuclear reactors from Westinghouse Electric Company (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), which have been going through the assessment process since 2011. In March, Westinghouse and U.K. nuclear regulators, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and the Environment Agency (EA), announced they have begun the closeout phase of the Generic Design Assessment (GDA) of the AP1000, and remain on target for full clearance for use in the Moorside project.

NuGen is jointly owned by Toshiba Corporation (TYO:6502) (Tokyo, Japan) (60%), which also owns Westinghouse, and GDF Suez (OTC:GDSZF) (Paris, France) (40%). Last July, Toshiba bought its way into the U.K. nuclear sector when it paid 128 million euros ($142.8 million) for its controlling stake in the venture. For additional information, see July 7, 2014, article - Toshiba Buys into U.K. Nuclear Sector.

In December, the Moorside project received a boost when the government agreed to help NuGen find financial backers for the project. The deal with the Treasury will allow access to the U.K. Guarantee Scheme, whereby if external backers cannot be found, the government will fund part, or all, of the required financing for a fee. For additional information, see December 8, 2014, article - U.K. Backs Moorside Nuclear Project.

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