Boris Johnson has said that a nuclear power station on Anglesey "is going to happen". He was in north Wales ahead of council elections which take place on Thursday, May 5. You can read all our elections content here.
His government has renewed its promise to deliver the power station after a previous plan for a new nuclear power station at Wylfa collapsed in 2020. Mr Johnson vowed to "get it going as fast as possible". The UK Government has published a strategy for new nuclear power stations and giant off-shore wind farms.
In April the British Energy Security Strategy set out how Britain will accelerate the deployment of wind, new nuclear, solar and hydrogen energy which could see 95% of electricity being low carbon by 2030. You can see the detail of how that will impact Wales here.
Read more : Nuclear energy is 'needed more than ever'
BBC Wales has reported him as saying: "We need to get the right type and we need to make sure that we go ahead with the right model. We want to make sure we get the right deal for the UK taxpayer but we also want to have something that's really ambitious and that is going to do justice to the scale of that Wylfa site." He said there could be a "couple of reactors" put at the site.
Mr Johnson added: "We're now working on all this very, very fast. We want to get going on Wylfa in the next couple of years. It's going to happen". On the visit Mr Johnson said he was not concerned that the so-called partygate Covid rules breaches or a row over claims about Angela Rayner would affect the Tories' council election campaign. "This is an election about what candidates which candidates are going to deliver you value for money," he said. "It's Conservative councillors who deliver better value for money, better taxpayer value."
Responding to the PM’s comments Tom Greatrex, chief executive of the UK Nuclear Industry Association, said: “Wylfa is one of the best sites for new nuclear in the UK with the potential to be a low-carbon powerhouse. It is very encouraging to see it at the front of the government’s thinking for development as we seek to strengthen our energy security, wean ourselves off imported gas, and guarantee a secure, sovereign supply of electricity. It is important now that the government builds on the leadership it showed in its energy security strategy by removing the barriers to getting nuclear projects off the ground.”
