![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/rishi-sunak-hints-wylfa-could-be-preferred-nuclear-site/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/124055567_gettyimages-1084537548.jpg&description=Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Previous plans for a new nuclear power plant at Wylfa collapsed in 2020 due to a lack of UK government funding Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has given his strongest hint yet that Wylfa, on Anglesey, will be named as one of the preferred sites for a new nuclear power station within months. He called it a "fantastic site" that could accommodate both small modular reactors (SMRs) and a larger plant. Mr Sunak said "Wylfa is somewhere that could do both" and the preferred sites would be announced later this year. He spoke to BBC Wales ahead of the Conservative conference in Manchester. Small modular reactors are nuclear fission reactors that are smaller than conventional ones and thought to be less expensive to build than traditional plants, which the prime minister called the "nuclear technologies of the future". The original Wylfa nuclear power station ended electricity generation in late 2015. Last year, the UK government launched its Energy Security Strategy, with Wylfa mentioned as one of the sites that could get the go-ahead for a new nuclear development. On Thursday, Mr Sunak told BBC Wales Political editor Gareth Lewis he was "committed to nuclear power in general because it is an important part of how we deliver energy security in the UK, but also how we decarbonise over time to get to net zero but in a proportionate and pragmatic way". "Now Wylfa is a fantastic site because it can do both potentially giga-watt power but also could do small modular reactors," he said. "Without getting into too much of the specifics, later this year we will be announcing the sites for the next stage of our SMR process on small modular reactors. "I can't say much more before then but obviously Wylfa is somewhere that could do both." In May, a report by MPs on the Welsh Affairs Committee urged UK ministers to show "more concrete commitment" to a new nuclear power station at Wylfa, warning that Hitachi's scrapped bid to do so in 2020 had left "){kind=link}
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has given his strongest hint yet that Wylfa, on Anglesey, will be named one of the preferred sites for a new nuclear power station within months.
He called it a “fantastic site” that could accommodate both small modular reactors (SMRs) and a larger plant.
Mr Sunak said “Wylfa is somewhere that could do both” and the preferred sites would be announced later this year.
He spoke to BBC Wales ahead of the Conservative conference in Manchester.
Small modular reactors are nuclear fission reactors that are smaller than conventional ones and thought to be less expensive to build than traditional plants, which the prime minister called the “nuclear technologies of the future”.