Toshiba pulls out of £15 billion Moorside nuclear power plant plan

• 6 years ago (2018-11-09)
• David Flin

Europe 1143 Nuclear 710

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Toshiba has announced that it is pulling out of the £15 billon Moorside nuclear power plant project in West Cumbria, UK. The project involved building three reactors at the site near Sellafield using Westinghouse’s AP1000 reactors. Westinghouse is owned by Toshiba. Moorside had been expected to deliver 7 per cent of the UK’s electricity needs from 2025.

In a statement, Toshiba said: “After considering the additional costs entailed in continuing to operate NuGen, Toshiba recognises that the economically rational decision is to withdraw from the UK nuclear power plant construction project, and has resolved to take steps to wind-up NuGen.”

Korea Electric Power Corporation had been a preferred bidder to take over the project, but a deal could not be secured.

The Moorside site remains a site designated by the UK Government for nuclear new build. It now passes to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority as the owner of the site and the Government to determine its future.