Agreement to progress development of new UK small modular reactors

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Cwmni Egino to support their development of a new small scale nuclear project in North Wales.

The MoU enables the NDA to share information and expertise around the characteristics of its land at Trawsfynydd, to align the decommissioning plans and site activities with the new nuclear project, and to support Cwmni Egino with stakeholder engagement and developing socio-economic plans.

This follows the announcement earlier this year from BEIS that the NDA would work alongside stakeholders, including Cwmni Egino, to enable engagement on potential future nuclear developments in the UK.

The British energy security strategy published in April this year made several new commitments to secure, clean, and affordable British energy for the long term, including delivering new and advanced nuclear power.

Minister for Business, Energy and Corporate Responsibility, Lord Callanan, said:

This new working relationship announced today has the potential to greatly benefit our country’s economy and energy security. It would ensure more homegrown energy as part of our wider mix, and contribute to our ambition to be generating 24GW of nuclear capacity by 2030.

But this will also be of huge benefit to the people living around Trawsfynydd, who are set to benefit from the skilled jobs this could create in the coming years.

NDA Chief Executive, David Peattie, said:

We are engaging with several stakeholders to explore potential uses of our estate, using our capability and expertise to support the Government in delivering its energy security strategy.

This is an important step, formalising our support to Cwmni Egino, and enabling the NDA to deliver its mission to safely decommission our sites and free up the land for future use.

The success of the project at Trawsfynydd will also benefit the community neighbouring our North Wales site.

The NDA is charged, on behalf of government, with cleaning up the UK’s earliest nuclear sites safely, securely, and cost-effectively, with the aim of benefiting local communities and the environment.

It has a history of engagement and land transfer across its estate, and currently owns 950 hectares of designated land across 17 nuclear licensed sites.

Cwmni Egino Chief Executive, Alan Raymant, said:

Our relationship with the NDA is critical to the successful delivery of our vision for the development of new nuclear at Trawsfynydd.

We’re very pleased that the MoU is now formally in place. We look forward to working with the NDA as we continue to develop our proposals which will bring significant benefits to local communities, as well as help achieve energy security and net zero targets.

Cwmni Egino is the development company established by Welsh Government in 2021 to drive future development at the Trawsfynydd site and to promote regional economic and social regeneration.

Economy Minister Vaughan Gething said:

The MOU between Cwmni Egino and the NDA is very good news.  We established Cwmni Egino to maximise the potential of the Trawsfynydd site to benefit the economy of the surrounding area.  I’m pleased to see this further step forward in the project.

The NDA site at Trawsfynydd is home to a Magnox station which is being decommissioned by Magnox Ltd, a subsidiary of the NDA. The NDA also owns land outside the Magnox site boundary which could be used for a new nuclear development.

Cwmni Egino is currently developing a business proposition for the development in Trawsfynydd, with a target for construction to start in 2027.

Any formal commitment of NDA land, or other support, would require government approval via NDA’s sponsoring department BEIS.