Nuclear power proposals

A list of 11 sites that could be potential hosts to new nuclear power stations in the UK has been published by the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

Members of the public now have one month to comment on the proposals before a nuclear planning consultation takes place later this year.

The Nuclear Industry Association’s chief executive, Keith Parker, welcomed the news, saying that the announcement demonstrated a key step towards a new fleet of nuclear power stations for the UK.

The 11 site nominations were made by energy providers EDF Energy, RWE, E.ON and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).

For its part, EDF proposed five sites - at Hinkley Point in Somerset, Sizewell in Suffolk, Heysham in Lancashire, Hartlepool on Teesside and Dungeness in Kent.

EDF Energy owns land at each of these sites and also at Bradwell in Essex, a site nominated by the NDA, and the Wylfa Peninsula on Anglesey, which was jointly nominated by the NDA and RWE.