GMB voices 'huge concern' as major French investor walks away from Moorside nuclear reactor deal
‘There is too much at stake for project not to go ahead’ says union.
GMB, the union for nuclear workers, has voiced ‘huge concern’ as a major investor walked away from the Moorside nuclear reactor project.
French firm Engie, backing the £10billion build with Toshiba, pulled the plug on the deal yesterday.
The Moorside project had already been thrown into turmoil when Toshiba announced multi-billion dollar losses, causing chairman Shigenori Shiga to step down.
Then last week Toshiba’s US arm Westinghouse, which is producing reactors for Moorside, went bankrupt.
The Moorside power station is set to be built in Cumbria and deliver seven per cent of the UK’s electricity from 2025.
Chris Jukes, GMB senior organiser, said:
“This is hugely concerning.
“We need urgent clarity from the Government, clarity from NuGen [the company behind the project] and some firm announcements about the plant’s future.
“In post-Brexit Britain we have the perfect opportunity to provide our own energy supply.
“But we have one French company exiting the project and one in the Far East having financial problems.
“It makes you wonder if this project is going to go ahead.
“It has to. There’s too much at stake."
