The Opportunity

Growing the economy

SMR deployment at Trawsfynydd has the potential to create over 400 high quality jobs locally during 60+ years of operation, as well as thousands of jobs during construction. This will promote local and regional economic growth and help to ensure a sustainable future for communities. It will also create business opportunities and grow the low carbon skills base regionally, across Wales and the rest of the UK. We envision North Wales as a globally recognised centre of excellence for low carbon energy manufacturing and innovation, pivotal to the UK’s nuclear sector.

Delivering energy security

Nuclear power at Trawsfynydd and a wider SMR programme can play a critical role in producing homegrown low carbon energy to make sure there is enough electricity available to power homes and businesses. Cwmni Egino aims to achieve approval to start construction before the end of the decade. This can accelerate delivery of the UK nuclear programme to enhance energy security and help achieve the UK Government’s target of 24GW of nuclear power by 2050. By being the first SMR nuclear site in the UK, Trawsfynydd can provide a model for other sites.

Achieving net zero

The UK needs 4 times as much clean power as we have now to hit Net Zero by 2050*, and nuclear energy has one of the lowest carbon footprints of all commercially available sources. New nuclear at Trawsfynydd will provide a reliable source of power, available 24/7, to complement the growing proportion of variable wind and solar generation needed to reach a fully decarbonised energy system. 
* Source: Climate Change Committee

WHY NEW NUCLEAR
AT TRAWS?

Extensive research was done by Snowdonia Enterprise Zone to identify potential future uses for the Trawsfynydd site to ensure long-term, well-paid employment for local people in south Gwynedd alongside, and beyond, decommissioning of the existing power station.
Given the site’s heritage, studies have concluded that it is most suited for nuclear development.

Following detailed assessments of a number of different options, two projects were confirmed as having the greatest potential to deliver socio-economic benefits, namely small scale nuclear reactors to generate low carbon energy, and a medical research reactor to produce radioisotopes for cancer diagnostics, treatment and research. Cwmni Egino believes that SMR offers the greatest potential to deliver socio-economic benefits in the near term.

The UK Government’s British Energy Security Strategy, published in April 2022, set a target for 24GW of new nuclear by 2050 – representing up to 25% of the UK’s projected electricity demand. It has also stated its intention to approve at least 2 additional projects in the next Parliament, including SMRs.

These ambitions were reinforced in Powering up Britain published in April 2023. Great British Nuclear (GBN) has been launched to support the development of new nuclear and help ensure a pipeline of projects. Cwmni Egino will work with GBN as it continues to develop the proposals for Trawsfynydd.

  • ADDRESSING LOCAL NEEDS

Cwmni Egino wants to maximise the benefits of SMR deployment for local communities. To help us design the project in a way which brings the greatest value and improvement to people’s quality of life, we’ve looked at key socio-economic indicators to better understand local needs and help us identify challenges and opportunities in addressing those needs

The UK’s civil nuclear industry contributed £700 million to the Welsh economy in 2021 – directly employing 800 people, and supporting a total of 10,700 jobs across the country.

Delivering Value: The Economic Impact of the Civil Nuclear Industry,  Nuclear Industry Association, 2023

SMR at
Trawsfynydd will:

  • Create more than 400 jobs providing well-paid, year-round employment for over 60 years
  • Create business opportunities for local and regional companies through the supply chain
  • Promote skills development, training and apprenticeship programmes locally and throughout North Wales
  • Boost the regional economy and productivity, with over £600m GVA for North West Wales and £1.3bn for the whole of Wales
  • Supply up to 1 GW of low carbon, reliable energy to the grid – enough to power around 2 million homes
  • Support the Welsh language and culture by retaining and attracting talent back to the area and contributing to sustainable and thriving communities
  • Improve the wellbeing of local communities through a programme of socio-economic initiatives

Regional and cross-border collaboration

The relationship between the nuclear sector in North Wales and Northern England is evidenced by the North West Nuclear Arc (NWNA) cluster – a partnership of private, public and academic bodies working across the nuclear sector in the North West of England and Wales.

Trawsfynydd sits in a key area within the NWNA nuclear technology eco-system – which covers a geographic area extending from Cumbria in North West England to North West Wales. Capabilities within this geography cover the lifetime activities of the nuclear fuel supply chain. This includes manufacturing just over the Welsh Border at Capenhurst near Chester, fabrication at Springfields near Preston and used fuel and waste management in Cumbria.

North Wales and the wider NWNA area have a strong foundation of research and development expertise. Trawsfynydd is well located to collaborate with Bangor University’s Nuclear Futures Institute, M-SParc, and AMRC Cymru in Broughton, as well as the Dalton Institute in Manchester University and the National Nuclear Laboratory. Development at Trawsfynydd would encourage growth and inward investment in the manufacturing sector in North East Wales and in the wider nuclear supply chain in the Warrington area and North West England.

As well as building on the experience of past and current activities in electrity generation in the region, the SMR project at Trawsfynydd will benefit from working within NWNA to draw on nuclear capabilities on both sides of the border to support wider economic growth.