Doubts over £10bn nuclear scheme set to linger on

Toshiba has delayed the announcement of its intentions towards the under-threat £10bn Moorside nuclear power station in Cumbria.

The giant Japanese company was widely expected to announce a £4.8bn write-down at its US nuclear business and half new nuclear projects, prompting fears for the future of the scheme near Sellafield.

Toshiba has submitted an application for the approval of the deadline for submission of its 178th third-quarter securities report. The report was to be published today but it is now seeking to put this back to March 14.

Meanwhile, the UK’s biggest union Unite has called for the government `to get a grip’ on the funding of major infrastructure projects, following today’s the latest development.

National officer for energy Kevin Coyne said: “Toshiba’s announcement today that there will be yet another month’s delay on providing clarity over its future involvement in the Moorside project piles further agony upon this Cumbrian community.
 
“But it also reinforces what Unite has been saying for some time which is that the government must get a grip of the funding of these projects.

“It is the duty of the government, not the private sector, to ensure that UK energy is safe secure and that means it must act to bring our new power stations on stream.
 
“As the further uncertainty caused by today’s delay by Toshiba all too clearly illustrates, this reliance on private sector companies to supply the financing for the UK’s energy future is simply not secure. 

“That’s why it is the job of governments to come up with a coherent financial architecture to ensure that such large developments proceed smoothly.   Keeping our lights on cannot be left to the whimsy of market forces.
 
“If this government is at all serious about delivering its industrial strategy, then it will not tread water following today’s development.  It is not just the security of our energy supply that is up in the air now.  In a community that could sorely do with the investment, thousands of highly-skilled and well-paid jobs are linked with Moorside going ahead successfully – they cannot be jeopardised.”
 
Toshiba has a 60% stake to provide the reactors for the Moorside project owned by the NuGen consortium.  NuGen, a UK nuclear company, is a joint venture between Toshiba and French company ENGIE.

The Toshiba-owned Westinghouse Electric Company would have supplied the three reactors. ENGIE is earmarked to operate the site.  
 
Unite reiterated that there is not a clear, suitable alternative to the design for the AP1000 nuclear reactors at Moorside, near Sellafield, proposed by Toshiba as their version differs from the generator made by the South Koreans, who the government may approach to replace the Toshiba investment.
 
Coyne added: “A change of design in the reactor could take five years to implement, which is troubling, as it is means more delays that the UK energy sector can ill-afford.
 
“The government has to get a grip of its policy as it has an overriding duty to keep the lights on for the consumer and industry in the decades to come.”

NuGen said it acknowledged the announcement that Toshiba’s review into the future of its nuclear power business outside Japan is complete and that it remains committed to developing NuGen’s Moorside Project.

Moorside, it said, is at the core of the UK’s plans for providing safe, sustainable low-carbon electricity for generations to come and will be a transformational opportunity for West Cumbria.

NuGen CEO, Tom Samson, said: “The project has made significant progress since Toshiba took over as major shareholder in 2014.

“The site has already been proven as suitable for three Westinghouse AP1000 reactors, two phases of consultation have found the public overwhelmingly supportive of the need for new nuclear and have helped shape the plans for Moorside.

“The UK Government is supportive of NuGen, as a maturing and highly skilled nuclear organisation, and has remained firmly committed to new nuclear – stating that nuclear has a crucial role to play in securing our future energy needs, especially as we look to move to a low carbon society.”