£10bn power station moves a step closer

Japanese engineering and technology firm Toshiba has signed an agreement to buy 60 per cent of NuGen, the UK-based group that plans to build three nuclear reactors next to the Sellafield site in west Cumbria.

The remaining 40 per cent of NuGen remains with European energy business GDF Suez.

The project is scheduled to be completed in 2024, will create up to 21,000 jobs and will generate 3.4 gigawatts of energy, which is enough to power six million homes, equivalent to seven per cent of the UK’s electricity requirement.

The deal represents the completion of an agreement in January when Toshiba agreed in principle to buy a majority stake in the project for £102m.

The three reactors will be built on the Moorside site near the existing Sellafield nuclear complex, and will take approximately four years each to build. The group said the final investment decision for the project will be taken by the end of 2018.

Westinghouse Electric Company, which is owned by Toshiba, will supply the Westinghouse AP1000 pressurised water reactors.