Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2019 January 16 - 22 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Hitachi decides to 'freeze' nuclear power plant project in Wales

Hitachi, Ltd. on January 17 decided to "freeze" a project to construct a nuclear power station in the U.K. due to a lack of private investors because of skepticism about the project's profitability. Hitachi was planning to build a 2-reactor nuclear facility in the island of Anglesey in Wales.

International environmental NGO "FoE Japan" and Welsh civic organization "People against Wylfa-B (PAWB)" issued a joint statement welcoming the suspension of the project.

However, Koga Shigeaki, a former bureaucrat of the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), told Akahata that the decision does not automatically mean that Hitachi has given up on the project.

Koga believes that Hitachi is only awaiting to obtain advantageous terms from Britain as a result of Japanese government efforts to seal the deals.

He said, "Hitachi knows with certainty that the Abe government and the METI will continue to push infrastructure exports. So, we should understand that the Hitachi decision to the project on hold is a tactic to put pressure on them. Japan lags behind other countries in working for a world free of nuclear power generation, but once the government decides to do away with nuclear power it will be able to move forward immediately to create a nuclear-free Japan. In other words, we should choose a government which aims to establish a nuclear-free nation."

Past related articles:
> Abe-driven shipment of NPP projects to overseas flounders [December 18, 2018]
> Hitachi's nuclear export to UK criticized by environmental NGO and Welsh citizens [May 3, 2018]