LOCAL leaders have welcomed news that Trawsfynydd is being touted as a “standout” candidate for the UK’s first small nuclear reactor.

This week, the Welsh Affairs Committee published a report into the future of nuclear power in Wales which highlights the great potential for re-developing nuclear power in North Wales, at Trawsfynydd and Wylfa in particular.

Dwyfor and Meirionnydd’s MP Liz Saville Roberts said the installation of a SMR would be of “immense significance to Gwynedd and beyond”.

She said: “North Wales needs jobs of this calibre for the sake of the local economy and to address the chronic loss of young people from Welsh-speaking communities.

“The need to generate and export a valuable commodity is also of significance, as is the capacity to move ahead with energy policy for the 21st century.

“Given that current plans for decommissioning (the site) would result in the loss of most jobs within the next 10 years, I strongly urge the government to heed the committee’s recommendation that this alternative strategy of continuous decommissioning be adopted and that, if necessary, extra government funding should be made available.”

Trawsfynydd power plant stopped generating power in 1991 and is currently being decommissioned, with dozens of jobs being lost routinely as the site is slowly shut down.

This process will see the current decommissioning work force of 250 staff shrink by up to 75 per cent in the next 12 years.

Cllr Dyfed Edwards, Gwynedd Council leader, welcomed the findings of the report, saying: “As a council we are working closely with both the Welsh Government and UK Government, together with other partners, to maximise the huge potential of the Snowdonia Enterprise Zone – which has the Trawsfynydd site at its heart."

See this week’s Meirionydd edition for the full story, in shops now or online by clicking the Digital Editions tab at the top of the page