An economic report sponsored by the government of Wales in Britain presented some big numbers for the region to consider, and the economic minister Edwina Hart called the $20.87 billion build under consideration a “once in a generation [economic] opportunity”
The report released Monday was compiled by independent consulting firm Miller Research. In the study that envisioned a two-reactor project on Anglesey, an island off the northwest coast of Wales, the report concluded that the facility would be worth $8.5 billion to the economy of Wales over a 20-year stretch.
The two-reactor Wylfa Newydd project would require 6,800 construction workers and end up with 875 permanent jobs, the report said.
The study also envisioned the decommissioning of the two-reactor Wylfa Nuclear Power Station, which has one remaining reactor online. The Wylfa Unit 2 was taken off line in 2012 and Unit 1 is scheduled for a permanent shut down in December 2015.
Once completed, the new plant would add $129.67 million each year in gross value added (or GVA) to the economy, which is the value of goods and services the plant would produce — essentially adding to the region's gross domestic product. Over the course of 20 years – the era the researchers evaluated – the plant would represent 0.5 percent of Wales' Gross Value Added or GVA, the report said, according to a BBC report.
The decommissioning work also adds to the local economy. The report said the Wylfa decommissioning would add $939 million to the Welsh economy. The decommissioning of the two reactors at Trawsfynydd NPP in Gwynedd, Wales, which have been offline since 1991, is expected to add $462 million to the Welsh economy over the next 20 years, the report said.
The report said that 24,000 businesses in Wales could benefit from the Wylfa Newydd project.