On 4th December 2013, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, announced as part of the UK Government's National Infrastructure Plan, that the government had signed a co-operation agreement with Japanese energy company Hitachi "to promote external financing" for a new nuclear power plant at Wylfa in Anglesey, Wales. The site was bought by Hitachi for around £700m in October 2012 and the plant will be built by Horizon Nuclear Power, a subsidiary of Hitachi, which they bought from E.ON UK and RWE npower.

The new nuclear power plant, formerly known as Wylfa B, has been renamed Wylfa Newydd ("New Wylfa" in Welsh), in recognition of the "opportunities" the facility will bring, including the creation of up to 6,000 jobs while the reactors are being built and around 1,000 when the plant is operating. Horizon plans to build two new 1,300 MW Advanced Boiling Water Reactors, the first commercial boiling reactors in the country. The development will be classed as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) under the Planning Act 2008 and will therefore require a Development Consent Order (DCO). The required licences and permissions are expected to be in place for the project by 2018. First nuclear construction will start around 2019 and the first reactor will become operational in the first half of the 2020s.

It is not only Japanese companies investing in the UK nuclear sector. Several Chinese firms have signalled their intent to invest in UK infrastructure projects, including nuclear power plants. Earlier in 2013, the UK government agreed a "strike price" with EDF Energy of £89.50 for each megawatt of electricity produced every hour from the proposed nuclear power plants at Hinkley Point, Somerset and Sizewell, Suffolk. It was also announced that Chinese companies China National Nuclear Corporation and China General Nuclear Power Corporation will be minority shareholders in the project at Hinkley Point.

China currently have 17 nuclear reactors in operation and another 28 plants are under construction. Firms in the far-eastern country are keen to sell their technology around the world and enter into further joint ventures and it is believed that if they can show that they are meeting the strict regulatory requirements that the UK enforces, they will be given more credibility. A memorandum of understanding between the UK and Chinese governments was signed during a UK trade envoy to China which sets the strategic framework for collaboration on investment, technology, construction and expertise. The memorandum also provides for Chinese technicians to come to Britain for training in radioactive waste management.

With over two decades of experience, Zyda Law is a leading specialist in planning and environmental law for major infrastructure projects. We are an award winning firm with leading expertise in navigating regulatory and statutory processes to achieve planning consents and environmental permits for energy, waste, transport and water projects. We have particular expertise in gaining Development Consent Orders (DCOs) for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) under the Planning Act 2008 and have a 100% success record for gaining planning permission for major infrastructure projects.

Our major clients in the nuclear sector include EDF Energy, for whom we have worked for several years gaining consents for a Dry Fuel Store and an Emergency Response Centre at the Sizewell B site in Suffolk, and Dounreay Site Restoration Limited, for whom we have been advising on the decommissioning of the Dounreay nuclear power station in Scotland for 15 years. We also have significant experience in drafting DCOs. We are currently drafting a DCO for an Underground Gas Storage facility in Cheshire.

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