Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made a comparative assessment of the value for money of (a) Wylfa Newydd nuclear project and (b) a low-carbon alternative electricity generator.

As announced in my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State’s statement to Parliament on 4th June 2018, the Government has decided to enter into negotiations with Hitachi over the Wylfa Newydd new nuclear project. No final decision has yet been taken to proceed with the project.

The Government published a value for money assessment for Hinkley Point C at the time of the deal being signed and will carry out a value for money assessment for any future new nuclear project before a final deal is agreed.

As the Government sent out in its response to the Public Accounts Committee inquiry into Hinkley Point C on 25^th January 2018, a review of the strategic case for new nuclear would form a key part of the value for money case for any proposed new nuclear project (as it was for Hinkley Point C). This would include a comparison across different technologies.