Horizon Nuclear Power

Horizon Nuclear Power is a UK energy company working to develop a new generation of nuclear power stations. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. Horizon is proposing to develop and construct nuclear power stations at Wylfa Newydd on Anglesey and at Oldbury-on-Severn in South Gloucestershire. Both of these locations were former sites for Magnox nuclear power stations. Combined these stations would provide 5,800MW of clean electricity into the grid, enough to power 11 million homes.

In January 2019, Horizon announced they were suspending work at both Wylfa Newydd and Oldbury after they were unable to reach an agreement on the financing and associated commercial arrangements in time to sustain ongoing levels of development. In discussion with the UK Government Horizon are working on establishing funding conditions needed for a restart and securing a development consent order.

The proposed nuclear power stations would be based on Advanced Boiling Water Reactors (ABWRs) developed by Hitachi with a modular design for simpler construction and operation.

Hitachi's ABWR is the world’s first ‘Generation III+’ reactor in operation. The latest design has increased the power generation capacity of the reactor while also decreasing its size. Hitachi has participated in the design, development, and construction of over 20 nuclear power plants in Japan alone using boiling water reactor technology.