Toshiba is expected to confirm that it is withdrawing from new nuclear projects outside Japan, dealing a blow to plans for a new power station in the UK.
The Japanese company has been reviewing its investment in overseas nuclear projects and is expected to make an announcement on Tuesday.
Toshiba owns Westinghouse, the US-based nuclear developer whose AP1000 reactors are to be used at a planned £10bn power plant at Moorside in Cumbria.
Toshiba also has a 60% stake in NuGen, the company that would build the Moorside plant near Sellafield, so pulling out would leave the government having to look for new backers.
Chris Jukes, the GMB union’s senior officer for Sellafield, said: “A new build at Moorside is part of a vital broader and home-grown energy mix – built, maintained and operated by British workers.
“Brexit should be a perfect opportunity to demonstrate conclusively a better way for nuclear in west Cumbria. For 70 years Whitehaven has been a hub for nuclear.
“That is why we are calling on the British government to commit the investment that is lost by Toshiba pulling out and for the British and Japanese governments to work together on a broader solution so that post-Brexit, west Cumbria jobs, skills and nuclear futures are guaranteed.”
Rebecca Long-Bailey, the shadow business secretary, said: “The government’s energy policy is in chaos. We have become increasingly reliant on the decisions of foreign companies whose interests lie with their owners and not British consumers.
“If Toshiba pulls out of the proposed Moorside plant in Cumbria, the government must intervene immediately and provide public support and financial stability for Moorside and the community of west Cumbria.
“That means taking a public stake in exchange for public support to protect energy supplies and jobs. Labour backs new nuclear and an expansion of renewable energy to keep the lights on and meet our climate change targets.”
