The Celtic League has welcomed news that plans for a new nuclear power station in Anglesey have been halted.

Wylfa nuclear plant, located just 35 miles from the southern coast of the Isle of Man, closed in 2015 after more than 40 years of service.

Public money was to have been invested in its £20bn replacement due to have been constructed by Horizon Nuclear power, a subsidiary of Japanese giant Hitachi.

But Horizon last week announced that it will suspend its UK nuclear development programme, following a decision taken by its parent company Hitachi, after failing to reach an agreement with the UK government over funding.

The move comes shortly after Toshiba announced it was winding up its NuGen business which was behind a £10bn plan for a new nuclear plant at Moorside on the Cumbrian coast, having failed to secure a buyer.

Bernard Moffatt, assistant General Secretary of the Celtic League, said: ’Celtic League welcome the plans to pause Wylfa as indeed we also were pleased the Moorside development at Windscale/Sellafield was halted last year.

’The nuclear stations pose not just a short term threat by way of accidents such as those which occurred at the old Wylfa station but are also unsustainable economically because of the pollution legacy issues.’

The Celtic League has been an opponent of nuclear energy for decades and opposed the proposal to build a new generation of these stations.

Mr Moffatt said that opposition has been vindicated.

He added: ’In the meantime we will continue to monitor and where necessary raise concerns with the Office of Nuclear Regulation (ONR) about the current stations, many of which are now operating well past their sell-by date such as Hunterston B which had to be shutdown in November 2018 when further cracking in the reactor was discovered.’

The Celtic League opposition to nuclear power will be revisited at the AGM to be held in Brittany later this year. Its decision to oppose ’nuclear new build’ was first taken at the 2006 AGM at Landernev in Brittany .

Horizon has also halted development plans for a second nuclear plant at Oldbury on Severn in South Gloucestershire.

Chief executive Duncan Hawthorne said: ’We’ve made very strong progress on the project, including the UK design of our tried and tested reactor.

’We have been in close discussions with the UK Government, in co-operation with the Government of Japan, on the financing and associated commercial arrangements for some years now. I am very sorry to say that despite the best efforts of everyone involved we’ve not been able to reach an agreement to the satisfaction of all concerned.’

Work on Wylfa Newydd was due to begin in 2020.

The plant was designed to generate enough electricity to power some five million homes.