Hitachi halts work on Welsh Nuclear power project

Japan's Hitachi Ltd on Thursday announced that it was halting the work on a 15 billion pound nuclear power project in North Wales after the two governments failed to reach an agreement of the financial term of the project.

A statement issued by Hitachi read, "The decision was made from the viewpoint of Hitachi's economic rationality as a private enterprise," reported New York Times.

A spokesman for Hitachi's British venture Horizon Nuclear Project, Ben Russell stated that discussions with the British and Japanese governments will continue, however, the staff working on the project, currently around 300 people, will be reduced to a minimum.

The Japanese firm will also suspend planning work on the second project in England's Oldbury.

Hitachi stated that the company has planned to take a write-off of 300 billion yen, or USD 2.75 billion, on the projects.

According to the New York Times, Hitachi's decision to suspend work on the power project is a blow to the British government, which is depending on the nuclear installation to help meet the country's electric power needs in the coming decades.