Extensive supply chain ‘stimulates economic activity’ across region
Urenco’s Capenhurst uranium enrichment site in northwest England contributed more than £0.5bn (€0.6bn, $0.63bn) towards the UK economy last year, a report has found, whilst supporting thousands of jobs in nuclear and the wider supply chain.
The socioeconomic impact assessment, produced by Oxford Economics, revealed that Capenhurst – which has three enrichment plants – supported a £547m contribution to gross domestic product in 2023. For every £10m in GDP generated by the site, another £11m was generated elsewhere in the UK economy.
The report said the site supported 4,575 jobs around the UK, including its 951 employees. For every 10 people employed by Urenco, another 38 jobs were supported elsewhere.
According to the report, Urenco Capenhurst has a significant indirect impact to the UK economy through its extensive supply chain, stimulating economic activity particularly across the northwest of England. It contributed around £230m, with around 20% of the budget going to suppliers located in less affluent areas.
Capenhurst generated enough tax revenues (£130m) to pay the equivalent annual wages of around 4,000 UK nurses.
The report was commissioned by Urenco, an Anglo-German-Dutch uranium enrichment company, based on 2023 data, to understand the site’s impacts on its communities, the northwest region and the rest of the country, including through UK GDP, employment, supply chains, tax receipts, training and education.
The findings come as the site works towards the delivery of the first advanced fuels facility in Europe by the early 2030s, where it will provide high-assay low-enriched uranium (Haleu) to the global market to power advanced nuclear reactors.
Tom Greatrex, chief executive of the London-based Nuclear Industry Association, Capenhurst is “a critical UK asset” that is helping to drive Russia out of the nuclear market and strengthen energy security in the UK and abroad.
