Fifteen companies and trade unions, including France’s state-controlled power company EDF and several engineering firms, announced proposals for a clean energy hub in the UK including up to three EPR reactors, small modular reactors (SMRs) and advanced modular reactors (AMRs).

EDF Energy, the UK arm of EDF, confirmed plans reported by NucNet that the site for the hub is Moorside in Cumbria, northwest England, where Japan’s Toshiba was originally planning to build three AP1000 units. Those plans were abandoned in late 2018 after the company’s nuclear unit Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy the year before and Toshiba was unable to secure the right financing package.

The UK last year set a target to reach net zero emissions by 2050, which is likely to require a significant increase in low-carbon electricity such as wind, solar and nuclear.