NuGen is a joint venture between Spanish utility provider Iberdrola and French utility GDF Suez to build a 3.6 gigawatt nuclear plant in Cumbria.

Iberdrola said today (Monday) that it had agreed to sell its 50 per cent stake in NuGen to Toshiba.

Speaking on behalf of 21,000 workers in nuclear fuel manufacturing, decommissioning and energy supply, Prospect deputy general secretary Garry Graham said: “This is welcome news for Cumbria and the UK. The joint venture to build a 3.6 gigawatt nuclear plant in Cumbria will play an important part in securing the future energy needs of the UK and support highly skilled, quality jobs in the area.

“New nuclear generation is crucial to ensuring security of supply and low carbon energy. With the strike price agreement – the price the government has guaranteed EDF per unit of electricity produced from its proposed new nuclear reactors at Hinkley in Somerset – and the finance deal for a new nuclear power station at Wylfa, North Wales, 2013 will be seen as a pivotal year in securing the investment needed in UK energy generation.”