ENERGY SECRETARY Ed Miliband insisted it is in the “national interest” for Rolls-Royce to work on the government’s first small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear power station following US criticism yesterday.

The first-of-its-kind project will be built at Wylfa, on Anglesey/Ynys Mon in north Wales by publicly owned Great British Energy-Nuclear with £2.5 billion in backing from the government.

US ambassador Warren Stephens said Washington is “extremely disappointed” by the decision as there are “cheaper, faster and already approved options to provide clean, safe energy at this same location.”

He had been pushing for a larger reactor at Wylfa, and US firm Westinghouse had reportedly presented plans to the government to build a new gigawatt station at the site.

Yesterday Mr Miliband told Times Radio: “The reason he doesn’t think it’s so great is because he wanted a US company to be at this site.

“We chose a British company, Rolls-Royce for this site, and I make no apologies for that.

“Our job is to stand up for the national interest.”

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said the announcement would support up to 3,000 jobs in the local economy at the height of construction.

Wales Green Party leader Anthony Slaughter said: “It’s Groundhog Day yet again.

“New nuclear power at Wylfa would be nothing but an expensive distraction from the clean, fast and cheap renewables already available to us.

“We need to cut emissions fast, but even the most optimistic backers admit it’ll take a decade for new nuclear to be up and running.

“And there is still no answer to the safe disposal of nuclear waste.

“What Wales needs is a fast, ambitious roll-out of solar, wind and wave energy that will create jobs and cut energy bills.”

Plaid Cymru MS for Ynys Mon Rhun ap Iorwerth and Ynys Mon MP Llinos Medi welcomed the announcement as helping to unlock the “long-term, high-quality jobs and investment our communities deserve.”

GMB national officer Charlotte Brumpton-Childs said: “GMB believes Wylfa was ready for — and deserved — a large-scale reactor, but we welcome the reintroduction of nuclear energy into Anglesey.

“The study into sites for large gigawatt reactors is good news on paper — but the proof will be in the pudding and we will hold [the] minister to account on that pledge.”

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham called the failure to support a giga-watt nuclear power station at Wylfa “a huge missed opportunity in securing Britain’s energy security.”

She said: “Britain is crying out for a joined-up energy strategy that ensures long-term energy security while also maximising well paid highly skilled jobs for British workers.

“Such a strategy must include the development of both SMRs and giga-watt nuclear power stations.”