Wylfa on Anglesey is expected to be the site for a new nuclear power station, with the decision to be confirmed on Thursday, Wales has been told.
It is thought that the UK government will give the go-ahead for a small modular reactor (SMR).
Ministers have been weighing up whether to choose Anglesey or Oldbury, in Gloucestershire, after signing a £2.5bn partnership with Rolls Royce to build it earlier this year.
It is hoped the plant will provide up to 900 full-time jobs and several thousand more during construction. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has been asked to comment.
It is not known how many small reactors will be built at Wylfa, but the site is believed to be capable of accommodating more than one.
Previously, the UK government department has promised a “golden age of nuclear” which would “protect family finances, boost energy security and create thousands of jobs”.
The Welsh government refused to comment but referred to a previous statement issued on Monday, which said: “Nuclear energy is part of our plan to move away from fossil fuels, using both large-scale and small modular reactors.”
The statement continued: “Wylfa is particularly well placed to attract investment in new nuclear plants because of its nuclear legacy and highly skilled local workforce.
“We continue to work with the UK government to ensure Wales’ potential in this sector is fully realised.”
SMRs are manufactured in a factory in modules before being assembled on-site and can power around a million homes.
There have been calls, including from the US ambassador to the UK, for Wylfa to house a larger gigawatt nuclear power plant, which could power three million homes.
Is this the new nuclear dawn for Wylfa that has proved a false one in the past?
The scrapping of previous plans in 2021 was a blow for jobs on the island, albeit with some local opposition to nuclear power.
There are those, including US ambassador Warren Stephens, who would have preferred a large-scale nuclear power station on the island, but this small modular reactor would nonetheless bring jobs and investment.
And the political context here is key too.
Any announcement by a UK Labour government in the run-up to a much-anticipated budget, with a Senedd election looming and Labour in Wales struggling to hold on to power, will be seized on and analysed.
