POWER bosses last night promised any new nuclear North Wales station would be built to withstand a 9/11-style terrorist attack. A senior British Nuclear Fuels manager said recent research showed a fuel-laden passenger jet would be unlikely to breach a modern nuclear reactor. BNFL's head of energy policy studies, Adrian Bull, was trying to win around MPs on the Welsh Affairs select committee opposed to a new generation of nuclear plants. He told them "action is needed now" to replace Wales' only nuclear power plant at Wylfa on Anglesey. Welsh Labour MPs are split on the issue. Nia Griffith (Llanelli) and Martin Caton (Gower) warned future plants would be vulnerable to terrorist attacks while Albert Owen (Ynys Môn) fears not replacing Wylfa would devastate Anglesey's economy. Mr Bull yesterday sought to reassure MPs saying: "The big advantage with nuclear power stations is they are some of the the most robust structures on earth." He said a US experiment saw a fuel-laden fighter jet flown by remote control against a concrete wall similar to those used in nuclear plants. The impact made only a six-inch indentation. And he added research by US-based Electric Power Research Institute showed "there would be no release of radioactivity from any credible aircraft impact". In a separate boost for Wylfa's prospects he said industry experts believed any new sites should be built "on or adjacent to existing sites". But he said it would be 10 years before the plant became operational if ministers gave the go-ahead immediately. With Wylfa due to close in 2010 this would make Wales nuclear-free for at least six years. Nuclear energy currently provides 30% of the power consumed in Wales. And he voiced serious doubts Wylfa's life could be extended beyond 2010. Mr Bull said the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, which owns the site, "do not really consider it realistic". He said a Wylfa extension would force ministers to agree to extending the life of the Sellafield reprocessing plant in Cumbria. And this would risk breaching an international treaty on radioactive emissions into the Irish Sea. His comments came after energy minister Malcolm Wicks told the Daily Post that extending Wylfa's life was "not terribly likely". Some 600 jobs at Wylfa and 600 more at Anglesey Aluminium are at serious risk if an alternative cheap powerfor smelting operations cannot be found. The companies pump some £42m a year into the island's fragile economy. . Renewable industry energy chiefs yesterday insisted that Welsh homeowners will grow to love giant turbines. William Heller, Falck Renewables MD, told the Welsh Affairs select committee that public support for wind farms grew once they were built. | 
