A consortium of GDF SUEZ SA, Iberdrola SA and Scottish and Southern Energy Plc has secured an option to purchase land for the development of a new nuclear power station at Sellafield.

Following the sale run by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), the consortium set out plans to build up to 3.6 gigawatts of new nuclear capacity in the UK, with work beginning in 2015.

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband said: "These latest plans, together with the ambition of existing plans from two other operators, mean that new nuclear could power the equivalent of all 26 million homes in the UK.

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"This sale is further proof that we’re giving industry the confidence to invest and that the UK is creating a successful low carbon economy."

The new site, purchased for £70 million, follows previous sales of NDA land at Wylfa, Oldbury and Bradwell, as Britain continues its path towards a nuclear renaissance. Any new nuclear power station development will be subject to the regulatory and other consenting processes.

The land has been nominated into the Government's Strategic Siting Assessment process which assesses sites for their suitability for new nuclear power stations. The Government will be consulting on its assessment of the sites that are potentially suitable for new nuclear power stations as part of its consultation on the draft National Policy Statement for Nuclear Power Generation which will be published this autumn.

(CD/GK)