Horizon Nuclear Power has started one of the largest detailed ground investigation studies currently underway in the UK, ramping up site activity on the Wylfa Newydd project and triggering new opportunities for local businesses.

The multi-million pound programme, which will start in March and run until the end of the year, will see up to 100 people working on site during busy periods.

The contract for this round of studies has been awarded to Structural Soils Ltd, a specialist ground investigations contractor which previously carried out work for Horizon between 2009 and 2010, and again in 2011. Having worked with local companies in the past, Structural Soils will again be seeking to make use of Anglesey services and businesses.

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The project requires the drilling of around 400 boreholes and trial pits across the site. The material removed is then analysed to give Horizon a detailed understanding of the ground conditions which will inform more detailed planning of the preferred site layout.

The project will be undertaken in areas crossed by existing public footpaths. These will remain open but to ensure the safety of regular users, Horizon will be erecting fences along these routes.

Charlie Tasker, Site Development Director at Horizon, said: "The ground investigation work is another example of the rapid progress we're making. This part of the project will take us most of this year to complete and will give us a huge amount of technical detail about the ground we want to build on."

(CD/JP)