THE company behind plans to build a second nuclear power plant at Oldbury has said the project may still not go ahead.

Speaking at the Oldbury Site Stakeholder Group (OSSG) meeting recently, Tim Proudler, from Horizon, said there were still several hurdles to overcome.

He said: "A future Oldbury isn’t clear yet. We are at the beginning of a very long process."

Mr Proudler had been invited to speak to the local community by the OSSG, which normally deals with issues surrounding the current Oldbury Power Station run by Magnox.

In a short presentation to local people Mr Proudler outlined what Horizon, a partnership between energy firms E.ON and RWE npower, had already done and what else needed to be done before a planning application could be made.

Horizon announced last year its intention to progress its plans to build a new generation nuclear power station in Wylfa, North Wales, ahead of its proposals for Oldbury.

However, Mr Proudler said that the Oldbury project was dependent on whether or not the site was still included in the government’s National Policy Statement (NPS) on Nuclear.

The site was included in the draft NPS, but the final document is yet to be published.

Mr Proudler added the government’s recent Weightman report into the Fukushima nuclear incident in Japan could also have implications for Oldbury. This report is due in May.

He said: "Lessons will be learnt and we don’t know what, if any, the implications will be."

Horizon claims building two new stations, one at Oldbury and one at Wylfa, could generate 6,000 MW of electricity by 2025, but will need £15 billion of investment.