A US consortium led by engineering giant Bechtel is holding talks with the UK government to revive a multi-billion-pound nuclear plant project in northwest Wales, the Financial Times reported Tuesday.

The daily business newspaper, which cited a source close to the matter, said the consortium also comprised electricity utility Southern Company and nuclear engineering firm Westinghouse.

The report comes two months after Japan's Hitachi axed the Wylfa Newydd project in Anglesey that involved Bechtel -- blaming a deteriorating investment environment and delivering a blow to Britain's atomic energy programme aimed at slashing carbon emissions.

A Bechtel spokeswoman declined to confirm the FT report.

"Bechtel has been involved in the Wylfa project from the start -- and we remain committed to working with our partners in the UK and abroad to deliver the best clean energy solutions to power millions of homes," she told AFP.

Hitachi's Horizon Nuclear subsidiary had been planning to build two nuclear reactors on the Wylfa Newydd site.

A Horizon spokesman said there had "been significant interest from third parties... to take our project forward".

The plant, whose building cost was estimated at up to �20 billion ($25.7 billion, 21.7 billion euros), aimed to generate nearly three gigawatts, enough to supply around six percent of Britain's electricity needs.

Britain's nuclear power plants built in the last century have either closed or are coming to the end of their lifespan.

But the country wants to maintain the 20 percent of electricity it generates from nuclear power to help meet its pledge to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2050 and tackle climate change.

"Nuclear is critical to the country's climate goals and is capable of bringing transformative economic benefits to regions of the country which need them most," the Horizon spokesman added.

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SOUTHERN COMPANY

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