By Jaime Llinares Taboada

Unite the Union, a British and Irish trade union, on Friday called on the U.K. government to approve the Sizewell C nuclear project in Suffolk, England.

The group said the Sizewell C consortium of major contractors has warned that failure of the project could cost 10,000 jobs across the nuclear supply chain.

"The Sizewell C Consortium makes a strong case for ministers to get their skates on and approve the go-ahead for the new nuclear power station in Suffolk--thousands of highly skilled jobs hang in the balance," said Peter McIntosh, Unite's national officer for energy.

The warning follows news that Hitachi Ltd. has pulled out of the Wylfa nuclear power plant in Wales, and an announcement that Horizon Nuclear will cease activities on two U.K. projects.

"We can't continue with this level of uncertainty afflicting a sector of which Britain was once the world leader," Mr. McIntosh said.

Construction of the 3.34-gigawatt Sizewell C power station has been proposed to begin in 2022 and would take between nine and 12 years. The project is now in the pre-examination stage, with final decisions expected to be made next year.

Write to Jaime Llinares Taboada at jaime.llinares@wsj.com; @JaimeLlinaresT

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 18, 2020 02:49 ET (06:49 GMT)