The UK and Japan have signed an agreement to increase co-operation on civil nuclear energy.

They will work together across a range of activities including decommissioning, research and development and new nuclear.

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed in Tokyo by UK Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark and Japanese Trade and Industry Minister Hiroshige Seko.

It states: “Both sides recognise the role nuclear power can play in providing safe, reliable, low carbon and affordable energy. In particular, both sides note the proposals for nuclear power stations in the UK put forward by Japanese companies, namely the Horizon project at Wylfa in Anglesey and the NuGen project at Moorside in Cumbria.

“Both sides note the progress made to date by the developers and welcome the opportunity to continue to discuss the development of their proposals.”

Last year the UK Government signed the final agreement to build the Hinkley nuclear power plant in Somerset with France’s EDF and China’s CGN.