Toshiba’s decision on 29 March to place its Westinghouse nuclear unit into bankruptcy protection has led to uncertainty over a proposed new power station in north-west England.

The UK’s Office for Nuclear Regulation recently announced its approval of Westinghouse’s newest reactor, the AP1000, clearing the way for its use at the proposed Moorside nuclear plant in Cumbria.

NuGen, the Toshiba-led consortium behind the Moorside project, said on 30 March that it was “business as usual” at what it described as Europe’s largest nuclear new-build project.

NuGen also said it would “continue to work alongside our technology supplier, — Westinghouse — and our shareholders — Toshiba and Engie — in taking forward the Moorside development phase”.

However, senior figures in the UK nuclear industry said that Westinghouse’s filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection had “crystallised doubts about the project”.

One said: “NuGen will not get funding from Westinghouse while in Chapter 11, and Toshiba has made clear that it will not finance the project, so it all comes down to whether NuGen can find a new source of funding.”

Toshiba said in February that it was looking to sell its 60% stake in NuGen, and questions have been raised about the commitment of Engie (the French utility), which owns 40%.

The UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy declined to comment on Moorside but said it remained “committed to new nuclear as an important part of our energy mix.”