THE future of Wylfa Newydd remains up in the air.

Following reports in the Nikkei Asian Review in the early hours of Friday morning that Japanese backers Hitachi could be set to pull the plug, fears for the future of the £12bn nuclear project on Anglesey.

Nikkei, the world's largest financial publication, claims that industrial conglomerate's board will likely decide officially next week to suspend all work on the plant following an "impasse" on funding negotiations with the British Government.

In December Japanese TV network Asahi made similar claims, with Hitachi allegedly seeking additional partners to spread the cost risks of the project.

These latest reports come just one day after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe met with Theresa May to discuss trade between the two countries.

While the firm refused to confirm the reports, they have similarly refrained from dismissing the claims.

"No formal decision has been made in this regard currently, while Hitachi has been assessing the Horizon Project including its potential suspension and related financial impacts in terms of economic rationality as a private company.

"Should any matter arise which needs to be disclosed, Hitachi will announce the information in a timely manner."

Horizon Nuclear Power, which is now owned by Hitachi, also refused to qualify the speculation.

A Horizon spokesperson said: “Since the Secretary of State’s statement to the House in June last year we’ve been in formal negotiations with the UK Government regarding financing of the Wylfa Newydd project in a way that works both for investors and the UK electricity customer.

"This is one of the aspects of the project development phase that must be concluded before construction of Wylfa Newydd can go ahead, but the discussions are commercially confidential and we won’t be commenting on rumours or speculation.”

Should the proposed development project go ahead, it is expected to create jobs for 9,000 construction workers would be involved in building two nuclear reactors, which would aim to have a generating capacity of 2900 MW by the mid-2020’s with a 60-year operational life.