The controlled explosion raised plenty of dust

There was a controlled explosion on Wednesday at the former Grange coke ovens at the plant.

In March, this area of the steelworks was earmarked for a possible �110m investment by an American company, which could create up to 140 jobs.

But there is still no word about whether the American firm's plans will go ahead.

The company, Sun Coke, has been considering installing its own coke facility on the site, but it was also looking at alternative locations in France, Germany and Italy.

A Sun Coke spokesman said on Thursday he had no more information about the company's plans.

In the meantime, demolition work is in progress at Port Talbot, and large earth moving machines will be brought in soon to level the building left standing at an angle after Wednesday's partial demolition.

"This regeneration activity forms part of an ongoing plan to redevelop redundant areas of our site in Llanwern and Port Talbot," said a Corus spokesman.

"We had a controlled explosion designed to bring the structure down so we can dismantle it in a safe manner."

Regeneration work is taking place at Port Talbot and Llanwern

He said that, although the building was left standing at an angle, it had been toppled enough to allow the machines to finish the work.

This is the latest in a series of works at the Port Talbot plant in recent years.

A total of �75m was spent reconstructing the number five blast furnace which exploded in 2001, killing three workers and injuring 12 others.