17 Oct (NucNet): The UK government has announced it is to give the go-ahead to Chinese companies taking a stake – including potential future majority stakes – in the development of the next generation of British nuclear energy.
The Chancellor, George Osborne, made the announcement at Taishan nuclear power station in southern China on the final day of his visit to China. Taishan is a collaboration between French energy company EDF and the China General Nuclear Power Company.
The government said that while any initial Chinese stake in a nuclear power project is likely to be a minority stake, over time stakes in subsequent new power stations could be majority stakes. Any investment from any country has to comply with “rigorous regulatory standards” for safety and security.
Today’s announcement follows the signing this week in Beijing of a memorandum of understanding on civil nuclear collaboration.
That memorandum sets the strategic framework for collaboration on investment, technology, construction and expertise.
Today’s announcement is “the first step and signal” by the UK government as part of this memorandum of understanding, a statement said.
As well as supporting Chinese investment in Britain, the memorandum will make sure that British companies such as Rolls Royce, International Nuclear Services (INS) and engineering companies such as Mott MacDonald can be part of China’s “multi billion pound” new nuclear programme, the statement said.
As part of this, Mr Osborne has announced that INS has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese Nuclear Power Engineering Company Ltd to share UK experience on radioactive waste management, and will start with initial training activities for Chinese technicians in the UK later in October.
The British press is reporting that the first nuclear deal with China could be as early as next week, with the go-ahead for a new plant at the Hinkley Point C site in southwest England.
The Hinkley Point C project will be the first new nuclear power station since 1995. Construction will be led by France’s state-controlled EDF, which has been looking for a partner or partners to share the costs.
EDF has also been negotiating with the British government on a “strike price” – the guaranteed price at which it will be able to sell the electricity it generates at Hinkley Point C.
Nick Butler, visiting professor and chair of the King’s Policy Institute at King’s College London, told the BBC yesterday that he believed an agreement on the strike price had been “pretty much been completed”.
EDF hopes to build four new European Pressurised Water Reactors (EPRs) in the UK, two at Hinkley Point in Somerset and two at Sizewell in Suffolk.
