21 Aug (NucNet): The company behind the project to build a UK version of China’s HPR1000 nuclear plant at Bradwell B in Essex, England, will not know the cost of the project until site suitability and feasibility studies are complete.
A spokesperson for China General Nuclear (CGN) UK told NucNet that the site studies will last for a few years and “until we can have a detailed plan of the site we do not know the cost”. He said the project is still in its “very early stage”.
CGN UK’s state-run parent company CGN is a majority shareholder in Bradwell Power Generation Company, a joint venture with EDF, which is planning to build a single HPR1000 plant, also known as the Hualong One, at Bradwell B.
CGN also owns 35% of the Hinkley Point C EPR nuclear project under construction in Somerset, England. Hinkley Point C will consist of two power plants and the cost has been put at almost £20bn.
CGN UK chief operating officer Robert Davies told NucNet recently that the company is not relying on government subsidy for the Bradwell B project.
Mr Davies told NucNet that it was possible that Bradwell B might be offered government support, depending on how future plants are financed.
However, he said that CGN is able to bring debt and equity to the UK “so there will be no demands for investment funding placed on the UK government”.
