Expensive and high-risk…the damning verdict on new nuclear power plant

THE decision to approve a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point has locked the nation into a ‘risky and expensive’ project, a watchdog claims.

The National Audit Office warns that the cost to families of guaranteeing a high price for the electricity produced by the plant has spiralled from £6billion to £30billion.

More worrying, it says the nuclear reactor chosen for the site in Somerset is ‘unproven’, raising questions over its safety.

Theresa May postponed final approval for the scheme when she became prime minister last year amid concerns the plant – to be built by the French company EDF and China General Nuclear Power – was not good value for money.

But she then decided to go ahead with the scheme, despite fears it will saddle consumers with high bills for decades. The NAO says the value for money tests used by the Government showed the economic case for the Hinkley Point C reactor was ‘marginal and subject to significant uncertainty’.

And in a damning conclusion, it says ministers have ‘not sufficiently considered the costs and risks of its deal for consumers’.

The cost of building the plant has been put at £18billion and, in theory, it will provide 7 per cent of Britain’s electricity by the mid-2020s. But consumers will have to pay an inflated price for its electricity – £92.50 per megawatt hour of power generated.

The impact on customer bills was initially put at £6billion, but the NAO says the figure has now risen to £30billion. The spending watchdog says the final figure will be even more, because this is based on a calculation running to 2030. In fact, families will pay the high cost of the plant’s output throughout its lifetime, which is expected to run until 2085. The amount raised from customers through their bills until 2085 is put at £79.7billion.

The reactor chosen for the project is also a concern. The NAO warns: ‘The reactor design is unproven and other projects that incorporate it are experiencing difficulties.’

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is handling Hinkley Point. Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, said: ‘The department has committed electricity consumers and taxpayers to a high cost and risky deal in a changing marketplace.’

EDF Energy said: ‘Consumers won’t pay a penny until the power station is operating. The project is having a major impact on the UK’s industrial capacity, jobs and skills.’