EDF boss urges go-ahead for UK nuke project

THE HEAD of EDF Energy has urged the British government to approve the Hinkley Point C nuclear power project, an explicit appeal by the French energy giant before a decision due within weeks.

Prime Minister Theresa May intervened last month to delay the £18 billion project, just hours after it was approved by EDF’s board, former cabinet colleague Vince Cable said.

The government says it will make a final decision soon.

Cable said May was concerned about China’s involvement, particularly in terms of national security.

The state-owned China General Nuclear Power Corp (CGN) is EDF’s partner in building the two new reactors at Hinkley Point, south-west England, which would provide about 7 percent of Britain’s electricity.

EDF Energy chief executive Vincent de Rivaz said the Chinese, who will provide £6bn of funding, were a trusted partner with whom the French had worked building two nuclear reactors in China.

“(The Hinckley Point project) brings the benefits of a 30-year partnership between EDF and CGN in nuclear construction in China, a country with the largest civil nuclear programme in the world. We know and trust our Chinese partners,” he wrote in the Sunday Telegraph.

Addressing security concerns, he said all staff on nuclear projects were rigorously vetted and the control systems at Hinkley Point would be isolated from information technology systems and the internet.

EDF and its partners have agreed to fund the new stations, and in return Britain has committed to paying a minimum price for the power generated for 35 years. Critics say the price, around double current market levels, is too high. –Reuters