£18bn nuclear plant contract is signed

A KEY contract to secure the future of an £18bn nuclear power station at Hinkley Point was signed yesterday by the Government and EDF.

The power plant, which is being built by French energy company EDF with Chinese financial backing, was approved earlier this month.

The deal has been set in stone following a low-key ceremony in London with Greg Clark, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and Jean Bernard-Levy, chief executive of EDF.

He Yu, the chairman of Chinese firm CGN investing £6bn in the Somerset project, also signed.

Yesterday’s discreet ceremony is a marked difference from the extravagant party planned this summer before Prime Minister Theresa May halted the project – temporarily – at the last minute.