The chief executive of the French power giant EDF has called on British Prime Minister Theresa May to give a go-ahead to the proposed nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point.
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Top Chinese energy official Nur Bekri met Lucy Neville-Rolfe, British minister of state for energy, on August 25 in Beijing to discuss the plan to build Britain’s first new nuclear plant in decades, China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) said on its website on Monday.
EDF’s chief executive Vincent de Rivaz has intervened to defend the £18bn project after the United Kingdom government pushed back the decision date; a verdict from Prime Minister Theresa May is expected in the next few weeks.
Any attempt to split Hinkley Point from the agreement to let China build reactors in Britain would endanger the whole deal because the Bradwell plant was meant to be a showcase for China’s nuclear technology in Europe.
May was concerned about the security implications of the planned Chinese investment in the plant, a former colleague and a source told Reuters.
“(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”, he wrote in the Sunday Telegraph.
He adds that the plant can not be hacked into online: “The control systems at Hinkley Point C will be isolated from IT systems and the internet”.
Yet Rivaz argues that EDF will gain expertise and advice from the China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) who are set to invest £6 billion into the project.
According to De Rivaz, all staff of nuclear projects are rigorously vetted.
“The cost of Hinkley Point C’s electricity is frequently compared with today’s depressed wholesale prices”.
The Government said it will take a short time to consider the project.
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In light of the last minute reversal concerning Hinkley Point C, Hawthorne is now seeking assurances that the government will not pull the plug on his company’s project. The new government of prime minister Theresa May has not announced a more specific date for this than “early autumn”. “Across Britain, dozens of companies and our own workforce are ready to deliver this project”, de Rivaz said. “Their motivation remains high and they are looking forward to getting on with the job”, de Rivaz concluded.
