China’s General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) IPO-CGNP.HK will bring forward plans to build a nuclear plant in Britain, it said on Thursday, helping plug a gap left by the failure of two Japanese projects. CGN hopes to build several nuclear plants in Britain, starting with a project in Bradwell, Essex, in which France’s EDF (EDF.PA) is a 33.5 percent development partner. “We plan to advance the date for coming into commercial operation to the early 2030s, a couple of years earlier than previously planned,” Robert Davies, chief operating officer of CGN UK, said of the plans for the Bradwell facility. No decisions have been taken on the capacity of CGN’s Bradwell plant, which will use Chinese reactor technology. Western governments have grown increasingly concerned about possible security threats posed by investments made by Chinese firms in their economies, including telecoms and nuclear power. Davies sought to allay any fears about the Chinese role. “We understand the sensitivities surrounding operating a nuclear plant and are open to another entity operating our plants in the UK, if that is what the government wants,” he said.
Reuters 17th Jan 2019 read more »
