"It was revealed in June last year that the US government had been assessing reports of a leak at the Chinese power station, with gas escaping after the coating on some of the fuel rods deteriorated. An investigation is ongoing into the cause of the problems with the plant, which is in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong. To date, inspections at Taishan have found “mechanical wear of certain assembly components”, EDF said. It added that several of its long-running reactors have shown a similar pattern and the issues did not raise questions over the Taishan reactor’s design.

However Stop Sizewell C representative Alison Downes said the government should “run a mile from EDF's disastrous track record with the EPR and abandon Sizewell C”.

A spokesman for the government's Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy department emphasised that investigations are ongoing. “We are aware of the reports about Flamanville 3 and Taishan," the spokesperson said. "We continue to monitor the situation closely and do not want to pre-judge the outcome of various investigations. If the British Office for Nuclear Regulation considered that any nuclear site was not safe or secure, it would not be allowed to operate.”

https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/edf-plays-down-chance-of-flamanville-delays-impacting-hinkley-14-01-2022/

TELEGRAPH VIEW "With yet more delays to Hinkley Point C, the case for a move to small modular reactors gets more urgent by the day.

In a world seeking to emit less CO2 while retaining the means to provide sufficient energy for a population of billions, there has always been one answer: nuclear power. Notwithstanding the objections of environmentalists and the difficulties of disposing of the waste, fission reactors are an essential component of any non-carbon energy mix. Indeed, only this week – under pressure from France, it must be said – the EU has proposed that nuclear energy projects should be labelled as “sustainable” investments.

This comes as something of a shock to Germany which is in the process of abandoning its nuclear industry on environmental grounds only to find it is now officially regarded as a “green” source by the EU. All of Germany’s reactors will be closed by the end of this year, leaving the country even more dependent on Russian gas than it is already.

The other good news for nuclear is that it is no longer so expensive, vis a vis other energy sources, as to be uneconomic. Producing electricity from the planned Hinkley Point C reactor is now significantly cheaper than the average cost from all sources, an extraordinary turnaround caused by the spike in gas prices. However, that is where the good news ends. Hinkley is being built by the French firm EDF which yesterday announced more delays to its flagship new generation reactor, at Flamanville, which uses the same technology.

The plant should have been up and running 10 years ago and projected costs are four times the initial forecast. Until the fuel is loaded it is not clear how well the plant will perform and whether Hinkley can get under way before other reactors are decommissioned. It makes the case for a move to small modular reactors even more urgent."

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2022/01/13/nuclear-power-solution-energy-problems/

"Ms Lee, who has been accused by security agency MI5 of “political interference”, directly and indirectly tried to shift language from MPs on a host of issues related to critical national infrastructure, including energy, manufacturing and telecoms, sources told The Independent.

The warning message to MPs said Ms Lee had engaged with “individuals across the UK political spectrum” in order to further the Chinese Communist Party’s agenda.

Issues Ms Lee tried to steer included China’s involvement in Hinkley C nuclear power station and Sizewell, it is claimed."

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/christine-lee-mps-spy-nuclear-power-b1992735.html

"EDF shares slid more than 20 per cent on Friday after the French energy group warned that a state move to limit the impact of soaring power prices on consumers would cost it up to €8.4bn, and extended outages at several nuclear plants.

The government had pledged that household electricity bill rises would be capped at 4 per cent this year, despite an unprecedented surge in wholesale energy prices, and on Thursday said EDF would shoulder most of the burden.

EDF would have to increase the volume of nuclear power it sells to rival suppliers at a price currently fixed far below market rates, the country’s energy and environment ministry said."