Ministers being urged to curb Chinese involvement in Britain’s nuclear power plants as relations with Beijing sour
[Extract] “As Hinkley Point C is built in Somerset, state-owned China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) is being lined up as a partner in similar schemes planned for Sizewell in Suffolk, and Bradwell in Essex.
…Bob Seely, a member of the Commons foreign affairs committee, said: ‘The world has changed. There’s a strong case for saying we need to be more mindful of our vulnerabilities.
‘I would be wary of letting China in. That’s the case with Huawei and nuclear power. It is better to be safe than sorry.’
French firm EDF submitted plans last week for Sizewell, which it will develop with CGN – the second of the three plants agreed by Cameron and Xi. Hinkley, the first, was reviewed by Theresa May’s government but allowed to go ahead.
Like that plant, Sizewell C will use French designs. CGN will help to fund it and have an option to take a 20 per cent stake.
But state-owned CGN will be the senior partner at Bradwell, owning a two-thirds stake and using its own designs. Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith warns the plants are set to become ‘the next Huawei’.”