The move followed the UK government’s decision to take over the Chinese stake at Sizewell C in Suffolk, removing the Chinese state-owned company of its entire role in the project.
The Hinkley plant in Somerset, under construction since 2016, is now expected to be finished by 2031 and cost up to £35bn. When approval was first given in 2016 the cost was estimated at £18bn. Since then the pandemic, inflation and Brexit have all added to its costs.
EDF is also seeking funding for the Sizewell C project in Suffolk – another reactor project at Sizewell.
Funding problems will add to overall concerns about UK nuclear project delays and costs. The UK has said nuclear power will deliver a quarter of the national electricity demand by 2050.
Those concerns grew when MPs on the parliamentary Enviroment Audit committee (EAC) warned that a planned fleet of small nuclear reactors are unlikely to contribute to hitting the target.
Their report said the governments’ approach to developing small modular reactors (SMR) “lacks clarity” and their role in hitting a goal of moving the grid to clean energy by 2035 was unclear." Go to: https://inews.co.uk/news/business/france-wants-britain-to-pay-its-fair-share-of-nuclear-power-costs-2904841 for full article.
The ridiculous disparity in the resourcing of sustainable compared to unsustainable energy production (and make no mistake nuclear power is unsustainable), I successfully employed in a class-debate my 6th form geography teacher arranged for us following a number of unscheduled arguments between myself and the majority of the rest of the class concerning the future of energy production (a majority I overturned almost completely as a result of the debate), in 1984, still exists despite the huge increase (Nb. only in comparison to previous levels), of investment in sustainable systems.
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