UK to Build 1st Nuclear Power Plant in Two Decades

Local Editor

The French and Chinese investors in Britain's first new nuclear power station in two decades will receive a guaranteed price of £90-£95 per megawatt hour of energy produced, the British Department of Energy is expected to announce Monday.

The agreed "strike price", which will ultimately be footed by households, promises to be controversial because it is double the current market price for electricity and it comes as energy suppliers are imposing inflation-busting hikes in domestic bills.

The guaranteed price could also rise if the consortium does not take up the option of building another nuclear power station in the UK.

The commercial agreement due to be signed Monday will see the French energy multinational EDF Energy and two Chinese firms - China National Nuclear Corporation and China General Nuclear Power Corporation -invest £16bn over the next decade to fund the construction of a new generation reactor at Hinkley Point in Somerset.

UK Government sources told The Independent that the agreement would ensure the guaranteed price came down if construction costs were lower than estimated and would not rise if they were higher. "We've gone through this with a fine toothcomb, learning from all the mistakes of the past" said a source.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team