UK could block China from future nuclear projects

Britain is working on blocking China’s state-owned nuclear company from establishing power projects in the UK in future, according to an AFP report. This comes amid London and Beijing chilling relations.

This could potentially exclude China General Nuclear (CGN) from consortium planning for building a nuclear plant on the Suffolk coast in eastern England, among other projects according to Financial Times. 

British government sources told the newspaper, ministers and officials’ discussions to bar CGN could also impact another planned plant in Essex, southeast England.

This comes amid increasing tensions between the UK and China due to issues revolving around espionage, cyberattacks, human rights, Hong Kong and more comes.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, earlier this year, told MPs Britain must have a “clear-eyed relationship” with the rising power as the pressure to be tougher on Beijing from those within his own Conservative party continues to grow.

Beijing took an offence last year when London banned Chinese telecoms group Huawei from getting involved in its 5G network due to spying fears. 

CGN is already working alongside France’s EDF in the construction of a nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point, in southwest England, which is due to be completed in 2025.

Furthermore, CGN is also a minority partner in another project on a new plant at Sizewell on the Suffolk coast that France’s EDF and CGN are awaiting formal approval for. 

However, at the proposed Bradwell nuclear reactor in Essex it would hold the majority stake.

Any decision to block its future involvement would reverberate through Britain’s nuclear sector, given CGN’s planned investments total billions of pounds and support thousands of jobs.

A spokesperson for the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy said nuclear power “has an important role to play in the UK’s low-carbon energy future”.

“All nuclear projects in the UK are conducted under robust and independent regulation to meet the UK’s rigorous legal, regulatory and national security requirements, ensuring our interests are protected,” the spokesperson added.

Zhao Lijian, a spokesman of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters the two nations are “important trade and investment partners” and urged London to “provide an open, fair and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies”.

“It is in the interests of both sides to conduct practical cooperation based on the principle of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation,” he added.