UK agrees deal with EU on new Hinkley Point nuclear power plant

By Alex Barker in Brussels - Financial Times

Britain has agreed terms with Brussels to secure approval for billions of pounds of public funding for Hinkley Point, the country’s first new nuclear power plant in a generation. 

While the conditions are not yet public, Europe’s competition chief is satisfied the revised deal meets EU rules on state support and will propose the project is approved before the end of this European Commission’s mandate in November.

The breakthrough is a big boost for the UK government’s contract with French utility EDF, which will provide a template for the next wave of state-backed nuclear plants across Europe. 

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New nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point C is approved

The first of a planned new generation of nuclear power plants in the UK has been given approval.

Energy Secretary Ed Davey told MPs in the Commons that he was granting planning consent for French energy giant EDF to construct Hinkley Point C in Somerset.

The proposed £14bn power plant would be capable of powering five million homes.

Mr Davey said the project was "of crucial national importance" but environmental groups reacted angrily.

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EDF starts planning for second new UK nuclear plant

(Reuters) - EDF Energy, the UK arm of France's state-owned utility, on Friday started planning procedures to build a second new nuclear plant in Britain, despite searching for a partner to help finance its first new UK nuclear plant in Somerset.

The company, already Britain's biggest nuclear power producer, announced on Friday its intention to start public consultation, the first step of planning procedures, for the new project at Sizewell in Suffolk at the end of November.

"We are very pleased to signal the start of our formal consultation for Sizewell C. It demonstrates our clear intent to progress our role at the forefront of the UK's nuclear renaissance," said Richard Mayson, director of planning and external affairs for EDF Energy's new build division.

A spokeswoman said it was too early to give a start-up date for the Sizewell project but EDF, together with French nuclear reactor designer Areva, plans to build four of Areva's European Pressurised water Reactors (EPRs) in Britain by 2025, a programme British utility Centrica also owns a 20 percent stake in.

The partners' first project at Hinkley Point C in Somerset had been expected to start operating in 2018, but planning delays following the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan have delayed the start-up.

EDF also said it was considering taking further partners on board to help finance its UK new build projects.

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UK may give Hinkley Point nuclear OK by year-end

Aug 14 (Reuters) - Britain's nuclear regulator said it may resolve all its issues regarding plans for a new nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point C by the end of the year.

The Office of Nuclear Regulation said on Tuesday that two Generic Design Assessment (GDA) issues had been closed. The regulator had raised them earlier this year with French energy companies EDF and Areva with regards to the design of a third-generation nuclear reactor at Hinkley Point Somerset, England.

The issues included concerns about monitoring of irradiation damage to material and evidence that concrete used at the reactor provided adequate shielding to ensure that workers and the public would be protected from radiation.

The regulator said work was ongoing with EDF, Areva and Centrica's joint venture company, NNB Generation Company, on improvements that would increase confidence it would be able to safely operate the new plant.

"If EDF and AREVA sustain these improvements for the significant number of submissions that are still to be delivered, and if they remain responsive to any questions that we raise, then we believe that the programmes that are set out in the revised resolution plans can be achieved," the Office of Nuclear Regulation said.

"In that case, and if we are satisfied by the safety, security and environmental arguments that they put forward, we might be able to close all of the remaining GDA Issues by the end of the year," it added.

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