nuclear-news

No formal agreement between China and the UK has yet been signed, but energy experts have spoken out about the potential for “catastrophe” if the Chinese are given the green light to invest.

Security concerns centre on access to IT systems, with analysts warning the UK would be left vulnerable if relations continue sour to China over the coming years.

Britain’s friendship with the communist state was strained recently over the Tata steel crisis with China putting a highly punitive tax on the metal produced in south Wales to further damage the UK industry.

But experts say a nuclear power deal would put the UK at the mercy of Beijing.

Dr Paul Dorfman, an advisor to the British Government on nuclear security and a senior research fellow at UCL’s Energy Institute, said: “You don’t want to let the Chinese into complex, strategic, national energy infrastructure and you certainly don’t want them anywhere near nuclear.

“There are some real security issues here.”

Fears have been raised about “backdoors” in IT technology that could be exploited by the Chinese government or rogue hackers.

Malicious IT breaches could allow data to be extracted or inserted into complex computer systems, allowing Beijing to circumvent British control of a nuclear plant and shut it down.

GCHQ will be on standby to protect the UK from the threat of a cyber attack if the Chinese are allowed to build at Hinkley Point in Somerset and Bradwell in Essex…….. https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/658755/Chinese-nuclear-deal-leaves-UK-vulnerable-to-catastrophic-cyber-attack-on-power-plants