Russia joins the throng desperate to sell nuclear radioactive trash to Britain

Russia’s state-owned nuclear group keen to break into UK market Rosatom understood to be hoping to revive plans to build reactors in Britain if EDF proposals for Hinkley Point C fail, Guardian, Terry Macalister, 14 May 16, A Russian nuclear group is hoping that the potential meltdown of French plans to build new European pressurised reactors at Hinkley Point could offer an opportunity to break into the British nuclear market.

Deeper concerns about the future of the Somerset scheme were raised by the French energy minister, Ségolène Royal, who warned of the “colossal” cost, which EDF admitted could be £18bn or even £21bn.

Recent talks have been held between state-owned Russian nuclear group Rosatom and the UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) despite the chilly political relations between London and Moscow over Ukraine, Moscow sources claimed.

These discussions centred on whether Russia could help Britain with removal of uranium from old reactors – but Rosatom is understood to have a wider agenda of trying to resuscitate earlier plans to build its own reactors in Britain.

“There is still an appetite to enter the UK market,” said a senior Russian nuclear industry source who claimed Rosatom’s London-based representatives still maintained contacts with the Department ofEnergy and Climate Change…….

The Russians accept that sanctions and other political considerations make it difficult for such a plan to progress, but they point out that Rosatom still supplies uranium to UK and US nuclear plants.

The NuDA confirmed that it had held a series of talks with Rosatom. “We have met with them. We are a recognised global authority and we meet with a lot of organisations,” said a spokesman……..

China wants to use Britain as a showcase for its Hualong technology and agreed to take a third share in EDF’s Hinkley scheme in return for being allowed to proceed with Chinese-owned technology at Bradwell……..

Those worries were given extra weight with Royal’s comments in an interview with the Financial Times in which she said: “I am wondering if we should go ahead with the project. The sums involved are colossal.”

And they added to fears about the future of the Somerset project earlier this week when the company’s management was pilloried by shareholders at its annual general meeting and credit agency Moody’s downgraded EDF debt.

John Sauven, Greenpeace’s executive director, said the downgrading was just “a long line of massive red flag warnings” the UK government had received over the Hinkley nuclear project. He added: “Hinkley power station must not become ‘too big to fail’ because of politicians’ egos that are too big to back down.” http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/may/13/russias-state-owned-nuclear-group-keen-to-break-into-uk-market