nuclear-news

UK debate should not be about excluding China from nuclear build, but about whether nuclear build is even nucessary.

Given the explosive costs of large nuclear, the
debate shouldn’t be over how to replace China on these projects. It’s
whether we need Sizewell and Bradwell at all.”

The Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab observed last year that Britain could
no longer conduct “business as usual with China”. The UK’s
highest-profile action so far has been to force the Chinese telecoms
supplier, Huawei, out of Britain’s 5G network, said the FT.

But now ministers are seeking to “ditch” China General Nuclear from future UK
power projects – ending a collaboration dating back to a 2015 agreement
between David Cameron and Xi Jinping.

The move reflects growing concerns
about CGN’s “role in critical infrastructure” and follows a similar
ban in the US, which put the Chinese state-owned company on an “export
blacklist” in 2019, “alleging it had stolen US technology for military
purposes”.

The brief “golden era” of Sino-British relations has
turned “radioactive”, said Ben Marlow in The Daily Telegraph –
exposing great holes in UK energy policy. Ministers claim “the removal of
the Chinese will encourage other partners to come forward”, but “there
is no proper contingency plan”. How very unsurprising, said Alistair
Osborne in The Times. “Given the explosive costs of large nuclear, the
debate shouldn’t be over how to replace China on these projects. It’s
whether we need Sizewell and Bradwell at all.”

 The Week 29th July 2021

https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/uk-news/953642/china-general-nuclear-banned-from-britain

July 31, 2021 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, UK