London seeks to exclude China from nuclear programs

Newspapers in the United Kingdom revealed on Monday that the British government was looking for ways to prevent the Chinese group from participating in new nuclear power plant projects in the CGN country. The move would further worsen diplomatic relations in the United Kingdom and China, which are already embroiled in issues such as Uyghur treatment in Hong Kong or Xinjiang.

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Citing government sources confirming information released by the Financial Times, the PA explains that government members are considering blocking all CGN participation in British nuclear power. The group could be excluded from the Sizewell project (east of the UK), in which it participates as a minority partner with the EDF and with Broadwell (Southeast), less advanced, but it stands alone in the maneuver. Fitted with its own technology. On the other hand, Hinkley Point carried out by EDF and CGN does not worry because the project is already well underway. It is the only nuclear power plant under construction in the country and is expected to be operational in a few years.

Asked by the AFP, the British Department for Corporate, Energy and Industrial Strategy did not confirm or deny the press release. Content that a spokesperson remembers. “All nuclear power plants in the UK are subject to strong and independent regulation“Especially in order to be respected”National security requirements to protect our interestsFor its part, EDF Energy, a British subsidiary of the French company, declined to comment.

Going without a CGN could force London to find other nuclear partners, despite the fact that British aspirations for nuclear power were thwarted last year when the Japanese industrial conglomerate Hitachi dropped its nuclear power plant project in Wales. Nuclear supplies 20% of the country’s electricity and the government wants to maintain this role to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. There are currently 15 reactors on 8 sites in the UK.

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China’s influence in British economic affairs has been consistently condemned by Conservative MPs, a year after the government decided to exclude equipment maker Hawaii from the 5G network. In early July, concerns were focused on the acquisition of Welsh Newport Wafer Fab, the largest British manufacturer of semiconductors, by a Chinese team.