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British Gov't reaffirms its commitment to Hinkley nuclear power plant

Xinhua, March 13, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Department of Energy and Climate Change in London issued a statement Saturday night spelling out five reasons why the British government is backing the planned Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant.

The department described the 37 billion U.S. dollars project as a key part of Britain's plan to tackle a legacy of under-investment in Britain's energy infrastructure and build an energy system fit for the 21st century.

The statement was issued after Jean-Bernard Levy, CEO of the French energy giant EDF, sent a letter to staff saying the Hinkley Point project in the southern England county of Somerset needed more funding from the French Government which owns an 85 percent stake in EDF.

In its 5-point statement Britain's energy department said new nuclear is the only proven low carbon technology that can provide continuous power, irrespective of whether the wind is blowing and the sun is shining, giving hardworking families and businesses year-round energy security.

Hinkley, it added, will give a boost to Britain's energy supply and the country's economy, bringing in billions of pounds of investment into the Britain and creating 25,000 jobs during construction.

The power plant, when operational, will power close to six million homes, twice as many as the whole of London, for nearly 60 years, providing seven percent of UK electricity.

"There is no question that new-nuclear is cost competitive with all the advantages of providing low carbon, baseload power for decades."

Hinkley, the fourth point stated, will be safe.

"It will need to comply with the UK's robust nuclear regulations (overseen by the independent Office for Nuclear Regulation) - one of the most stringent and safest in the world," said the statement.

Finally, Hinkley will be a significant step forward in Britain's transition to a low-carbon future, a milestone in UK efforts to reduce emissions and to meet climate change commitments in the most cost-effective way.

The Scottish Nationalist Party MP, Angus MacNeil, who is chairman of the House of Commons energy committee, responded to Levy's letter by calling for the project to be re-examined, saying the British government needed to urgently rethink its support for the proposal.

The China General Nuclear Power Corp. has agreed to take a 33.5 percent stake in the Hinkley Point plant which would be the first nuclear generator to be built in Britain for more than 25 years. Endit