Claims and counter claim concerning EDF’s advance knowledge or otherwise of the UK government’s decision to postpone signing the Hinkley Point C contract continue to rage on, now against a backdrop of international bickering about the deal. EDF chief executive Jean-Bernard Levy is claimed to have known that the British government wanted to take more time to review the Hinkley Point nuclear contract before the French utility's board voted to approve the investment, and said so in a letter to top executives, but he did not inform the board before its crucial meeting on 28 July.
However in a statement by EDF on 6 August the company stated that Mr Levy had no prior knowledge of Britain's decision to review, and plans to sue Sud Energie union for alleging he had lied to reporters by saying he had not known before the board meeting that Britain would conduct a fresh review.
In the wider world the decision to postpone a deal on the new nuclear power station, to be built by France with major Chinese investment, is said to have shocked the governments of both France and China and is potentially a major step away from the policies of former prime minister David Cameron.
The sudden choice of new PM Theresa May not to sign the deal but to take until the autumn for further study, reportedly on security and economic grounds, has angered Paris, which could be influential in Britain’s future relations with the European Union after the UK voted to leave, and Beijing, which Mr. Cameron had cultivated aggressively for investment and trade ties despite criticism that he was subordinating human rights and geopolitical concerns to commerce.
The arrival on the scene of a previously uninvolved company, China National Nuclear Corporation, is widely believed to have prompted the government’s decision to pause the deal at the last minute. Nick Timothy, Theresa May’s co-chief of staff, had previously expressed alarm at the prospect of CNNC’s having such close access to the UK’s energy infrastructure because it would give the state-owned firm the potential ability to build weaknesses into computer systems. The company was formerly China’s Ministry of Nuclear Industry and developed the country’s atomic bomb and nuclear submarines, as well as being a key player in its nuclear power industry.
Tom Burke, chairman of the environment think tank E3G and a former British government adviser, said there were legitimate concerns over the company. “I don’t fuss very much about the Chinese owning a nuclear power station [China General Nuclear in the case of Hinkley]. But I would be much more concerned about bringing in CNNC because they are known to be much more closely involved with the military and Chinese nuclear weapons programmes,” he said.
CNNC was not involved in the original Hinkley deal but it was reported on Sunday that the company has agreed in principle to buy half of China’s 33% stake in the project if it goes ahead.
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