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在线翻译:
szdaily -> World Economy -> 
UK eyes removing CGN in energy plans
    2021-07-27  08:53    Shenzhen Daily

BRITAIN’S government is exploring ways to remove Chinese nuclear energy company, China General Nuclear Corp. (CGN), from all future power projects in the U.K.

Projects potentially at risk include the 20 billion-pound (US$27.5 billion) Sizewell C nuclear power station in Suffolk and the proposed Bradwell-on-Sea development in neighboring Essex, according to a person familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity.

CGN is also a 33 percent investor in the Hinkley Point C facility, currently under construction in Somerset and one of the biggest infrastructure projects in the country.

The move would also affect CGN’s plans to eventually build its own new plant, Bradwell B in Essex, and raises questions over the replacement of the U.K.’s ageing nuclear fleet.

“There isn’t a chance in hell that CGN builds Bradwell,” a source told the Financial Times newspaper, adding: “Given the approach we’ve seen to Huawei, they [Downing Street] aren’t going to be letting a Chinese company build a new nuclear power station.”

Discussions were already taking place with French state-backed utility EDF, the lead developer of Sizewell C, about whether it could find new partners for the project.

The move underlines how Boris Johnson’s administration is hardening its stance toward China. Johnson has blocked Huawei Technologies from participation in the rollout of Britain’s 5G wireless network amid pressure from the Trump administration and earlier this month Britain’s national security adviser opened a probe into the takeover of the country’s biggest chip plant by Chinese-owned Nexperia NV.

News of the CGN plans was first reported by the Financial Times late Sunday.

Members of Johnson’s Conservative Party have repeatedly expressed concern about China’s increasing involvement in critical aspects of U.K. infrastructure and in its major educational establishments.

British ministers believe Sizewell would be viable without the involvement of CGN, according to the Financial Times.

This is despite EDF using the technical input of CGN engineers on Hinkley Point C, which will operate using European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) technology, a Franco-German design.

CGN’s Taishan nuclear power plant in southern China is the first in the world to operate using EPR technology and more than 100 CGN engineers have been involved with Hinkley Point C, around 50 on site in Somerset.

But one U.K. nuclear expert expressed nervousness about a lack of CGN involvement in future projects involving EPRs: “It was the Chinese who built the [first operational] EPR,” according to the Financial Times.

Nuclear power is set to play a key role in the U.K. government’s commitment to slash greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. Although a major investment in offshore wind farms is set to help meet that goal, the country’s transmission network will rely on nuclear as a backup — nuclear stations are designed to generate energy around the clock, whereas wind power is less predictable.

China was the U.K.’s third-biggest trading partner last year, after only the United States and Germany, while the U.K. ranked a distant 14th for China. (SD-Agencies)

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