THE boss of French energy firm EDF says the Brexit vote will not make a difference to plans for an £18B nuclear power plant in Somerset. This is despite comments from several quarters casting doubt on whether the firm would continue to want to invest if Britain leaves the EU.
Somerset Live 29th June 2016 read more »
Plans to build the first new nuclear power plant in a generation have not been affected by the Brexit vote, Energy Secretary Amber Rudd has said. The new reactor at Hinkley Point, Somerset, is one of a number of large infrastructure projects that have been thrown into doubt by the vote to leave the European Union. Speaking at a conference on business and climate change, Ms Rudd said: “We are still full tilt on Hinkley Point.” She said she had spoken to the chief executive of French energy giant EDF, which is building the power plant, and the company was “absolutely committed” to making a final investment decision on the scheme.
ITV 29th June 2016 read more »
Energy Voice 29th June 2016 read more »
A project to build two new nuclear reactors at EDF Energy’s Hinkley Point site in Britain will not be influenced by the outcome of the country’s vote last week to leave the European Union, energy minister Andrea Leadsom told lawmakers on Wednesday. “I don’t believe the Austrian challenge to Hinkley has any merit … and I do not believe (the project) will be influenced by the results of the referendum,” Leadsom told an energy and climate change committee hearing.
Reuters 29th June 2016 read more »
Edie 29th June 2016 read more »
Following the vote to leave the EU, the UK’s energy and climate change policy faces major challenges, writes Paul Brown, with new nuclear power and a third London runway at Heathrow runway looking like the first casualties. Until the Brexit vote, the UK government was committed to building 10 new nuclear power stations as part of its ‘low carbon’ plan for the energy sector. The programme always seemed improbable, given the state of the nuclear industry worldwide, but getting private investors to support such a policy now seems even less likely. One of the unlooked-for side-effects of the decision is to take the UK outside the Euratom Treaty that safeguards nuclear materials from misuse. Since the UK has the largest stock of plutonium in the world, and a large trade in nuclear materials with Europe, the US and Japan, this creates serious problems over who now regulates the industry.
Ecologist 29th June 2016 read more »