“A Chinese state-backed nuclear energy firm is considering taking a stake in the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, one of its officials has said.
The Chinese National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), along with another Chinese company CGN, had previously been in talks with EDF over investing in the scheme, but only CGN signed a deal.
Now a CNNC official has told The Sunday Telegraph that CNNC’s involvement is also in the offing and CGN had held talks on their behalf.
Xie Jiajie said: “The final proposal is for the Chinese to take a 33.5% stake in the project. “But this will be a combination of CGN and CNNC. “We haven’t decided what percentage we are going to invest.”
The return on any investment could amount to billions of dollars but the Chinese company said it would not announce the final figure until EDF’s final investment decision on the project is made.
The Sunday Telegraph said CNNC’s involvement was likely to be controversial because of its close ties to the Chinese government [and the Chinese military].
The Hinkley Point nuclear power plant in Somerset could ultimately produce 7% of British electricity and create 25,000 jobs, according to EDF.
It had been due to start producing electricity in 2023, but progress has been beset by delays because of funding problems.
Looks like the skills our LEP should be investing in are Mandarin and French lessons for nuclear power engineers.
And maybe some cyber-security experts who can program in those languages.
It has already been reported that UK spy centre GCHQ has sought talks with Chinese companies involved to attempt to allay security concerns.
Still, it’s reassuring to know that GCHQ is fairly close to Hinkley C if anything untoward happens.
East Devon Watch 
If you cannot trust the French nuclear manufacturers to produce quality components, what chance do we have of trusting the Chinese, the name of which has become synonymous with cheap and shoddy manufacturing.
And given the evidence of Chinese state-sponsored hacking / cyber-attacks and their aggressive stance towards territorial expansion (e.g. annexation in the South China Seas etc.), there are several other reasons not to trust the Chinese with a project such as this where both the quality of construction and security of the controls against cyber-attacks are both extremely critical.
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Reading between the lines and the investment by the Chinese it appears that CGN are attempting to reduce their financial exposure by bringing in a new partner to shoulder part of their 33% share of the finances, so maybe they are getting cold feet about HP c and are attempting to save face
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Or needing their spies to have a cover!
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