Friday 16 August 2019
A state-owned Chinese company which is funding part of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in the UK has been placed on a US export blacklist.
The US Department of Commerce has placed China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) to its “entity list”, which effectively blocks US companies from selling products and services to the firm without written approval.
The entity list identifies organisations “for which there is reasonable cause to believe, based on specific and articulable facts, have been involved, are involved, or pose a significant risk of being or becoming involved in activities contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests” of the US.
CGN partnered with EDF to help fund a third of the £20 billion cost of the Hinkley power plant being built in Somerset.
The Department of Commerce alleges the nuclear company and three of its subsidiaries “engaged in or enabled efforts to acquire advanced US nuclear technology and material for diversion to military uses in China”.
Chinese reports suggest CGN, which is one of the largest nuclear energy companies in the US, said the move will have “basically manageable influence” on the company’s development.
A BEIS spokesperson said: “Nuclear power has an important role to play in the UK’s low carbon energy future and all nuclear projects in the UK are conducted under robust and independent regulation to ensure that the UK’s interests are protected.”
ELN has contacted EDF Energy for a statement.