Fresh setback for £15bn Horizon nuclear scheme

FRENCH nuclear group Areva and China’s Guangdong Nuclear Power Corporation have walked away from the six gigawatt Horizon new nuclear project, according to reports.

A bid from the Franco-Chinese consortium for the Horizon nuclear joint venture did not materialise by last Friday’s deadline, the Financial Times  said.

The newspaper said China may still invest in Horizon at a later date along with other nuclear project.

The news is a setback to the government’s hopes of ushering in a revival of nuclear power.

Horizon is one of the UK’s biggest nuclear projects and was put up for sale in March by German utilities RWE and E.ON.

Horizon, a Gloucester-based joint venture, owns two nuclear sites  – one in Anglesey, North Wales, in where it plans to build six gigawatts of nuclear capacity with an investment of £15bn.