Nuclear engineers - Made in China?

Well here’s something you won’t hear many journalists say, sensationalist or otherwise: I was wrong.

Today I expect to be shown just how wrong I was: not only are there millions of Chinese engineers, it now looks as though some of them will be building our nuclear power stations.

Chancellor George Osborne, who is currently on a trade mission to China, is today expected to confirm that China General Nuclear Power Group is to take a 49% stake in EDF Energy’s proposed Hinkley Point C reactor.

It is expected Osborne will also confirm that a “strike price” has been agreed that will allow development of the plant to begin.

While much of the rhetoric surrounding the drive for new nuclear in recent years has focussed on local employment and upskilling the UK’s engineers to build and operate the next generation of plants, it now appears EDF is less than keen on using a local workforce.

We know there is capability from a global perspective

EDF commercial director Ken Owen

EDF Energy nuclear new build commercial director Ken Owen told The Guardian yesterday that most of the available contracts could be beyond UK suppliers, who he claimed were struggling to meet the complex safety and quality standards of the nuclear industry.

“There are a lot of critical components where quite frankly the UK has lost its capability,” said Owen.

“We don’t mind that because we know there is capability from a global perspective.”

With Hinkley Point C set to utilise Areva’s European Pressurised Reactor, it is clear that much of this capacity “from a global perspective” will come from France.

However, with China General Nuclear Power Group owing nearly half of the project, it is also likely we will also see Chinese engineers involved in the construction of the plant.

So, once again, I was wrong: engineers ARE Made in China, and they will soon be building British nuclear power plants.