EDF threatens to scale back nuclear power plans

EDF Energy will scale down plans to build a new generation of nuclear reactors in the UK unless the government fixes the price of carbon, its chief executive, Vincent de Rivaz, has warned.
De Rivaz said that EDF's business case to build four new reactors depended on a carbon tax or minimum carbon price being introduced.
The government will publish a wide-ranging white paper this month detailing plans to meet the UK's new carbon budgets. It is expected to discuss measures to prevent the carbon price fluctuating wildly.
Two years ago prices fell to as little as €0.10 (£0.08) a tonne. Experts say that a far higher price - at least €60 (£51.40) a tonne - is necessary to make low-carbon technologies, such as nuclear power generation or carbon capture and storage, economic.
De Rivaz told the Observer: "If we are serious about decarbonising electricity generation, we need to be serious about the price of CO2. It's very important to strengthen the emissions trading scheme ... and to sustain a credible, robust carbon price."
He said that EDF's plan to build the UK's reactors assumed there would be a "stable energy policy which delivers a stable carbon price for low-carbon generation".
If the government did not guarantee a minimum carbon price, or guaranteed one at too low a rate, this could result in fewer reactors being built than planned, he said, adding: "The business case has to be competitive. I am a businessman. It's a no-brainer.