France's Areva Lines Up UK Nuclear Plant Partners
Dec 04, 2008
Reuters
Engine maker Rolls Royce and construction group Balfour Beatty said on
Thursday they had would work with French nuclear reactor builder Areva to
build a new generation of British power stations.
The agreement cements growing Anglo-French cooperation to replace
Britain's ageing nuclear power plants after France's EDF , the world's
biggest nuclear energy producer, agreed in September to buy British
Energy, and with it Britain's nuclear power industry, in a 12.5 billion
pound ($18.4 billion) deal.
"Rolls-Royce and Areva have agreed a memorandum of understanding and
will work together on supply chain development, manufacturing and
engineering services," Rolls Royce said in a statement.
In July, Rolls-Royce said it would rejig its nuclear business,
which has a long history supporting Britain's nuclear submarine fleet, to
win business in the civil market where the UK plans a raft of new power
stations to help minimise its reliance on imported fossil fuels.
"This is the welcome face of low carbon energy we'll see more
and more over the coming decades, opening up enormous potential for UK Plc at
home and globally," said British energy and climate change minister Mike
O'Brien.
Balfour Beatty, which has already worked on existing nuclear
power stations in the UK such as Sellafield, Sizewell B, Hunterston and
Torness, said construction of the first new European pressurized reactor
could begin as early as 2013.
"It is estimated that the nuclear programme could sustain between
10-15,000 jobs over a 25-year period," Balfour Beatty said in a
statement as it announced the deal with Areva which is majority owned by the French
state.
The involvement of Rolls Royce and Balfour Beatty will help
alleviate concerns about Britain's nuclear industry falling wholly into
foreign hands.
As part of September's deal selling British Energy to EDF, British Gas
owner Centrica said it was in talks with the French company to buy a
25 percent stake in British Energy.
(Reporting by Paul Hoskins, editing by Dan Lalor) ($1=.6798 Pound)
([email protected]; +44 20 7542 5331; Reuters Messaging: [email protected])
Reuters
Engine maker Rolls Royce and construction group Balfour Beatty said on
Thursday they had would work with French nuclear reactor builder Areva to
build a new generation of British power stations.
The agreement cements growing Anglo-French cooperation to replace
Britain's ageing nuclear power plants after France's EDF , the world's
biggest nuclear energy producer, agreed in September to buy British
Energy, and with it Britain's nuclear power industry, in a 12.5 billion
pound ($18.4 billion) deal.
"Rolls-Royce and Areva have agreed a memorandum of understanding and
will work together on supply chain development, manufacturing and
engineering services," Rolls Royce said in a statement.
In July, Rolls-Royce said it would rejig its nuclear business,
which has a long history supporting Britain's nuclear submarine fleet, to
win business in the civil market where the UK plans a raft of new power
stations to help minimise its reliance on imported fossil fuels.
"This is the welcome face of low carbon energy we'll see more
and more over the coming decades, opening up enormous potential for UK Plc at
home and globally," said British energy and climate change minister Mike
O'Brien.
Balfour Beatty, which has already worked on existing nuclear
power stations in the UK such as Sellafield, Sizewell B, Hunterston and
Torness, said construction of the first new European pressurized reactor
could begin as early as 2013.
"It is estimated that the nuclear programme could sustain between
10-15,000 jobs over a 25-year period," Balfour Beatty said in a
statement as it announced the deal with Areva which is majority owned by the French
state.
The involvement of Rolls Royce and Balfour Beatty will help
alleviate concerns about Britain's nuclear industry falling wholly into
foreign hands.
As part of September's deal selling British Energy to EDF, British Gas
owner Centrica said it was in talks with the French company to buy a
25 percent stake in British Energy.
(Reporting by Paul Hoskins, editing by Dan Lalor) ($1=.6798 Pound)
([email protected]; +44 20 7542 5331; Reuters Messaging: [email protected])