UK set to sign nuclear deals with France
DEALS worth more than £500m to advance the UK’s nuclear power programme are due to be signed today, as Prime Minister David Cameron and other ministers meet with President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris.
Cameron said the summit “will signal our shared commitment to the future of nuclear power”.
The deals, which are expected to create 1,500 UK jobs, include a £400m agreement between Rolls-Royce and France’s Areva to supply manufacturing and other services at Hinkley Point.
And EDF will sign a contract with UK firms Keir and BAM Nuttall to start preliminary works at the same site.
Deputy PM Nick Clegg, foreign secretary William Hague, defence secretary Philip Hammond and new energy secretary Ed Davey will also travel to Paris to meet with their French counterparts.
Cameron said in a statement yesterday: “I want the vast majority of the content of our new nuclear plants to be constructed, manufactured and engineered by British companies. And we will choose the partners and technologies to maximise the economic benefits to the UK.”