【英语财经】英国希望借中国投资推动“核电复兴” Rudd urges Beijing to drive nuclear power renaissance

Britain may have pioneered civil nuclear technology but things have changed. Ministers were in Beijing yesterday urging China to provide the money and knowledge to build the UK’s next generation of nuclear power stations.

Undeterred by the delays and haggling surrounding the proposed French/Chinese Hinkley Point project in Somerset — now the subject of a ￡2bn

Treasury guarantee — Amber Rudd believes Chinese investment is vital

for Britain’s future energy needs.

The energy secretary says she is confident that funding issues around Hinkley Point can be settled and that the plant will be built.

Asked whether she would happy for China to design and build future stations, including one at Bradwell in Essex, about 80km from London, Ms Rudd said: “That’s absolutely fine. We welcome their investment and technology.”

The energy secretary argues that Britain’s safety standards are so high that if China can satisfy UK regulators, the country can then prove to the world that it is a reliable provider of nuclear energy.

“They want their design up and running in the UK because we have such tough standards and regulations they can be confident that they are safe,” Ms Rudd said in an interview with the Financial Times.

Speaking in Beijing, Ms Rudd conceded that the EDF/Chinese plant at Hinkley Point — scheduled to meet 7 per cent of the UK’s energy needs — could add about ￡5 a year to the average household fuel bill.

But Ms Rudd said that new nuclear was vital to bring down Britain’s carbon emissions and provide a stable electricity supply. She was also confident that future nuclear plants would be cheaper to operate than Hinkley.

Ms Rudd said that although the Chinese might be designing and building the new nuclear plants, 60 per cent of the supply chain was British.

The energy secretary has spent her first few months in the job cutting subsidies to renewable energy projects but she insisted that solar and wind would continue to play a key role. “I think solar will be incredibly important going forward,” she said. A climate change deal

at talks in Paris later this year remains possible, she added.

Asked whether she agreed with the unnamed Tory minister who denounced pro-environment policies as “green crap”, Ms Rudd said: “Absolutely not.”

英国能源大臣拉德

英国或许曾经是民用核技术领域的先锋，但那都已是老黄历。昨日，到访北京的英国部长级官员们敦促中国提供资金和技术，为英国建造新一代的核电站。

法中两国企业建设的英国萨默塞特郡欣克利角(Hinkley Point)核电站项目遭遇延期及讨价还价（该项目如今获得英国政府20亿英镑担保），但这并不妨碍英国能源大臣安伯?拉德(Amber Rudd)认为，中方的投资对英国未来的能源需求至关重要。

拉德称，她相信，欣克利角核电站的融资问题能够解决、电站能够建成。

当被问及她是否欢迎由中方来设计并建造英国未来的核电站——包括一座位于距伦敦80公里的埃塞克斯郡(Essex)布拉德韦尔(Bradwell)的核电站——时，拉德说：“当然没问题。我们欢迎他们的投资和技术。”

拉德称，英国的安全标准非常高，如果中国能让英国的监管机构满意，那么中国就可以向全世界证明自己是可靠的核能提供者。

“他们希望自己的设计能在英国实现并运行，这是因为我们有非常严格的标准和规定，可以让每个人都相信它们是安全的，”拉德在接受英国《金融时报》采访时表示。

在北京讲这番话的同时，拉德承认，法国电力(EDF)与中资企业在欣克利角合建的核电站——按计划可满足英国7%的能源需求——可能会使英国家庭每年的平均能源支出增加5英镑左右。

但她表示，新核能对于降低英国碳排放并提供稳定的电力供应至关重要。她还相信，未来核电站的运营成本将比欣克利角核电站更低。

拉德说，虽然中国企业可能负责设计并建设新的核电站，但供应链的60%都掌握在英国企业手里。

在上任后头几个月的工作中，拉德削减了对可再生能源项目的补贴，但她坚称，太阳能和风能将继续发挥关键作用。她说：“我认为太阳能在未来非常重要。”她补充道，今年晚些时候的巴黎谈判达成气候变化协议仍是有可能的。

英国保守党的某位部长级官员谴责环保政策为“绿色垃圾”。当被问及是否认同这一观点时，拉德说：“当然不。”

译者/陈隆祥