Plans for China’s state-run nuclear company to develop and operate a proposed nuclear site in Essex will no longer go ahead, The Times can reveal amid renewed focus on Chinese involvement in Britain’s critical infrastructure.
Bradwell B, the proposed nuclear power station, was earmarked for investment by China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) in 2015. CGN is the majority investor in the proposed development alongside French energy company EDF.
But government and industry sources told The Times and Times Radio they no longer expected planning applications to be submitted by CGN for the site, and EDF will look to take back the lease from the Chinese firm at the earliest opportunity.
The development comes as Jonathan Reynolds, the business and trade secretary, said Chinese firms would be looked at in “a different way” should they bid for involvement in British Steel.
Reynolds previously said there would be a “high trust bar” for Chinese companies investing in key sectors in the UK after the government was forced to take direct control of British Steel’s Scunthorpe site from the Chinese firm Jingye.
Asked on Tuesday about the prospect of another Chinese firm taking over the steelworks, he said: “I think you would look at a Chinese firm in a different way but I’m really keen to stress the action we’ve taken here was to step in, because it was one specific company that I thought wasn’t acting in the UK’s national interest, and we had to take the action we did.”
The action over British Steel has shone a spotlight on other areas of Britain’s infrastructure with Chinese involvement.
CGN holds a 66.5 per cent majority share in the Bradwell project and the site was said to be of key strategic importance to Beijing as it would use the Chinese-developed and designed Hualong One reactor — the first time it would be used in a developed country outside of China.
The company, which has been sanctioned by the United States and was charged by the US Department of Justice with stealing nuclear secrets, was initially involved in three major nuclear projects in Britain — Sizewell C in Suffolk, Hinkley Point C in Somerset and Bradwell.
But as relationships with Beijing soured, the government paid about £100 million to buy the firm out of Sizewell in 2022, and CGN halted its funding of Hinkley in 2023 and therefore its stake has been receding.
In Bradwell CGN was due to operate as well as fund and develop the site, but government sources now say they do not expect the developers to submit a planning application.
Warnings were raised by parliament’s security and intelligence committee in 2023 when a report on China’s influence and strategic aims in the UK characterised the plans for Bradwell B as “opening a direct channel from the UK nuclear enterprise to the Chinese state”.
• Steel war shows extent of China’s grip on UK’s critical infrastructure
It is understood that while EDF owns the site, it leases it to CGN, but it expects to take the site back once an exit clause becomes available. It is not clear when that would be.
Industry sources said the site was more likely to be used in the future to house small modular reactors (SMRs). The Times previously revealed that Sir Keir Starmer wanted a fleet of SMRs to be built across Britain alongside large power plants.
British regulators had approved the design of the Hualong One reactor for construction at the Essex site, but this is also understood to no longer be seen as a viable option by the government. Paul Spence, the former EDF strategy director, previously told MPs he “would be surprised if that involved any role for CGN in the delivery of anything in terms of a nuclear station at Bradwell”.
Plans for the nuclear project have been in the works since 2011, when the location was designated by the coalition government as being suitable for a nuclear power station.
The shelving of the development of the site comes at a time of heightened fears over the involvement of Chinese firms in Britain’s critical infrastructure.
Ministers took control of British Steel last week after it became clear that Jingye, the Chinese owner, intended to shut down the country’s last two blast furnaces, making the UK reliant on Chinese steel imports.
Officials are also considering whether to declare some arms of the Chinese state as a national security threat to guard against the agencies that pose the highest risk in terms of their interference activities in the UK.
Reynolds visited Immingham port on Tuesday, where shipments of raw materials were unloaded after the government paid bills left outstanding by Jingye. Reynolds said: “I am delighted that after an incredible cross-government effort we have secured the raw materials we need to keep the blast furnaces going.”
He thanked British Steel staff and “all the people who have been involved in really, really pulling out the stops to make sure we’ve got that continuity of supply”. However, he could not guarantee there would be no job losses at the steelworks.
• Why did the government take control of British Steel?
“What we need for the long-term future of British Steel is that private sector partner to work with us as a government on a transformation programme,” he said.
“That might be new technology, new facilities, that might have a different employment footprint. The staff here absolutely know that, they know they need a long-term future.”
A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in London said: “Chinese nuclear energy companies have state-of-the-art technology and strong investment capabilities. The co-operation between China and the UK on nuclear energy is mutually beneficial.
“We are firmly opposed to political interference or obstructions from a third party that restrict Chinese companies’ normal access to the UK market. China-UK business co-operation has huge potential and serves the interests of both sides.
“We hope the UK side will provide a fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese companies in this country.”
The Times understands that at present the government is not involved in any planning process for Bradwell B, and that any future nuclear projects would be subject to national security assessments.
CGN was contacted for comment.
