EDF-owned firm taken to court over fears of delay at Hinkley type reactor

Publication date: 28th September 2016

A Finnish utility has announced it is taking EDF-owned Areva to court over fears of further delays in the construction of a Hinkley-type reactor already nearly a decade behind schedule.

The news comes amid reports that French and UK government officials will ink the Hinkley contracts in London tomorrow.

Commenting on the news, Greenpeace UK executive director John Sauven said:

“On the eve of the official signing of the Hinkley agreement, this is a cautionary tale that should make our government think twice before putting pen to paper. The Hinkley type reactor in Finland is already nearly a decade behind schedule. Yet the Finnish utility is having to take EDF-owned Areva to court to avoid it being delayed even further.

“The UK government is about to sign away billions of pounds of bill-payers’ money to a project bedeviled by legal, financial and technical hurdles. Theresa May cannot build a 21st-century industrial strategy around an outdated, dodgy, and ludicrously expensive technology. If the PM wants to build an affordable and fair energy system whilst spurring business growth and job creation, then renewable and smart energy technologies are the way to go.”

ENDS