UK welcomes Chinese nuclear investment

Chinese investment into the UK's nuclear sector is welcome, said the City of London's lord mayor Fiona Woolf prior to embarking on a China visit from October 9–15.

"As far as nuclear is concerned, (Chinese investors) have skills to bring to the party, they have technology, it's not just passive financial investment," Woolf said.

Woolf, who worked as an energy lawyer for 20 years before serving her term as lord mayor, said that the UK is strong in about 60 percent of the work relating to nuclear energy, including construction and management, but it requires advanced technology in nuclear.

She added that there should not be any valid security concerns in nuclear to block foreign investment. "People often ask me if nuclear is such strategic assets that you worry about foreign ownership. The answer is 'no, we don't', and one reason is that the sector is well regulated," Woolf says.

Currently, several Chinese nuclear companies have expressed interest to invest in the UK, and two of them have reached an agreement to invest in two planned reactors are at Hinkley Point C, in Somerset.

Led by EDF Group of France, they will cost 14 billion pounds (17.4 billion euros), and are due to start operating in 2023 if built on time and will run for 35 years.

China General Nuclear Power Group and China National Nuclear Corporation are expected to have a combined 30 to 40 percent stake in the consortium, with Areva taking another 10 percent, EDF said.

Exact plans for cooperation at Hinkley Point C are expected after a European Commission decision on UK state aid for the project is made. Cooperation between EDF and its Chinese partners on Hinkley Point C was first announced by British Chancellor George Osborne when he visited China in October.

Woolf said the UK's energy sector as a whole is very welcoming to foreign investment. "We've attracted a lot of foreign investment that has helped a great deal in improving standards of services," she said.

"We started in the 1990s when we started privatization, quality increased, investment in infrastructure increased and there was downward pressure on prices. We've had good results by liberalizing the energy sector," Woolf said.