Hinkley Point C UK: France’s EDF Boondoggle Sets a Record
“Europe’s biggest nuclear power operator EDF, which manages France’s fleet of 57 reactors, is under pressure to show it can improve on its record of reactor construction. Recent projects have been severely delayed and hugely over budget, taking well over 10 years to complete.” – Financial Times, February 20, 2026).
There’s a new leader in the nuclear power plant cost overrun derby, and it isn’t even in the clubhouse yet. Britain’s Hinkley Point C — being built in Somerset by France’s government-owned Électricité de France (EDF) — is now going to cost at least £49 billion ($65 billion) if it goes into service in 2030 and another £1 billion ($1.3 billion) if the first unit is delayed to 2031. This equates to $10 million per megawatt–best case–with multiple years of waiting. Expect it to go up from here.
Here's an idea, how about a UK electricity generation scheme which isn't a boondoggle. It's worth knowing what Ed Miliband thinks about the idea...
...no it isn't.
4 comments:
And yet somehow we managed to build the four reactors at Sellafield in the 1950s while all the post war reconstruction was going on too. They were opened in 1956 by the Queen' We also managed to build the M1 at the rate of a mile per week and 300,000 houses per year , What happened ?
Regulations.
@johnd
The 'value' of the work shifted from the execution phase back into the planning and paperwork phase.
John Peter and DJ - yes, planning and regulations seem to have become the major drag on getting anything done, especially major projects. Probably poor contract management and legal interference too.
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