UK: Nuclear ambitions closer to realisation

THE INJECTION of a politically expedient domestic company into the ownership of the country's nuclear programme has brought the construction of a new generation of power stations a step nearer. After months of talks, a deal was finally secured in May for the UK's Centrica to take a 20% stake in British Energy, the nuclear provider recently taken over by France's EDF. Opposition to the government's pro-nuclear policy – largely on environmental grounds – was exacerbated by the September decision to permit French ownership of British Energy, which operates eight nuclear power stations around the country. The government is hoping that Centrica's £2.3bn ($3.6bn) stake will make it easier to win d