/sci/ - Science & Math

>>5623290
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/9941499/Hinkley-Point-C-deal-or-no-deal-for-UK-nuclear.html

>You’d think after all that, Britain might know whether it was about to see the construction of the first new nuclear power station for a generation. Think again. Planning permission for EDF Energy’s £14bn Hinkley Point C plant in Somerset clears the last big regulatory hurdle. But a trickier obstacle remains.

>No shovel can turn until the state-backed French energy group cuts a deal with the Government over the price consumers will pay for the electricity the plant generates. The stakes are indeed high. On the talks between the two sides turns not only 25,000 construction jobs – plus 900 full-time during the plant’s 60-year lifetime - at Hinkley Point, but the fate of Britain’s nuclear industry.

>Negotiations over what is known as the “strike price” have, in the parlance, gone critical. Naturally, neither side will show its hand. But EDF is thought to be holding out for a 40-year deal that guarantees it £95-£100 for each megawatt hour (MWh) generated – getting on for twice the current market price for electricity. The Government offered £80/MWh, though is said to have budged that up a bit since.

Planning permission is granted but they need to agree on a price. What do they mean about the 40-year deal? I don't economics, how does inflation come into this?

>Any agreement will have a massive global impact because we are the only country where people think expanding nuclear is a good idea. Every nuclear business is looking to Britain because they think it’s a market ripe for entry.”
>implying importance

>But the cost of building new plants rocketed after the Fukushima disaster in Japan, while cost overruns at EDF’s new Flamanville plant in France made investors increasingly nervous – not least with shale gas emerging as an alternative energy source.

I'm blaming militant anti-nuclear fuckwads for this.