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Hinkley Point power station faces more delays

The first new UK nuclear power station to be built in over 20 years is facing more delays following reports that EDF may not be able to fund the £18bn project.

Hinkley Point C, which is to be built on the Somerset coast, has already been delayed twice, with its planned opening slipping from 2017 to 2025.

Directors at the French energy giant were meant to meet this week to sign off on a plan to build two nuclear reactors at the site, but now executives have delayed the decision due to doubts about whether it can finance the project.

It had been hoped that the power station would bring thousands more jobs to Somerset and the wider nuclear industry in the UK.

The development has proved a controversial one for green campaigners, and the delay will be viewed as more proof that original plans for the station were flawed.

John Sauven, Greenpeace Executive Director, told the BBC: “The EDF board is clearly rattled as they delay yet again this crucial investment decision. EDF managers as well as employee representatives on the board are deeply concerned this project is too risky and too expensive. George Osborne is almost alone in defending Hinkley’s honour.”

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