French expertise and money is likely to play a pivotal role in the drive to build a new generation of nuclear power plants in the UK.

EDF, the energy company controlled by the French Government, has said that it wants to build four new nuclear power stations in Britain — a far more ambitious proposal than any of the other five big utilities in the UK.

The Government has estimated that each plant would cost about £2.8 billion to build, but the cost could run to as much as £3.6 billion. EDF has also stated clearly that all four of these would be to a French design developed by Areva, the nuclear energy giant that is also part-owned by the French state.

With a generating capacity of 1.6GW (giga watts) per unit, Areva's EPR reactor design is the world's most powerful. It is the most up-to-date version of the fleet of reactors used in France, which generate almost 80 per cent of its electricity. Two such reactors are already under construction — one in Finland and the other in northern France.

Areva's EPR design could also be picked by other big power companies such as the German EON or Britain's Centrica, but the French contribution is unlikely to end there.

Britain's current crop of ageing reactors — most of which were built to a unique British design in the 1960s and 1970 — are gradually being retired from service and only one, Sizewell B, will still be operating by 2023.

Since they were built, Britain has lost many of the high-end engineering skills needed to oversee development of such a complex nuclear engineering project. French expertise will therefore probably be required to train a new generation of British nuclear engineers and help build and run the new plants.

Once the reactors were built, French companies could also vie for a role in the production of nuclear fuel rods and assemblies as well as the handling of spent nuclear fuel.

All of this potentially represents a huge bonanza for the French nuclear industry, which is also angling to scoop similar contracts in other countries considering new-build nuclear programmes, including South Africa and China.

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