Sir, Lord Mandelson’s idea that we can trust the Chinese government with our nuclear energy because their reputation will be at stake is breathtaking in its naivety (Oct 17).
He fails to understand that we will be dealing not with “normal” state-owned companies such as EDF, Deutsche Bahn or SNCF, which generate our electricity and run our railways, but with companies that are an integral part of China’s Leninist state. The consequence of this is that, along with all agencies of the Chinese state, China General Nuclear and China National Nuclear (CNNC) are enveloped and ultimately controlled by the Chinese Communist party.
Furthermore, CNNC produces China’s nuclear weapons. As with all Chinese military-related companies, it is therefore almost certainly controlled by the Chinese military: the People’s Liberation Army.
It would be a dangerous folly to allow this deal to go through. Parliament, not the government, must have the ultimate say.
Jeffrey Henderson
Professor of international development, University of Bristol
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Sir, The Chinese Liberation Army Unit 61398 is already tasked to gather industrial and military intelligence in the UK. This is not new — all that has changed is the use of cyber systems. Presumably the government has asked the simplest three questions: given the data that the Chinese would openly hold, what other access would they want? Who else would be hacking the Hinkley Point project? Does GCHQ have technology that can keep out the intelligence hackers?
The true alarmist may fear that the Chinese could at any time send Hinkley into critical meltdown. Unlikely? The Commons security and intelligence committee should follow the Pentagon model, and rigorously monitor the security safeguards in Hinkley and any project with a controlling interest based overseas.
Christopher Lee
Former BBC defence correspondent, London W1
Sir, You rightly question the wisdom of allowing any foreign country, let alone China, to play a key role in financing, designing, and building nuclear power stations in the UK (leader, Oct 16). If the planned station at Hinkley Point goes ahead, problems with similar plants in France and Finland threaten serious cost overruns and delays. Even more alarming is George Osborne’s apparent desire for increasingly intimate deals with China at Bradwell in Essex and Sizewell in Suffolk.
Electricity supply is one of our nation’s strategic assets, arguably on a par with food, water — and defence. To yield even partial control to a foreign country would be an extremely serious matter, not least because the proposed nuclear stations are vast and would together account for a substantial proportion of total power generation. If deliberately shut down or sabotaged, they would likely cause a domino collapse of the whole system; 2008 all over again, but with electricity rather than finance.
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Dr Paul Lynn
Butcombe, Somerset
Sir, Your leader overlooks two crucial aspects. First, Chinese investment will ensure that nuclear power remains part of the UK’s energy mix for generations. Without this support, nuclear will gradually disappear from the energy mix, leaving the UK more reliant on carbon-heavy fossil fuels at a time when it is retiring many older power stations. China’s investment creates new jobs, apprenticeships and wider opportunities for the UK in the global nuclear supply chain.
Second, over the past decade China has invested heavily in nuclear technology from the best manufacturers in the US and western Europe. It has learnt to build safe, deployable nuclear technology at scale and has become a trusted partner. Britain will serve as the benchmark for Chinese nuclear expertise. In terms of delivering on its own nuclear ambitions, China needs the UK as much as the UK needs China.
Dr Colin Elcoate
Vice-president, SPX Flow
Sir, The UK government is drifting into dangerous waters which other, more judicious governments, like that of the US, have given a wide berth.
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It would be all too easy for a hostile Chinese government to instruct the Chinese operators of a new nuclear power station at Bradwell to undermine the control systems and convert the power station into a “dirty bomb” capable of spreading radioactive material across a swathe of Essex and even Greater London. The UK government is also silent on the problem of managing relations with major allies, such as the US, if those allies find themselves in a strategic confrontation with China in the future.
R J Barry Jones
Emeritus professor of politics and international relations, University of Reading
Sir, If the government cannot identify a hidden programme to manipulate the engine management systems of VW cars, what hope is there of it locating malware hidden within the software of a nuclear power station?
David Shamash
South Fawley, Oxon