Slashdot Mirror
Chinese Seek Greater Say In UK Nuclear Plants
mdsolar writes in with news about negotiations between the Chinese and the UK over nuclear power plant investments. "The state-owned Chinese nuclear group that is in talks to invest in Britain's new nuclear program wants greater operational control of any new plants it finances, potentially creating a national security headache for the government. China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN), is in talks with EDF of France on sharing the cost of building a new plant at Hinkley Point, Somerset, which has an estimated price tag of £14bn. But CGN has made it clear to EDF that it will only proceed if it is given more of a say in running other plants the two companies build together in the UK, according to people familiar with the talks."
China does have a fair point here, and that's speaking as a UK citizen, and not trying to play the devil's advocate. The UK has had a history of terrible management in pseudo-private sector enterprises since the 1960s, from British Leyland to British Rail.
Nuclear power in the UK has, so far, been a loss-making enterprise, kept afloat only by government subsidies, and looks set to continue in this way. If I was any overseas investor looking to protect my money, China included, I'd want to make damn sure my investment wasn't just being used to reduce the UK's subsidy.
You lose control when you insist on not paying for your shit.
Fuck systemd. Fuck Redhat. Fuck Soylent, too. Wait, scratch the last one.
What reason exactly would China want to have control? To reduce costs, of course. There is no other reason. And this will logically lead to limiting the government's oversight ability. The UK would be fucking idiots if they agreed to this. It would be like letting the US set the safety standards for drilling in the North Sea because Exxon was financing a rig. Fuck that!
Do you still want no say in operation when safety measure are cut to protect your 'investment'? Why is Chinese government* even allowed to operate a nuclear plant in the UK?
*Don't fool yourself, every Chinese corporation is a branch of the CCP. And this is not a 'racist' rant against China, I consider American corporation to also be a branch of the U.S. government. Ask Edward Snowden about it.
In the kind of universe where the one who pays for something also gets a say in it. But of course, the UK is free to pick up the tab in their stead and pony up the needed investment.
Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
If you don't want Chernobyl-like experiments or TEPCO lies then the regulators need more teeth. Threats about revoking licences are theoretical and have not happened after any of the incidents to date, and they'll need to be more than theoretical if there's no chance of losing government money that is flowing in (which has been the real threat to date to keep the places honest).
If China didn't have such an atrocious safety record:
http://inventorspot.com/articles/economic_boom_7_things_china_unexpectedly_explode
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2009/06/29/shanghai-building-collapses-nearly-intact/
http://www.businessinsider.com/china-bridge-collapses-2012-8?op=1 "Look At All The Major Chinese Bridges That Have Collapsed In The Recent Years"
http://www.fda.gov/animalveterinary/safetyhealth/recallswithdrawals/ucm129575.htm (pet food tainted by melamine)
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/m/melamine/index.html (baby food tainted by melamine)
http://www.businessinsider.com/china-water-pollution-2013-3?op=1 "If You Think China's Air Is Bad, You Should See The Water"
The list just keeps on going. I would not want people from China applying Chinese corner-cutting business practices to anything nuclear, oil&gas or food related (see all of the above)