A Nuclear Industry Association spokeswoman in Britain confirmed talks would take place with the State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (SNPTC) of China and NuGen, which has plans to build three AP1000 reactors in Moorside, near Sellafield.
With 60 percent of NuGen owned by financially troubled Japanese conglomerate Toshiba, serious questions have surfaced over the viability of the project. Toshiba said it expected to lose $8.4 billion in the fiscal year that ended March 31. The corporation's final financial report for the year has not yet been filed due to concerns over the valuation of Westinghouse Electric Corporation's October 2015 purchase of construction company CB&I Stone & Webster.
Toshiba-owned Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy on March 29, 2017. Westinghouse is also the designer of the AP1000 reactor NuGen plans to use for the Moorside project.
Last week, NuGen Chief Executive Officer Tom Sampson declared that Toshiba was “100 percent” behind the Moorside project. But doubts over financing for the project persist.
Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) has indicated it is interested in taking part in the Moorside build, but Kepco uses a different reactor design, the APR-1400 model. SNPTC, on the other hand, has experience with the AP1000 model, as it is constructing AP1000 reactors in Haiyang in China's Shandon Province.
A NuGen spokesman said the company would not comment on “media speculation,” about the upcoming meeting between NuGen and SNPTC, which is to take place this week.