The new nuclear power plant under construction at Hinkley Point in Somerset will start operating one year after planned and will cost £ 3 billion more. It is reported by the French energy giant EDF, according to which the first unit of the reactor should come into operation in June 2027, one year after the forecast, and the costs are now estimated 25-26 billion pounds (29.5-30, 6 billion euros). Edf said this will not affect the cost to UK consumers or taxpayers. The reduction in workers admitted to the Somerset site due to security measures against the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in the loss of more than half a million days of work between 2020 and 2021, Edf explained.
Stuart Crooks, chief executive officer of Hinkley Point C, said: “You will all have experienced the severe impact of Covid-19 on the project over the past two years. You will remember how suddenly we had to reduce the numbers on site from over 5,000 to about 1,500 ”. “Keeping workers safe with social distancing in canteens, buses and at work meant we had no choice but to become less efficient,” continued Crooks.