Blue Chip A to Z

E.ON, the German owner of British energy supplier Powergen, has signalled its intention to bid for a slice of the UK’s nuclear industry with a surprise announcement that it has chosen two companies that would help it design and build reactors.

Although the UK Government’s exact plans for a new generation of nuclear power stations are still unclear, E.ON said yesterday that it had signed letters of intent with France’s Areva and Germany’s Siemens to consider the construction of two power plants.

E.ON had previously said that it was leaving its options open about getting involved in new nuclear, a position that was seen as putting the company firmly in third place behind RWE and EdF as a likely player in the UK industry. But an E.ON source said that yesterday’s news was aimed at “nailing our colours to the mast”.

E.ON said it would use Areva’s 1,600 megawatts (mw) advanced pressurised-water reactor, powered by Siemens’ turbines. The three companies will also collaborate on a new type of 1,250mw boiling-water reactor produced by Areva.

Full story from Telegraph.co.uk: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/04/24/cneon124.xml