{"id":430757,"date":"2026-03-13T09:24:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T08:24:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=430757"},"modified":"2026-03-13T09:24:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T08:24:20","slug":"hinkley-point-c-uk-frances-edf-boondoggle-sets-a-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=430757","title":{"rendered":"Hinkley Point C UK: France\u2019s EDF Boondoggle Sets a Record"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From Master Resource<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Kennedy Maize<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cEurope\u2019s biggest nuclear power operator EDF, which manages France\u2019s fleet of 57 reactors, is under pressure to show it can improve on its record of reactor construction. Recent projects have been severely delayed and hugely over budget, taking well over 10 years to complete.\u201d \u2013 Financial Times<\/em>, February 20, 2026).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a new leader in the nuclear power plant cost overrun derby, and it isn\u2019t even in the clubhouse yet. Britain\u2019s Hinkley Point C \u2014 being built in Somerset by France\u2019s government-owned \u00c9lectricit\u00e9 de France<\/a> (EDF) \u2014 is now going to cost at least \u00a349 billion ($65 billion) if it goes into service in 2030 and another \u00a31 billion ($1.3 billion) if the first unit is delayed to 2031. This equates to $10 million per megawatt\u2013best case\u2013with multiple years of waiting. Expect it to go up from here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two-unit, 3,200-MW French-designed European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) was announced<\/a> in 2015 at a then-estimated price of \u00a318 billion in 2015 pounds sterling. Construction began in 2016. The new cost estimate \u2014 which EDF purposely underplayed \u2014 came in a company news release<\/a> last month of its 2025 financial performance. Buried deep in the release, EDF said of the project:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Schedule for the start of production by Unit 1 adjusted to 2030 and action plans for the electromechanical work; completion cost estimated at \u00a335 bn (in 2015 sterling).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Of course, the plant won\u2019t be paid for in 2015 currency, but in contemporary pounds (or dollars). The new estimate \u201ccompares with a previous \u2018best case\u2019 target of 2029, itself a two-year delay from an earlier timetable,\u201d the Financial Times<\/em> (FT) reported<\/a>. \u201cWhen the project was given the go-ahead in 2016, it was due to come online in 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FT added that EDF, \u201cEurope\u2019s biggest nuclear power operator, which manages France\u2019s fleet of 57 reactors, is under pressure to show it can improve on its record of reactor construction. Recent projects have been severely delayed and hugely over budget, taking well over 10 years to complete.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EPR, originally designed by France\u2019s Framatome, a joint venture of EDF (80.5%) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries<\/a> (19.5%), has had a troubled history. In Finland, work on the 1,600-MW Olkiluoto<\/a> 3 began in 2005 by France\u2019s Areva<\/a> and German Siemens A<\/a> for Finnish operator TVO<\/a>, scheduled to go into service in 2009 at an estimated cost of \u20ac3 billion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project experienced a cascade of problems, many of them embedded in the design. The plant went into commercial service in 2023 at an estimated cost of \u20ac11 billion ($12 billion)<\/a>, at the time the most expensive single nuclear unit in history. The plant has operated well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EDF\u2019s Lost Luster<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

France itself has had a problematic adventure with the EPR. EDF\u2019s Flamanville 3 EPR in France began construction in 2007 with an estimated date for full 1,600-MW of power in 2012. The plant reached full power in December. Commercial operation is expected this year. When that happens, Flamanville 3 will become the first French power reactor to come online in 23 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project faced a series of technical hurdles. NuclearNewswire reported<\/a> last December:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Originally estimated to cost \u20ac3.3 billion (about $3.9 billion), the project\u2019s price has ballooned over the course of repeated delays and difficulties. In December 2022, EDF announced a new cost estimate of \u20ac13.2 billion ($15.5 billion). In January 2025, the French Court of Auditors released a new estimate that includes the interest accrued during construction: \u20ac23.7 billion (about $27.8 billion). In all, the project is set to enter commercial operation at a price tag anywhere from four to seven times its original budget.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Race for the Worst<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most expensive commercially operating reactors are Georgia Power\u2019s two new units at its four-unit Vogtle site. Units 3 and 4 are two Westinghouse 1,000-MW advanced reactors. Construction began in 2009, with an estimated completion estimated at 2016 and 2017 at a cost of $14 billion combined<\/a>. Unit 3 went into service in 2023 and Unit 4 in 2024, at a total cost of $36.8 billion, around 160 percent above budget, not to mention the time-value of money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Could Hinkley Point lose its position in the cost overrun race? Watch out for Britain\u2019s Sizewell C<\/strong><\/a> near the village of Suffolk. This EDF project calls for two \u2014 that\u2019s right \u2014 1,600-MW EPR reactors. It\u2019s a Hinkley Point clone. Construction began in January 2024, while the financing packing was still being constructed. The planned operating date is 2035, although that depends on progress at Hinkley Point, which has priority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The current estimated cost for Sizewell C is \u00a338 billion ($50.6 billion). Don\u2019t hold your breath on that. It could easily be the most expensive thermal generating plant ever built, eclipsing the Vogtle #3\/#4 debacle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In short, the \u201cnuclear renaissance\u201d is lacking a model for success going into its eighth decade. George W. Bush, Joe Biden, Donald Trump\u2013the saga continues with the most regulated, most subsidized industry in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is an edited and slightly expanded version of this post<\/a> published by Kennedy Maize at Quad Report<\/a>. A Washington, D.C.-based journalist, Maize has covered energy and environmental topics for more than 40 years. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cEurope\u2019s biggest nuclear power operator EDF, which manages France\u2019s fleet of 57 reactors, is under pressure to show it can improve on its record of reactor construction. Recent projects have been severely delayed and hugely over budget, taking well over 10 years to complete.\u201d \u2013 Financial Times, February 20, 2026).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":430760,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[691841866,691819118,691841867,691818206,691841864],"class_list":{"0":"post-430757","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-electricite-de-france-edf","9":"tag-france","10":"tag-french-designed-european-pressurized-reactor-epr","11":"tag-nuclear-power","12":"tag-the-financial-times-ft","14":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AQNYDwvrm8b9PJpm1nieO-uQ_sksieZXeRVGqcVMb6xHTf7vTWxIoV5t08C_GAvvvxkFihU-p82ljj3Wsq4msE-nr5R50pQhqhPHD9T54JFR8DKYYCT8EedBKfTwPxLT.jpeg?fit=1198%2C799&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1O3H","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":362372,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=362372","url_meta":{"origin":430757,"position":0},"title":"French Nuclear: End of the Line?","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"16\/01\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Last month (December 21), the 1,600-MW Flamanville nuclear power plant near Normandy (below) began delivering electricity to the French and European grid. 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