BNFL set for £2.5bn bonanza

A BRITISH Nuclear Fuels subsidiary is favourite to win a £2.5bn order to supply two pairs of high-tech nuclear reactors to China.

Westinghouse Electric, owned by BNFL, hopes to gain a toehold in China. Company sources say that the Chinese have approached Westinghouse, based in the US, and are keen for it to be in the bidding process.

Westinghouse has been working with Chinese engineers for many years on the design of the AP1000 reactor.

A spokesman for the company said: 'At long last things are falling into place. We are hopeful of bidding next year.'

If BNFL is successful, it will open a huge new market for reactors. China is one of the few countries to give the go-ahead to new nuclear reactors and plans 27 new plants in the next 20 years.

An agreement between China and the US to cooperate on nuclear issues was suspended following the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. But China's growing importance and calls by US firms to lift trade bans have forced a rethink by President Bush's administration.

While most of the world's new nuclear reactors are being built in the Far East, the UK Government has not ruled out a nuclear rebuilding programme.