Hitachi says it has no plans to sell British nuclear project to China

Reuters
·1 min read
General view of the decommissioned Wylfa nuclear power station on the island of Anglesey

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese conglomerate Hitachi Ltd said on Sunday it has no plans to sell a stalled British nuclear power project to China.

The group's statement followed a report in Britain's Sunday Times newspaper that U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has warned Hitachi not to sell its nuclear site in Anglesey, Wales, to China.

"We are not aware of any plans to sell the project to China," Hitachi said.

China's General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) is keen to buy the site as part of plans to build a fleet of nuclear reactors, the report said.

Hitachi last year froze the 3 trillion yen ($28 billion) Anglesey project and booked a writedown of 300 billion yen on its British nuclear unit, as the project failed to find private investors.

Sources at the time said Hitachi had called on the British government to boost financial support for the project to appease investor anxiety, but turmoil over the UK's exit from the European Union limited the government's capacity to compile plans.

(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Susan Fenton)